SINGARAJA, BALIPOST.com – In a significant event from September 26 to 28, the community of Bukti Village in Bali showed their commitment to marine conservation. The Bukti Fishermen’s Association and Pokmaswas Satya Bahari have been working hard to protect their important coral reef ecosystem.
Bukti Village has relied on the sea for a long time, but the local fishermen noticed there were fewer fish, which was a cause for concern. They started the conservation project to protect the coral reefs that baby fish depend on.
This project, now in its third year, has received support from the conservation group Coral Reef Care and Bondalem Eco Dive. Marine scientists and conservation experts from all over the world came to Bukti Village on October 26th to study the local reefs and understand why they are so important for marine life.
Expert from Yayasan Lautan Kebun Koral (Ocean Gardener), Coral Reef Care, the Coral Triangle Center and Nusa Penida Conservation projects joined the Bukti reef days. The marine experts were hosted at villa Jepun, villa Grya Bali Surga and villa Seaview right by the Bukti reefs.
They began by visiting the Bukti pinnacle dive site, a coral reef that has been protected by the village for over two years, showing how committed Bukti Village is to protecting its marine life. What they found was impressive – lots of fish and a lively ecosystem full of marine creatures. They also found some of the oldest corals in Bali.
Vincent Chalias from Yayasan Lautan Kebun Koral said the real beauty of a coral is in the humongous size of its colonies. “On the top of the Bukti pinnacle, we found a huge Pavona clavus coral colony that is about 10 meter wide by 30 meters long. It’s fascinating to realize diving on this reef, that it is mainly constituted by one single huge organism. How many hundreds, or thousands of years this thing could be? Pavona clavus is a slow-growing, very dense skeleton and very aggressive coral. So I believe this coral could be thousands of years. Maybe it was there before any humans walked on Bali Island..,” he stated in the release.
However, they also found problems. When they explored another nearby unprotected reef, they discovered abandoned fishing nets that were harming the delicate ecosystem.
They found over 15 of these nets in just one dive. Compared to the protected reef, the unprotected reef lacked marine life biomass (fish, corals, etc) and species diversity. Recognizing the urgency, a team made up of Bukti Village residents and Coral Reef Care experts is already planning to remove these nets and heal the reef.
Rolf from Coral Reef Care said coral reefs can bounce back when they are taken care of and protected protection and, if necessary, the right restoration efforts.
After 3 years of doing this, we’ve seen a big increase in the amount of marine life and the different types of animals living there.
The conclusion of this three-day event was a meeting at Villa Seaview, where marine and conservation experts shared their findings with the leaders of Bukti Village. The Village Head Gede Wardana attended together with Putu Sukrawan (Pokdarwis Desa Bukti), Ketut Dharma Satya (Chief of BPD Desa Bukti), Putu Widiada (Pokmaswas Satya Bahari) and Komang Suprasta (Pokmaswas Satya Bahari). They expressed full support for the conservation efforts and confirmed the community’s commitment to protecting the marine environment.
Bukti Village also aims to be part of the Buleleng Marine Protected Area (MPA) to support regional marine conservation. “We believe that by working together, we can help our oceans recover and ensure the future of our fisheries,” said Komang Suprasta and representatives from Bukti Village. (kmb/balipost)
