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July 26 2004

Dear friends of Indonesia's coral reefs and the people who depend on them.

Indonesia's coral reefs and fisheries can and must be restored! We are appealing for your help in starting effective large-scale action before it is too late.

1. Indonesia's reefs are the best in the world but they are vanishing fast Indonesia is the world's leader in size and diversity of coral reefs, but these are disappearing quickly and are already largely destroyed. Although Indonesian reefs have the fastest natural recovery in the world, when under ideal conditions, recovery is impossible or far too slow in most places due to the widespread, intense, and increasing stresses the reefs are under. Fisheries are collapsing and cannot recover, even if there was no fishing, unless the habitat is restored. Immediate support for direct action to restore damaged habitats is the most urgent and important step towards sustainable management of Indonesia's coral reef resources.

2. Indonesia is the world leader in reef restoration Indonesian projects have pioneered new methods for large-scale restoration of reefs and fisheries. The Karang Lestari (Protected Coral) Project in Pemuteran, Bali, is the largest and most successful coral reef restoration project in the world. This project, in the Pemuteran Village Marine Protected Area, has turned nearly barren areas into half a kilometer of reef full of vibrant coral and swarming with dense fish populations. Their rapid success has already led to three more projects in other parts of Bali, three in Flores, and several in Sulawesi and Java. Dozens of requests for such projects have come in from fishing villages, dive shops, and hotels across Indonesia, but there remains no funding available to develop these.

3. Despite world-wide recognition, this has been done with little funding The spectacular success of Karang Lestari been recognized by the KONAS Award for best community-based coastal zone management project in Indonesia, the Kalpataru/Adipura Environmental award, Indonesia's most prestigious environmental award, and the SKAL Award for best underwater ecotourism project in the world. Similar projects have won the Theodore M. Sperry Award for Pioneers and Innovators from the Society for Ecological Restoration, and the Maldives Environment Prize. They have been the focus of articles and films around the world. Yet the Karang Lestari Project and others like them in 15 countries have been carried out with NO funding whatsoever from international agencies, large foundations, or governments, only small private donations, mostly local in-kind donations of materials. These methods are not being applied on the massive scale needed due to lack of funding. With funding MUCH more could be done.

4. These methods work where all else fails Research at Karang Lestari by Putra Nyoman Dwija of Udayana University has shown that corals in the project are growing four times faster than the same corals nearby. These unique results are because Karang Lestari uses a remarkable new method, Biorock technology, invented by Wolf Hilbertz and Tom Goreau, to accelerate coral growth 3 to 5 times faster than normal, and increase coral survival 16 to 50 times above normal after severe stress from high temperatures, sediment, or pollution. As a result, corals are kept alive where they would die, and whole reefs can be grown in places where corals cannot recover naturally. By growing reefs in front of them, badly eroding beaches have grown 15 meters in two years. The size and diversity of fish populations building up in these projects are incredible. Habitat can be made that greatly increases fish, clams, oysters, and lobsters as well as corals. No other method has these results. Biorock reefs can be built in any size or shape, and cost a tiny fraction of the alternatives while providing vastly greater environmental benefits.

5. Indonesian students are active leaders in these efforts Students from Bogor University, Gajah Mada University, Udayana University, Palu University, and Hasanuddin University, along with students from other countries in Asia, Europe, and North America have graduated from hands-on training workshops in coral reef restoration at Pemuteran, and are starting new projects in many places. Students from Bali, Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, West Timor and other islands want to do research on the projects and start new ones with fishing villages and resorts around Indonesia. But there is no program or funding for them to do this, or for fishermen, divers, hotels, and government agencies to learn how to apply the new restoration technology.

6. There are no programs for them to develop and apply the new methods There is a critical need to set up programs now to train Indonesian students and fishing communities in the new methods so that they can be widely applied in community outreach programs. There is an equally urgent need for research programs in innovative methods for ecosystem restoration and management in order to build up Indonesia's capacity. These essential areas are not now being adequately addressed. Udayana University's Faculties of Biology and of Environment support setting up such programs, but funding is urgently needed so that these programs can get underway without further delay. They will be a national resource, taking students from all over Indonesia, and impacting practical coastal zone management across the archipelago. The program will interface closely with the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Mariculture Research facilities, which has released juvenile groupers hatched at the Gondol Institute for Mariculture into Karang Lestari with great grow-out success.

7. Current strategies show little results in restoring reefs and fisheries Vast sums are being now spent on setting up parks and marine protected areas and public education campaigns. We support such efforts, but they are not keeping pace with reef destruction, except on a very small scale. They are doomed to failure in the long run if they do not address the key issues: stopping coral death and restoring damaged reef and fisheries habitats. This can best be done by growing corals faster and more resistant to environmental stress and increasing fish populations by supplying them the high quality coral habitat they need. If restoration efforts are not the primary focus of coastal zone management, marine parks will simply be full of corals that are dead or dying from global warming, new diseases, and land-based sources of pollution, which no park can protect against. Their fish will be wiped out by lack of habitat and desperately hungry neighboring communities, even if all destructive blast fishing and poison fishing were to end. Restoration of habitat needs to be the central focus of management efforts, not just a token afterthought. It must use only methods that really work to have the long-term success so badly needed. Otherwise, all the conservation and education money will be largely wasted.

8. Implementation of a restoration-based strategy is critically needed now it is time to recognize that current strategies of coastal zone management are not working, and to develop, apply, and invest in the new methods that will allow Indonesian fishermen to become coral reef farmers, growing habitats that greatly increase the numbers of fish and shellfish that can be harvested sustainably. Future generations can never be fish hunters because this generation is destroying the last of the big wild fish along with the habitats needed to nurture them. Global warming, new diseases, and nutrient, chemical, and sediment pollution from land will not allow reef fisheries to recover on the scale needed to feed the people unless active restoration is applied on a large scale in the framework of community-based management. No other options will work in the long run. We must apply the new tools on a large scale now.

We urgently appeal for your help to find funding to immediately start Coral Reef and Fisheries Restoration research and training programs based at Udayana University.

For much more information please see the Report of the Second International Pemuteran Coral Reef Restoration Workshop, which has links to many photographs showing the results of these projects and links to related papers, articles, and reports click HERE.

We will be happy to provide more information towards this urgent goal.

Sincerely yours, Thomas J. Goreau, Ph.D. President, Global Coral Reef Alliance