Raja Ampat – Raja Ampat conservation area in Southwest Papua now has two mooring units to protect coral reefs from the threat of anchors of tourism ships anchored in the region.
“There are two moorings installed in Raja Ampat,” said Southwest Papua Regional Secretary Johny Way in Sorong on Friday. Johny revealed that the presence of tourism ships carrying tourists from Bali and East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) is increasingly frequent in Raja Ampat.
The number of tourism boats coming to Raja Ampat can reach 200 units. The most crowded visits occur in January, February and April. “If the ships drop anchor irregularly, the corals can automatically be damaged or die,” Johny said.
In June 2024, two mooring units were installed in Raja Ampat as part of the Raja Ampat Mooring System (RAMS) program. The installation of moorings is a strategy to maintain coral reef diversity to remain stable and healthy in the Raja Ampat marine conservation area.
Conservation Indonesia’s Papua Program Director Roberth Mandosir said that since Raja Ampat was designated as a world geopark by UNESCO in 2023, it has had a direct impact on tourism activities.
Many tourism ships run aground and at the same time anchor, which has an impact on coral reef damage in the marine protected area in Raja Ampat.
“We just started two moorings in Raja Ampat. This activity marks a new step in the process of securing, managing and protecting the marine ecosystem in this region,” Roberth said.
The 200-kilogram mooring buoys were installed in the waters of Mioskun Island at a depth of 44 meters and also installed in the waters of Friwen Island at a depth of 48 meters. The distance between the two moorings is one nautical mile or about 1.85 kilometers.
Conservation Indonesia, which since 2022 has continued the work of Convention International and is supported by the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR), has collaborated with the Southwest Papua Provincial Government and other stakeholders in the RAMS Program.
“Leaders in Jakarta are approaching relevant ministries, so that the Raja Ampat mooring system becomes a model that can be replicated in other conservation areas in Indonesia,” he said.
RAMS not only provides mooring facilities to prevent ships from dumping or dropping anchor, which can damage coral reefs, but also sets up a system of maintenance, monitoring, repair, and sustainable funding. Furthermore, Roberth said that this is the first time in Indonesia that a mooring has been installed within a marine protected area.