Menjangan Island Coral Reef Conservation
- Menjangan Island lies off Bali’s northwest shore and is sacred with four Hindu temples and a statue of Ganesha, the god of new beginnings. People come from all over Bali on holy days to make offerings and prayers at the temples.
- Its fringing coral reef is unusual, almost a diversity anomaly for the region, with a wealth of hard corals, sea fans and soft corals.
On paper, the reefs are protected since they lie within Bali Barat National Park (BBNP), but in actuality, they are suffering from an array of negative impacts, such as anchor damage, over-fishing, trash, and climate change. - In 2010 and 2011, BF collaborated with Dr. Phil Dustan (College of Charleston) and scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society to conduct the first baseline study about the overall health of the reef. Please see our two papers about these studies published in Atoll Research Bulletin and PLOS one.
- The data also pointed to an "ecological tipping point" that can be seen by studying the interfependence between fish and coral communities accross a continum of reef degradation. This data was presented at the Ocean Sciences Meeting in Honolulu, 2014.
- These studies further proved that the reef had been impacted in the past by dynamite fishing but was primarily threatened now by visiting small outboard motor boats carrying international divers and local Balinese anchoring on the reef. While some buoys were installed years ago, more mooring buoys are needed and all the buoys need to be maintained.
- In 2011, BF and its local partner, Yayasan Dwi Asih Sejahtera (part of the Sustainable Management Group), initiated “Friends of Menjangan,” a community-based conservation program to protect and preserve the Menjangan Island reefs and the surrounding bioregion with Bali Barat National Park (BBNP). In support of this long-term program, BF engaged Mr. Nono Suparono who is a Nature Guide for BBNP.
- In 2012, BF initiated a Mooring Buoy Program - please join us and read more about the program as well as help us keep the program afloat.
- BF has also organized education-outreach events and environmental stewardship projects in BBNP for hundreds of students from NW Bali as well as an annual Biosphere Stewardship Program for local and international students. (See our 2014 program flier).
- In the coming years BF will also initiate a NW Bali Trash Management Program because there is no system presently in place.
