“As 2018 has been set as an International Year of Coral Reefs, it is the right moment to celebrate and reflect on the marine conservation efforts that we have done in the past one decade. It is also a great momentum to lookat the future and carefully plan our steps now towards future goals for better marine conservation in the SBS and Indonesia in general.”
Marine Program Director, WWF-Indonesia
The Sunda Banda Seascape is part of the global epicenter of tropical marine biodiversity, within the Coral Triangle in Indonesia. Along with Bird’s Head Seascape (BHS), the SBS region is considered by the MMAF as one of the most important marine regions for biodiversity. The region is geographically delineated from two marine ecoregions, the Lesser Sunda marine ecoregion and Banda Sea marine ecoregion. The SBS region, which covers a vast area of 151 million ha, comprised of approximately 5,000 small islands, consists of three subseascapes: Lesser Sunda Subseascape (LSS), Southern Eastern Sulawesi Subseascape (SESS), and Inner Banda Arc Subseascape (IBAS). The SBS contains high diversity and densities of coral and fish species, and also provides critical habitats and migration routes for many charismatic species like sea turtles and cetaceans. These natural resources serve as a primary source of livelihoods and support the food security of millions of coastal communities across seven Indonesian provinces: Bali, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Sulawesi Selatan, Sulawesi Tengah, Sulawesi Tenggara and Maluku. Similar to other areas in the Coral Triangle, natural resources in the SBS region are at risk from a number of anthropogenic threats due to coastal development and exploitation of marine resources. These include overfishing, illegal and unsustainable fishing practices and pollution.
With its high biodiversity and abundance of marine resources, the SBS region is considered a top conservation priority in Indonesia. The Indonesian government in close collaboration with NGOs, civil societies, universities and private companies, has put substantial effort into protecting and managing this region over the last decade. Since 2008 there has been a rapid increase in the number of Indonesian MPAs, driven by MMAF decree No. 4/2014. Establishing new MPAs is important to provide the spatial links needed to maintain ecological processes and connectivity, as well as improve resilience by spreading risk in the case of localized disasters, climate change, failures in management or other hazards, and thus help to ensure the long-term sustainability of populations better than single sites (NRC 2000). Collaboration between individual MPA managers through MPA networks is one recent approach to improve MPA effectiveness.
As of December 2017, a total of 85 MPAs has been initiated and established in the SBS region, covering a vast area of 9.6 million ha (Annex 1). These MPAs were developed with various objectives and functions, with shifting emphasis from initially protecting biodiversity to now promoting sustainable fisheries and livelihoods. Kasa Island, located in Maluku Province, was the first MPA established in the region. Of the 85 MPAs, 44 are managed by MMAF and 41 are managed by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF). Between 2011 and 2017, the number of MPAs within SBS managed by MMAF rapidly increased, from 14 to 44; the number under the management of MoEF remained stable after 2011 (Fig. 2). The majority of these MPAs are located in the provinces of Nusa Tenggara Barat, Sulawesi Tenggara, and Maluku.
The most recent science-based assessment occurred in 2017, recording the status of 22 indicators grouped within five domains, which includes: (1) enabling conditions, (2) human well-being, (3) ecosystem health, (4) fish and fisheries, and (5) governance, across marine protected areas (MPAs) in the SBS region. Each indicator is evaluated at MPA level and then scored at the subseascape level using three categories: ‘above average/optimal’, ‘average/ acceptable’, and ‘below average/below optimal’. This assessment, and a summary report, can be found below:
State of the Sunda Banda Seascape Marine Protected Area Network, 2017