WAKATOBI RESORT
Transcription
WAKATOBI RESORT
WAKATOBI RESORT A collaborative community-based reef management programme Company Background Collaborative Community-Based Reef Management Program The Wakatobi Dive Resort in Southern Sulawesi, Indonesia is the realisation of a lifelong dream of its Swiss founder, Lorenz Mäder: a dive resort, far away from the tourism hot spots, where he could establish a new way of running an ecotourism operation. At the luxurious Wakatobi Resort, diving is combined with concern for the environment. The diving and hotel operations started in 1996, with a capacity of only 12 guests, all of them housed in the same building. At that time travelling to the resort was difficult, located around 2 days from gateway towns like Singapore. The resort therefore completed its own air-strip runway in 2001, reducing travelling time to 2.5 hours from Bali. The resort now has 26 luxurious villas and bungalows and operates the Pelagian, widely regarded as one of the premier dive yachts in the Southeast Asia/South Pacific region. Wakatobi provides full employment to a workforce of about 140 locals, with the same salaries for men and women, dependent only on performance. In the Wakatobi area, divers can experience some of the world’s most pristine reefs. The resort is ranked by many as the most excellent land-based coral reef dive resort. Wakatobi Resort was created with the mission of establishing a win-win situation for the reefs, the local community, and the resort by implementing sustainable sound eco-tourism principles. The resort’s mission statement describes the issues of marine conservation and community development as the key inspiration and driving force for all its operations. W akatobi is one of the world’s most proactive eco-tourism resorts and has won several awards for being among the most conservation-minded tourism operators in the Asia-Pacific region. 1 The Collaborative Community-Based Reef Management Program With more than 100,000 people living in the Wakatobi Archipelago, conservation cannot be carried out without the support of the local population. The area around the resort is one of the world’s largest privately-funded marine protected areas. It took several years to achieve mutual trust and understanding between the resort’s management and the local community. Talks on all levels were conducted to prepare Tomia, the local community, for the Collaborative Community-Based Reef Management Program. Even before the resort was founded, Lorenz Mäder established a close contact with Haji Baharuddin, the son of the last Sultan of the area. Their subsequent friendship helped build confidence in the project, developed in close consultation with the local leaders and village elders. It is a programme designed to motivate the people living within the marine park to realise the value of the reefs by providing an economic alternative to fishing and giving incentives to those who help protect and manage the reefs. Cooperation between local fishermen and visiting divers is promoted by generating an income from tourism that is channelled directly into the community. The income is shared with the local population through employment, opportunities for local suppliers and direct reef-lease payments. Before the implementation of the project, many of the local fishermen had to make a living by selling their catch of fish to foreign commercial boats that came to the area, without paying local taxes or contributing to the protection of the reefs. Since Wakatobi Dive Resort now provides a real alternative, the villagers have become strong supporters of marine conservation, recognising these benefits as the basis of their future well being. Based on the success of an initial pilot project implemented between 1998 and 2002, which turned 6 km of reef into an effective no-fishing sanctuary, the Collaborative Reef Conservation Program has been extended even further. It currently includes all of the 17 village communities around the resort, with 20 km of some of the finest reefs of the world, protecting dozens of the top dive sites. Implementation Process Reef protection in Wakatobi was carried out successfully because the project aims to empower the stakeholders. All parties involved reached consensus on how to manage the area. In order to achieve these goals, the following activities were carried out: • A management plan for the reef resources was developed and enforced with the fishermen’s association. This zoning plan creates areas for fishermen and sanctuaries for the fish to reproduce. These fish breeding areas also serve as dive sites for careful divers. • Installation of “rampongs,” fish aggregation devices outside the reef. Rampongs are floating platforms made of bamboo, anchored out in the deep water. Plant materials such as palm fronds are suspended from them, attracting the bigger pelagic fish around them and providing a hiding place for smaller fish. This method allows the fishermen to 2 • • • • • • • • 3 catch more fish in shorter periods of time than on the reef. The faster growth and reproduction rates of the pelagic species also result in greater quantities being harvested sustainably when compared to the slower-growing reef species. The constant stream of lease payments has turned the reef into the most valued real estate of the community. Monthly payments go directly to the village councils, who decide in public meetings how the funds are to be spent. In addition, all projects are scrutinised by the public. Every citizen is entitled to inspect accounts. The payments improve public infrastructure and health, through a cleaner village environment, raise the village spirit, stabilise local politics, and raise awareness of conservation issues among the people. Fishermen not complying with the community and government-approved rules are reported to the village authorities and councils. The patrols are sponsored by the resort. Rangers, police and military personnel have joined the community-initiated patrols to help arrest criminals, particularly fishermen, who destroy the reef by blast fishing. These patrols are financially supported by the resort as well. The resort installs and maintains moorings for the dive operations to avoid anchor damage. Reef monitoring and cleaning is conducted if needed. All dive guides are fully committed to contributing towards conservation. Guests are not permitted to fish, harass animals, touch the reef, or walk on the seagrass. ‘Local traditional skills are used to build and maintain the resort, where local products are also sold’. • Wakatobi sponsors bringing electricity to the village (500 people) on the island in exchange for the villagers honouring a 3 km reef sanctuary on their traditional fishing grounds. It also sponsors public projects for all of the 17 communities in the area. • Recognising that the poorest people need the most support to refrain from traditional but destructive practices such as reef gleaning, the resort employs 50 widows to produce natural roof tiles for the resort buildings and funds scholarships for orphans. • Sponsoring of public awareness meetings on conservation issues and the employment of staff to promote conservation programmes in villages. To increase compliance, a small credit scheme for small businesses is sponsored, giving credits to small neighbourhood shops, small restaurants and fishermen. Wakatobi Dive Resort invests several hundred thousand U.S. dollars into the Collaborative Community-Based Reef Management Program annually, thereby helping the local communities to perceive tourists as contributing visitors who care about their environment. Key Challenges • • • Introducing the radical new idea of conservation to a society which had only known exploitation and short-term benefits. The problem was solved by using the ‘Collaborative Community based reef Management Program’ approach. Convincing the local community of the long-term value of conservation. The villagers concerns were allayed by offering the immediate benefit of alternative employment Resistance by NGOs, which did not see a financial benefit for themselves. Benefits With the Reef Management Program, Wakatobi Dive Resort has successfully created a mutually beneficial situation with immediate gains for all stakeholders: the local communities, the reefs and the resort itself. The resort benefits through the unique environment, which is considered to be one of the mostrenowned dive sites worldwide. The reefs in the Wakatobi area are exceptionally bio-diverse. Through the reef management activities, the resort has not stopped destructive fishing methods and unregulated exploitation that threatened this very sensitive habitat, but it has actually improved the quality of the resort surroundings, the seagrass beds and the reefs. This matchless and untouched environment attracts wealthy, highly educated nature lovers who are willing to help the marine environment by making a significant financial contribution for their visit to Wakatobi. The efforts towards conservation have been recognized with several awards, generating publicity and, thus, a higher brand value. provides the chance for a stable future. The Wakatobi Dive Resort Collaborative Reef Conservation Program is a work in progress, constantly expanding and being fine-tuned as the community undergoes changes and as new threats and opportunities emerge. “However, we are confident that the Collaborative Reef Conservation Program is a sound, self-sustaining program that will protect the reefs of Wakatobi Islands for generations”, says the resort’s founder, Lorenz Mäder. 4 The awareness of the local villagers about the reef lease project is increasing as the people begin to understand the importance of the sustainable use of their natural resources and the long-term preservation of the local ecology. People are more aware that it is an important social obligation to be the guardians of this natural resource. The local community has pledged compliance with sanctuary rules in exchange for financial support and employment. Thus, instead of taking livelihoods away, Wakatobi conservation Contact Address Mr. Lorenz Mäder Mail: Phone: Sources Founder and Director of Operations lorenz@wakatobi.com +62 361 759 669 (Bali Office) www.wakatobi.com Lorenz Mäder: Win-Win-Win in Wakatobi through Eco-Tourism. Wakatobi, 2007 Wakatobi Dive Resort: Win-Win-Win with Collaborative Reef Conservation Impact on Island Life – Interview with community leader Haji Baharuddin. Wakatobi, 2005 5