East Flores does not want to be left behind by Alor's success in establishing a Regional Marine Protected Area (MPA). Currently Alor District, East Nusa Tenggara, has entered the management plan stage, which means that there are only a few steps left before finally an area of 400 thousand hectares is designated as an MPA by the government in accordance with the Ministerial Regulation (Permen) of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KP) Number 30 of 2010 concerning Management Plans and Zoning of Marine Protected Areas. East Flores Regency has reserved about 150,000 hectares of its 600,000 hectare area, or about 1/4 of its area, to be designated as MPAs.

The local government together with WWF-Indonesia and other important partners such as TMO (Tourist Management Organization - a non-profit organization engaged in tourism), Larantuka Institute of Teacher Training and Technology (academics), and Siolagera (a non-profit organization engaged in environmental education), is currently working on various research on map delineation (depiction of important locations in the form of maps), research on coral reefs, research on tourism potential, data collection on community outreach and empowerment, fisheries data, data on destructive fisheries threats (bombs, potash, etc.), and other spatial data covering ecology, social, and economy.

Later on, the proposed MPA area will be generated by formulating the above factors in consultation with all elements of the community and will be socialized to all village locations starting in February 2013. An important target of these villages is the location of communities within the proposed area. The main objective of the socialization is to ensure that all communities have a common perception of the MPA and to ensure that they understand the concept of the MPA so that miscommunication and conflict can be minimized as much as possible.

East Flores has an important fisheries area and is the largest in NTT after Kupang, Maumere, Larantuka, and Atapupu. Fisheries production in East Flores includes Tuna commodities, especially Yellowfin Tuna (Thunnus albacares), both in the form of whole logs, as well as the results of advanced processes such as loin, pocket form or cube. Export destinations for tuna fisheries in the region include the United States and Japan, with at least four large export industries. The improvement of the fisheries sector included in the MPA management strategy is one of the efforts to target Europe as the next export destination because the selling price there is quite high. However, the requirements of the European market are strict because they require sustainable management and the origin of tuna fishing that can be traced (traceability).

In the future, the results of MPA management can improve the quality of fishery products instead of increasing quantity. The estimated price of tuna per December 2012 was 28,000 - 29,000 Rupiah per kg, whereas with sustainable management the price could have a better bargaining position up to about twice as much. Another challenge for the management of this MPA in the future is the eradication of destructive fisheries such as the use of bombs and pot poison for reef fish commodities (grouper, snapper, etc.). (ar)

Contact: Ridha Hakim, Nusa Tenggara Program Leader - WWF, rhakim@wwf.or.id.