Coral Reefs – To mark Earth Day, the young people of Pokmaswas Terpadu Wilayah Sekotong (the local community marine watch group), together with the local government, ran an event called “Asahan Menyapa Bumi”. Held from 21 to 23 April, it brought together a beach clean-up, mangrove planting and, as the highlight on 22 April, coral reef conservation at Gili Asahan. Sekotong and the gili islands around it are among the destinations in our Lombok tour packages.
According to Pak Sapari, chair of the organising committee, this is a monthly routine that local young people keep up to protect the coral reefs in the waters off Sekotong.
“At first we simply planned to schedule this activity so it fell on Earth Day. Once we started inviting local people, by word of mouth and online, plenty of others wanted to help, from government bodies to private companies. Alhamdulillah, it grew into a big event with a committee that involved many parties, from local residents to the relevant government offices,” he said.
The agenda for 21 April was a beach clean-up along the coast of Batu Putih village. From what we saw on the day, it was not only adults taking part; schoolchildren from primary through to high school were involved too. The hope is that an event like this builds awareness early on of how much our environment needs looking after.
The high point came on the second day, at Gili Asahan. Twelve divers took part in the coral conservation work, right through to planting out the seedlings. Local people and students helped tie the coral seedlings onto the concrete frames the committee had prepared, and everyone looked thoroughly enthusiastic about it.
Coral reefs are where fish live. When the coral declines, the fish migrate elsewhere and fishermen come home with only a small catch.
Damaged reefs inevitably show up in what the fishermen catch. Beyond natural causes, the damage is often the work of people. Blast fishing, harmful chemicals and trawl nets are undeniably the main reasons the fish are losing their home.
We hope activities like this raise awareness among fishermen so that we can protect the coral reefs together, and there is one thing not many people know: coral reefs are the biggest contributor of oxygen for us all, said Pak Sapari as he closed the event, which ended with the mangrove planting.
Let’s look after our environment. If not now, when? If not us, who? he said.
