"If you can stick it, if you can't stick it, you can just throw it away. If you can fix the net, you can fix it, but if not, you can just throw it away," said a Konda fisherman when WWF-Indonesia's Director of Marine and Fisheries, Imam Mustofa, asked about the trammel nets scattered under the fish storage camp. Hundreds of unusable fishing nets were neatly tied to the wooden poles. These nets became a menace called ghost net, scattered along with garbage around Konda beach.

The Marine Protected Area (MPA) in South Sorong, known as the Teo Enebikia River MPA, is famous for its shrimp commodity. However, shrimp fishermen have been complaining about the large amount of plastic waste caught in the nets, reducing their catch. The plastic waste that accumulates on the coast of South Sorong comes from the local community due to the lack of knowledge of coastal communities about waste management, coupled with the consumptive nature of the community towards an item that leaves a residue or disposable. In the end, this abandoned waste has a negative impact on the local community who mostly work as fishermen.

Hearing the waste issue, WWF-Indonesia as the implementing partner of the USAID Sustainable Ecosystems Advanced (USAID SEA) Project in collaboration with the Greater Sorong Waste Bank, the River Lovers Community and the River Srikandi Community provided Socialization on Plastic Waste Processing to people living along the river, especially in Sayolo, Ampera, Konda and Wamargege Villages and invited them to clean up waste on the coast. The collected waste is then sorted by type, with recyclable waste separated from non-recyclable waste. "For net waste, there is currently no recycling tool in Indonesia, at least, we can reprocess the net into other products such as shopping baskets, roofs, and so on," said Tommy, a representative from the Sorong Raya Waste Bank.

As a follow-up to this socialization, the Teo Enebikia River MPA Initiation Team is collaborating with the Environmental Agency to build cooperation with the Sorong Raya Waste Bank to open a Waste Bank Branch Unit. Thus, the community in South Sorong who has started to reduce and sort waste is also supported by the local Environmental Agency, to be able to process household waste in South Sorong into the Waste Bank Unit for recycling. The Initiation Team hopes that the Waste Bank Unit, supported by the local agency and community, can be one of the solutions to reduce plastic waste in the water area and reduce interference in fisheries activities.

Socialization was also conducted to representatives of elementary and junior high school students in Teminabuan and Konda in the "Coastal Class" activity. The socialization material delivered to elementary and junior high school students was not only about maintaining cleanliness, but also introducing the mangrove ecosystem around them by going around the river by boat. During the trip, they also met fishermen who practiced how to use shrimp and mangrove crab fishing gear. "By introducing the natural environment from an early age, it is hoped that the motivation of the students can increase of course to participate in protecting the natural resources in the environment they live in," said one of the teachers who also participated in the socialization.

Terianus Wugaje, secretary of the Teo Enebikia River MPA Initiation Team, said "school children should not only learn about the environment through books but they should see it firsthand." According to Terianus, witnessing the mangrove forest, the river, the animals that live in it, and how they are interconnected, can foster a love for the environment. In addition, the students also learned about the mangrove ecosystem through a game of snakes and ladders, "This kind of method will be easily remembered by the children, because they are playing while learning," said Johanes Regoy, a community leader who also teaches young children in Teminabuan Village.

This series of socialization is expected to increase the awareness of people from all walks of life about the existence and management of the Teo Enebikia River MPA that is being established in South Sorong. The socialization will continue to be carried out by WWF-Indonesia together with the community leaders of South Sorong, of course, using methods and media that are suitable for the community. Currently, the MPA Initiation Team is preparing a radio broadcast program in collaboration with RRI Teminabuan, to disseminate important information about conservation areas and sustainable fisheries.