When we took the kids of Kabare snorkeling, it was difficult for us to find an area of decent reef - an area that had not been ripped up. Once we did find a spot, it was dominated by fragile, branching-type corals... not the massif corals that make up the foundation of healthy reefs, and also, as it turns out, good solid foundations for houses.
The scale of the coral mining was unprecedented... scary. And even scarier was the AWARENESS and apathy. Just a few hundred metres away from where we took the kids snorkeling were piles of coral ready for loading to bring to shore... When we asked the people that came in the boat to pick it up if they were aware of the impacts of coral mining, their answer lead us to believe that they were at least partially aware of how devastating it could be for the community if the reefs were completely ruined. They said those were the last ones, and that the community had decided to stop the coral mining, but yet they continued.
In each of the villages we visited in North Waigeo, the streets were lined with piles of coral that had been pulled up from the reefs and were set to become roads, streets, foundations and walls...
In part I blame the Indonesian government poverty index which holds as one of their indicators the type of houses families live in - wooden houses are for the poor and cement houses are for the rich it says. The ironic thing, in my opinion, is that from a safety and comfort standpoint, these houses aren't the best or most practical for the local element... Wooden homes are much cooler and allow for some air circulation in this over-heated environment. I remember during the Jogja earthquake, going around afterward as part of the medical mission, and seeing entire communities of flattened brick and cement homes, with the only shelters left standing being that of the cattle, because they were made out of flexible bamboo which withstood the earthquake!?
Hopefully this new generation of Raja Ampat youth, with the influence of our program, will not only have a better understanding of the devastation coral mining causes, but also care enough about it to stop the practice! This goes for all the issues facing conservation as far as I'm concerned... including the unsustainable development practices and lack of facilities I've blogged about before in these past blogs:
- Why Sigh? - The new capital of Waisai and its garbage problem
- Division - Transmigration slated for Papua
- Avatar - Similarities with the Papua situation
- Kaliyam & Wailebet - Forest Destruction, Turtle Consumption and Fish Bombers
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