Gili Eco Trust
Introduction
There are over 3,500 marine species living in the reefs and seas of Indonesia. In comparison to the Great Barrier Reef (1,500 species) and Red Sea (600 species), Indonesian’s coral reefs are the global center of marine biodiversity.With 17,502 islands and 85,700 sq/km of coral reef (14% of the whole world coral reef), Indonesia holds the world’s richest variety of coral with 450 species.It is one of the Indonesia’s greatest assets.Stuation on Gili Trawangan
Gili Trawangan is a beautiful Indonesian island and a popular destination for tourists and divers. Unfortunately a proportion of the fringing coral reef has been damaged by global warming, natural weather action (storms).In Gili Trawangan, the Gili Eco Trust is a non profit organization concerned with cleaning the island and protecting the coral reefs from destructive fishing methods. Each diver in Gili trawangan has to pay a reef tax of Rp40,000. This money is collected and reinvested to collect and manage the rubbish problem on the island, to pay the fisherman a salary in exchange of no more destructive fishing practices, and control the application of the rules.
Since 2004 there are now 20 biorock structures already installed in the Gili islands, on Trawangan and Meno. They can all be seen be either snorkeling or diving, they start in front of Villa Ombak Hotel all the way along the beach in front of all the dive centres to the main beach area known as Goodheart. And a variety of shapes and large areas in front of Malias Child on Gili Meno. These projects have involved many local Indonesians and westerners from divemasters to biologists.
A new artificial reef extends the possibilities for the Gili islands and the local population to learn how to protect their environment and see the benefits of their actions. The new projects are designed to involve more people and to spread the information resulting from the structures and its benefits.
Gili islands January 2008 Biorock Update [click here]
Gili islands August 2008 Biorock update [click here]
Gili islands December 2008 Biorock update [click here]
The methods pioneered in Pemuteran have proven successful where other strategies have shown little result in restoring reefs and fisheries. This project has demonstrated that restoring coral growth can bring fish back to the area. Local fishermen see schools of many kinds of fish attracted to the coral nurseries, as they pass over them en route to their barren fishing grounds miles off shore.
Biorock projects in the Gilis is a new initiative for the local community, helping them to protect their coral reef and understand the importance of maintaining a healthy, vibrant marine ecosystem for future generations.
OBJECTIVES
- Build additional Biorock structures to grow other artificial reefs in all Gili islands.
- Create a new coral reef on Gili Trawangan involving the local population.
- Teach the local population how to protect their environment and show them the benefits of reef protection and regeneration for them and their children.
- The structure is also designed as a teaching material for scuba diving. Many PADI specialties can be taught using the structure including underwater photography, fish identification, and underwater naturalist.
- Involve dive instructors and divemasters from the all Gili islands. Teach students to respect marine life with a visit to the structure during a scuba diving course or a fun dive.
- Make the following studies: growth rate; survival rate; document the different species of fish settled on the structure; visiting fish numbers and the effect of the accretion on the different species of coral
- Build a Web Site describing the project and following the regeneration of the reef.
- Get tourists actively involved through contribution to the building, financing and ongoing growth of the structure.
- Organize more Biorock workshops in Gili Trawangan with Thomas Goreau, Wolf Hilbertz, Indonesian universities, western students, dive instructors and others.
- The hope and plan is to extend this process to the entire region. To expand the reef restoration by building more structures and extending the existing structures deeper and wider.
PROCEDURES
The project is to build a biorock structure in Gili Trawangan to create a coral reef and generate marine life around it. Two electrodes supplied with low voltage direct current are submerged in sea water. Electrolytic reactions at the cathode cause minerals naturally present in sea water to build up. At the same time a wide range of organisms on or near the growing substrate are affected by electrochemically-changed conditions, shifting their growth rate.
Stray or loose living corals are carefully collected from nearby damaged reefs and transplanted onto the structures. They are attached with wires or wedged between steel bars. These coral bits are quickly cemented into place by growing minerals forming over the structures surface. The reefs are electrically charged to grow.
The reef restoration project is only one phase of a bigger overall plan. The timescale of the project is many years as coral grows slowly and releases spores only once a year to repopulate other areas. However the technology ensures that the coral structures inside the project will stay healthy even in times of stress. One of the many benefits of the reef restoration project is that reef fish, schooling fish and many other marine life forms gravitate to the area. It is a fish nursery as well as a coral nursery and therefore will become an excellent snorkeling and dive site.
The location of the new artificial reefs in Gili Trawangan is all along the beach, for about 800 metres in water 6-14 metres deep. The power supply comes from the dive centres and businesses directly opposite each structure. The structures are made of steel bars 10 meters in length and 8 millimeters diameter. There is a tunnel 1,5 meters high, 10 meters long and 2,5 meters wide, and even the shape of a small plane on Gili Meno. The coral is tied up at the intersection of the bars, mostly on the top of the structures. Some steel mesh (chicken wire) is attached to some parts of the structure to provide fish habitats.
The first structures will be the beginning of the project and lots of smaller structures will be connected to the first one.
Biorock techniques and development
Damaged coral reefs take years to recover naturally. Despite conservation efforts now to address these problems, natural regeneration under existing efforts is inadequate, in part due to increasing global stresses.
In Krang Lestari Pemuteran (Protected Coral) project, hotels, dive shops, village fisher folk, scientists and conservationists did unite to, protect and restore coral reefs, increase fishery resources and develop sustainable economy for local fisherman communities, which are benefiting both tourism and local economy.
A compelling element of this pilot project is the interactive involvement of traditional community, government
and private enterprise. Its goal is to enhance tourism through conservation and protection, while contributing to the local economic benefit.
With this effort, a radical new approach to reef restoration was undertaken: Mineral Accretion literally grows reefs. This unique reef system is the brain child of scientists Professor Wolf Hilbertz and Doctor Thomas Goreau.
Artificial reef construction by means of mineral accretion, also known as third generation artificial reef systems, is a novel technology which uses electricity to grow limestone rock on artificial frames and increase growth rates of corals and other reef organisms. These resulting coral and fish nurseries have reestablished a devastated marine ecosystem in a very short time.
Two NGOs (Yayasan Karang Lestari Pemuteran and Global Reef Alliance) are responsible for this project. They are dynamic and complementary in their synergy.
The award-winning community-based coral restoration project in Pemuteran Bali is becoming one of the world’s major educational and experimental facilities to further coral reef regeneration, coastal protection and socialization of sustainable management of coral reefs ecosystems for conservation and tourism development.
This page has the following sub pages.
25 Jan 2008 phil
Gili Eco Trust update January 2009
The thousand odd people living within this Indonesian territory of Gili Trawangan near Lombok recognise their growing economic needs, want to grow tourism in a bigger way to meet those needs, and yet take personal responsibility in protecting their environment.
Over the past decade, they have seen a drop in the number of fishes in the sea. Fishermen had been throwing handmade bombs into the waters as a quick way of getting seafood to feed its own people. Our coral reefs have been badly hit as a result of the use of bombs in fishing and we realized that when reefs disappeared, so did the fish, said Pak Malek, head of the Gili Eco Trustat the opening ceremony of the 6th Biorock Workshop on Gili Trawangan from 1-7 December 2008.
But this destructive fishing is not practised anymore since we have established a marine park area (MPA) here working with the Lombok marine conservation office Kelesterian Laut (KSDA), said Delphine Robbe, manager of the Gili EcoTrust. Our corals have also been destroyed by storms, anchor drops, overfishing and compressor spare gun fishing, she said, not to mention El Nino in 1997-1998 that caused bleaching.
Knowing better now, the community has taken action. Delphine and her colleagues in the Gili Eco Trust have introduced a slew of measures. They have compensated fishermen for staying away from the MPA, installed mooring buoys, and promoted marine awareness in schools and dive shops. The Gili Eco Trust set up in 2001 by the seven Gili dive shops and a local organisation gather funds and resources to heighten marine awareness and conservation of the three Gili islands - Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air.
A major initiative is to restore demolished underwater habitats by building new coral reefs using electric powered structures or Biorock with the help of the community itself.
Community Leads, NGO Follows -
Gili Trawangan is a case study of how initiatives to make the environment a better place can come from within, and bottom up. The first Biorock trial installation took off on 20 November 2004 (source: www.balidiscovery.com) at the invitation of long-time Bali resident Cody Schwaiko, and with funding from the Vila Ombak Diving Academy backed by community support.
Dr Thomas J Goreau and the late Prof Wolf Hilbertz showed them how to build a steel structure in various shapes to create a new coral reef to bring back the fish “ and hence boost fishing livelihood “ and protect the shores from erosion. Coral reefs serve as natural hiding places for sea creatures from predators while helping themselves to lesser prey. A healthy ecosystem for butterfly fish, damsel fish, lion fish, sting rays, lobsters and even moray eels.
Then as nobody could believe it was cheap and quite easy to make, my friends Laurent Lavoye, Foued Kaddachi and I built our structure in front of Trawangan with our own money and with guidance from Tom Goreau during the 3rd Biorock workshop in Pemuteran, Bali in November 2005, said Delphine.
The following year, they organised 4th Biorock workshop in Gili Trawangan with the support of the Karang Lestari Foundation from Pemuteran, Bali, with 30 participants and TV crew from ARTE. During this workshop we built 10 more structures, said Delphine.
Two years later, the hands-on 6th Biorock workshop in December 2008 was held in Gili Trawangan again organised by Gili Eco Trust and Global Coral Reef Alliance with the support of PADI and local businesses such as dive shops, restaurants and hotels. We built 15 mores structures, 5 in the north and 10 in front of the village, said the workshop organiser Delphine, bringing the total number of structures surrounding Gili Trawangan to 28.
The latest Biorock workshop on designing, building and maintaining coral reef structures was conducted by Tom Goreau. The 52 participants remained glued through the lectures that ranged from the history of coral formation to factors for restoration success to the scientific basis of coral growth due to electrolytic reaction. Staying a week on the island to learn all about Biorock and acquire building skills were Makassar University students, foreign marine biologists, dive instructors from Argentina, Sabah and Australia, resort/dive shop operators and teachers.
As an observer, I got all dirty and wet too. I tied the structures on land, dived underwater, collected broken corals from the seabed and transplanted them to the structure underwater, fighting against sea currents and running low on air very quickly. It is hard work too, carrying heavy steel structures from the shore on to the boat, then lowering them into the water before proceeding to dive in for coral transplantation. While I discovered with glee new muscles emerging on my arms, I also basked in seeing healthy coral growth on the older structures, they were already natural habitats for the underwater creatures to live, mate and reproduce.
And all because of a bottom up approach, with the islanders taking the lead. At the workshop, Tom urged participants not to forget community-based resources as the most important success factor in establishing a long-term marine restoration project. The local people know the issues and want to restore the situation - they just need the tools and money. Because their hope is to keep the environment for their future generations, he said.
Tom highlighted the traditional top down approach with NGOs pushing their agenda on communities resulting in formation of marine protected area (MPA) and police state imposition do not tackle the root cause of coral reef degradation. Without large-scale restoration of habitat quality the fishery decline will continue even in the well-managed and funded MPAs, said Tom, adding, It just does not work.
We need grassroots democracy, said Tom.
With grassroots support and long-term commitment, the building of new reefs paves the way for restoration. Political will is first of all needed at the local level backed by historical knowledge and documentation of how the reefs used to be. The strategy is to accept the fact that the corals that we have are damaged and decide what to do about them. Technology then can serve that role if we apply it on a large scale, he said. Community-based fishery management using Biorock is presently ongoing in the Philippines and Thailand as well.
Agreeing, Badrul Munir, MM, Vice governor of Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB) talks of the urgent need to escalate the projects with greater community involvement. We need to grow new coral reefs not just around Gili Trawangan, but the 100 and more islands around here, he said. Only then can we get our fish back, said the local leader.
The government of Lombok recognises that the problem of bad fishing practices that led to beach erosion as well. We take this very seriously and have established a monitoring system daily, said Malek. When anyone spots someone throwing a bomb in, we alert the enforcement team.
This enforcement is not the police however; they are villagers who have assigned themselves with such a role. In fact, at Gili Trawangan, there is no police station or police officers. Crime is dealt the way it used to be when time began public flogging and shaming. We used to slash their faces with knives and rub salt on them, then soak them in the seawater until they beg for mercy and repent, said Ahyar Rosidi, manager of Pondok Lita where I stayed. Now we just whack them with our hands and drag them around for all to see so that they will be more careful with this person when he comes around.
Taking ownership of the island as their own home is perhaps why the crime rate in this island is low, the pathways are free of litter, public facilities are well maintained, and businesses chip in to contribute to the upkeep of the tourism standards including starting a tourism school for youths.
Gili Trawangan Tourism School
The new tourism school set up in 2008 hopes to build essential skills and training of the local community to meet the fast growing tourism industry on this island alone. We want to make sure they also have good jobs like receptionists, accountants, serving staff at restaurants and dive shop assistants and earn good pay, said Delphine, who also manages Big Bubble Dive centre.
Having a job and earning money means that the poor can thrive. It could also mean that the noticeable drug pushing when night falls is stamped out. Our village elders find it hard to prevent the youths from peddling weed because they seem not to have alternative jobs, said Rosidi, adding that he wishes for more businesses to be set up on the island to create employment and boost the economy.
The tourism school, however, lacks funds and is crippled by the lack of dedicated facilities. The 30 students who enrolled into the two- and three-year programe this year share the same compound as high school kids. According to Rosidi, only 15% of the funds come from the government under the Lombok municipality; the rest is contributed by the 70 businesses operating in the island (each giving USD4-50 a month) and from well-wishers.
We need more money so we can buy books, computers and sponsor more people studying tourism, explains Delphine. Her dive shop sells postcards, pledging 25% of sales proceeds to the tourism school fund. According to Rosidi, donations such as textbooks, plain writing books and pens will also come in handy.
Visitors making a trip to the island can contact us to find out how they can contribute to the island’s ecotourism needs and skills training.
10 RECCOMMENDATIONS FOR BEING A RESPONSIBLE TOURIST
BE A ROLE MODEL: set a good example in your own interactions with the environment and other people will follow suit.
DO NOT THROW ANYTHING IN THE TOILET: Due to the septic system, non-organic waste will fill the septic tanks causing grey water to flow into the land and sea. This will increase pollution and kill our fragile underwater eco-system.
REFILL YOUR’E WATER BOTTLE: contribute to the waste management and help us recycle plastic by re-using your water bottle with a refill. It will also save you money and is an easy way to be green !
SAVE WATER: turn the water off when you are not using it, we live on a small island with very limited fresh water, so please be conservative.
SWITCH OFF AC, FAN, LIGHTS WHEN YOU LEAVE YOUR ROOM: the electricity comes from petrol generators on the Gili islands. Do not waste the energy as the island can barely cope already.
THROW RUBBISH IN THE BINS PROVIDED: encourage responsible behaviour by walking a few extra steps to collect rubbish and throw it in a bin.
DO NOT COLLECT SEA SHELLS FROM THE OCEAN OR THE BEACH: they are live animals and taking them out of their environment will kill them. Hermit crabs will look for new and bigger sea shells from the beach as they grow up, collecting sea shell will leave the hermit crab homeless.
DO NOT TOUCH OR WALK ON THE REEF: coral and other animals are very fragile organisms and grow very slowly. Interacting with the ocean ecosystem will damage it. Please respect their space and only watch from a distance.
REPORT ENVIRONMENTAL DISTURBANCE OR DESTRUCTION: touching aquatic life, walking on reefs, anchoring, and throwing plastic are usually done in ignorance. Help these people to understand that their behaviour is not eco-appropriate by explaining how we can respect and look after our environment.
GET INVOLVED IN LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVITIES AND ISSUES: You may feel you can’t save the world, but you can have a great impact on the corner of the planet in which you live or spend your holidays. There are plenty of opportunities to show your support for a clean environment, including local beach cleanups, good eco role model behaviour, education of local people about rubbish and plastic, and supporting ecological activities with your energy or money……
The Gili Eco Trust
Next Clean Up Daywill be on the 9th of October: be ready to register and clean Trawangan island with the local kids from the school as well as with the support of SATGAS, Janur Indah, FMPL and many more residsents and businesses who care!
if you are a diver, get a free dive to collect marine debris and record your datas to PADI Project Aware. at the end of the day, we will meet up all together for a nice meal and party in Sama-Sama bar and Bungalows.
The Gili Eco Trust was set up in 2002 to support local efforts from SATGAS (local security) to protect the Gili islands. The seven dive centres of Gili Trawangan reached an agreement with a local organization and began collecting a small fee from each diver. The Eco Trust then established a cutting-edge reef restoration program.
The BioRock projects that lie directly off the beaches on the east of the island are artificial structures that stimulate coral growth with the use of a small electric current. The Gili islands are now home to twenty-one BioRock structures. Ask at your dive center for more information on this pioneering project.
Through the Gili Eco Trust, each diver continues to help to conserve our recovering marine environment; Eco Trust money supports local fishermen to enable them to fish further a field, taking pressure off the immediate area. As you dive or snorkel through the waters around these islands, you will see the evidence of marine populations recovering.
The Gili Eco Trust is currently expanding its programs. New directions include education and awareness initiatives, as well as projects that will help the local community to realise a sustainable future despite the pressure of increased visitor numbers. We are working to ensure that these islands will be able to support their communities while attracting international visitors for years to come. While your financial backing is vital in enabling us to continue our work, your behavior in terms of your impact on the island is even more important. On land please make sure that you use the bins provided for all your rubbish (including your cigarette ends!) and on your dives please be careful of where you are putting your fins and fingers. Remember that marine life is there to be observed and admired, not hassled or collected!
As you enjoy your time here, we ask you to be aware of how delicate this ecosystem is. Help us to ensure that future generations have this same privileged opportunity….