Antara 8 Jan 18;
Illustration. Foreign tourists plant coral reefs along with tour guides at Sanur Beach, Bali. (ANTARA/Nyoman Budhiana) ()
W. Lombok, W. Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA News) - The Maritime and Fishery Ministry`s Marine and Coastal Resources Management Agency (BPSPL) has worked with locals to replant thousands of corals in Gili Nanggu island, an official stated here on Sunday.
Barmawi, the BSPL chairman for Bali and West Nusa Tenggara said that more than a thousand corals had been planted since 2013 to 2015 period.
"We have worked with the local government, and the locals to transplant the coral reefs in the waters around Gili Nanggu," he noted.
Although the program has been performed by the agency since 2013, the monitoring and evaluation processes were started last year.
During the replanting process, the agency had sunk five concrete platforms to the seabed. Each platform, he stated, has some 56 baby corals or commonly called as planula.
According to the evaluation conducted in 2017, some 80 percent of the entire coral replanted have flourished, Barmawi stressed.
He further explained, the coral transplantation program is aimed to restore the marine ecosystem in Gili Nanggu. The island was once damaged because of the fishermen had used bombs and potassium to generate abundant groupers and snappers.
Gili Nanggu now is part of Gita Nada conservation zone, along with the two islands of Gili Tangkong and Gili Sudak.
"Apart of restoring the marine ecosystem, the coral transplantation program is aimed to educate the locals and the tourists (on the conservation program conducted in the island)," he emphasized.
The healthy marine ecosystem, Barmawi said, will be beneficial by the fishermen, because the corals will provide nutrition for the fishes.
Hence, due to its abundant groupers and snappers, Gili Nanggu has been dubbed as one of the fish "banks" in the province, and one of the primary sources of coral fishes in the country.
Reported by Awaludin
(Uu. KR-GNT/a014)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
