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Indonesia

Alung Banoa

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Conservation benefit: Purchase, transportation, ad installation of EcoReef reef rehabilitation modules

Date Approved: 04.2004

Ocean

This project protects ocean ecosystems, making coastal communities more economically and physically secure in the face of climate change.

The Bunaken area of Indonesia is a premier dive destination, but dynamite fishing has destroyed parts of the reef. Alung Banoa villagers and local dive operators from the North Sulawesi Watersports Association volunteered to assemble and install 300 EcoReef modules. The modules should significantly help to regenerate marine life in the damaged areas.

The family of Stephen Erdmann, who died tragically while traveling in Egypt in 2003, supported this project in Stephen’s memory. Stephen was the younger brother of Mark Erdmann, whose wife, Arnaz Mehta, was Seacology’s Southeast Asia field representative for many years.

Project Updates

July 2005

The villagers have given up their traditional fishing rights in the area and are enforcing new no-fishing rules. One year later, coral transplants and reef species are thriving on the modules, including a surprise to the project team: a giant clam. The site has become a highlight of many divers’ trips to Bunaken National Park, and almost all dive operators now include the site on their itinerary. The Alung Banoa villagers are happy about this development and the positive feedback they are receiving.

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