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New hope for Karey Village and Aru Tenggara marine protected area

GEF-UNDP/PEMSEA Arafura and Timor Seas Ecosystem Action Programme

By IW:LEARN

October 26^th, 2020

The Indonesian village of Karey may not be located in the Aru Tenggara (or Southeast Aru) Marine Protected Area (MPA), but their petuanan (or territories where customary communities collect/manage resources from land and marine areas) spreads across half of the MPA. Because of this, the Southeast Aru MPA, set in the Aru Islands Regency, Maluku Province, is a key source of livelihoods for all of its neighboring communities.

Using small long boats, Karey villagers are always on the lookout for white snapper due to the high price of its swim bladder. The swim bladder has a long record of being the main material for medical surgery threads. Both men and women from the village go fishing, sometimes for days. They still use the traditional fishing method of using a four-inch net and bartering as their trading system. Locally, sea cucumber is a common substitute for currency in exchange for basic supplies such as rice. They also sell their catch to Dobo, Aru’s capital city, through container ships.

It is no surprise then that Karey Villagers know the importance of protecting the MPA for sustainability and future generations to come. They know exactly the core zones that are prohibited — Enu Island and Karang Island, as the two are believed to be the origin of Aru’s people. Enu and Karang Islands are both protected by the Indonesian law in accordance to Presidential Decree No. 6/ 2017 on the Determination of Outermost Small Islands.

Karey villagers have been implementing a customary law called “sasi” since 2007. Whenever they encounter a decrease of ocean catch, they will implement sasi for the coming two years - which could mean eliminating or stopping fishing activities, or simply not catching specific species (such as lobster, sea cucumber and abalone), whichever would be relevant to the situation. Violation of sasi will be subject to sanctions through customary law, such as cleaning places of worship, or paying a fine. This applies to both the internal community and foreign fishermen. The sasi tradition contributes to the biodiversity conservation efforts of the area.

At large, the Aru Islands hosts more than 500 small islands. It holds the MPA status due to: its rich biodiversity both on land and sea; a habitat to endangered and endemic species, specifically turtles; a spawning area; and great natural conditions. Southeast Aru MPA is under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Category IV, a protected area that conserve ecosystems and habitats, together with associated cultural values and traditional natural resource management systems.

Men are not the only breadwinner in Aru.

The ATSEA-2 project focuses on facilitating the improvement of Southeast Aru MPA management effectiveness, especially for better engagement of local communities. The project, in collaboration with partners, has been doing resource use monitoring since last year. The ATSEA-2 project will continue support to improving livelihood through: Ecosystem-based Approach Fisheries Management (EAFM) that combines local wisdom and modern knowledge; Fisheries Improvement Projects (FIP); value chain analysis; market fisheries; and provide support to eliminate illegal turtle trade.

Rajab Tuberfon, the Head of Karey Village, is very happy that ATSEA-2 project brings a new hope for the enhancement of Aru’s MPA management unit and more community involvement opportunities in the future. The community has already formed a surveillance group, yet they realize the lack of capacity. Tuberfon expects joint surveillance in the future with Aru’s working unit, on both conservation and transboundary areas. He hopes that the government will start building more security posts to maximize the collaboration.

About the ATSEA-2 Project

ATSEA-2 is the second phase of the Arafura & Timor Seas Ecosystem Action (ATSEA) Programme and a regional partnership involving the Governments of Indonesia, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea with the support of the Australian Government in order to collectively manage high marine and fisheries resources in the Arafura and Timor Seas (ATS). The ATSEA-2 Programme started in 2019 and aims to promote sustainable development in the ATS region to improve the quality of life of its inhabitants through restoration, conservation and sustainable management of marine-coastal ecosystem as one of the area with highest productivity in the region to ensure the implementation of integrated concept, sustainable, and prosperity of the coastal people in transboundary area. ATSEA-2 is a Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded programme and managed under United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as executing partner and Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) Resource Facility (PRF) as implementing partner.

New hope for Karey Village and Aru Tenggara marine protected area

For more information on the Arafura and Timor Seas Ecosystem Action Programme please contact the Project Manager, Handoko Susanto (hasusanto@pemsea.org) and visit the project page on iwlearn.net and the project website.