By: Veronica Louhenapessy

Eleven tourists were amazed by the beauty of Bair Island, some even called it "Mini Raja Ampat". Renando Rejaan or Ido reminded them not to throw garbage at the site and not to step on corals and touch marine life while swimming. Ido is a member of Ohoidertawun Evav Tour, a local trip operator from Kei Kecil that has received coaching from WWF-Indonesia.

It all started with the participation of a group of young people from Ohoidertawun along with their colleagues from Ohoi Ngilngof and Ohoililir in the Reef Based Tourism training organized by WWF-Indonesia, last May 2015. During the training, they were taught how to responsibly promote tourist attractions and were equipped with skills.

Shortly after the training, the Ohoidertawun youth group began to form a group and network with Triptrus - a specialized tourism market place that helps many local trip operators assisted by WWF-Indonesia - and the Bal Sorbay women's group who are also engaged in tourism. The sweet name they gave to their trip operator is Ohoidertawun Evav Tour, named after the region they live in.

Their hard work in networking and promoting the beauty of the Kei Islands is paying off. Ohoidertawun Evav Tour's flagship location has even been reviewed by Triptrus.

Guests start arriving in July, August and are planned until December 2015. No need to spend too much to enjoy the beauty of the Kei Islands with the Evav Tour group. Just Rp 2.9 million per person for a minimum package of 10 people for 4 days and 3 nights, tourists can already enjoy wildlife watching (birds and turtles), beautiful beaches with fine white sand, culinary delights of the Kei Islands, and snorkeling.

From the estimated visitors targeted with TripTrus until now 50% of the target tourists have made reservations for tour packages to the Kei Islands for September-November 2015. For Ohoidertawun Evav Tour, their initiative in this tourism business not only provides income but is also a tool to strengthen better natural management procedures. Slowly, the trip organizers are sensitizing the community not to use destructive methods in catching fish. In addition to reducing fish populations, the use of bombs and poisons can damage coral reefs, which are the mainstay of marine tourism.

Not only Bair Island was the destination of the eleven tourists when visiting the Kei Islands in mid-August. They also had the opportunity to visit Evu natural baths and Hawang Cave, Ngodan Island, Ngaf Island, Bair Island, Luvat Cave, Ngur Tavur Beach, snorkeling locations on Ohoieu Island and Pasir Panjang Beach, and Masbait Hill.

To promote local values, guests are also taken to local communities such as the Nen Te Idar Group to buy souvenirs in the form of Kei specialty food, enbal, which is made from a type of cassava that contains poison, but is processed by removing the water content so that the cassava is suitable for consumption. Enbal can be processed into fried enbal, enbal bubuhuk, enbal plates, and enbal flour to wrap fried bananas.

"I was amazed by the enthusiasm of Ido and his friends, even though it was a bit awkward. And knowledge about tourist spots in Kei needs to be deepened again," said Fahmi, one of the tourists. Ido was also happy, his hard work made tourists satisfied to enjoy the natural beauty of Kei. "I have learned a lot through the assistance of WWF-Indonesia, I can become a local trip operator in Kei, I also got a job. Most importantly, I became more inspired to love nature more."