(Kalabahi, Alor - 9/5/2019) The existence of the Marine Protected Area (MPA) of the Pantar Strait and Surrounding Sea in Alor Regency aims to manage the sustainable use of area resources in terms of fisheries, tourism, education, transportation, research and other activities. This area was designated in 2015 by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. After the designation, the next stage is the establishment of the East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province Marine and Fisheries Branch Office (KCD) as the MPA management center in Alor in January 2019.

"In the future, matters regarding licensing activities, management of marine space and conservation, and supervision of marine and fisheries resources can be coordinated with the KCD Alor," explained Muhammad Saleh Goro - Head of the KCD Alor Regency. The existence of the KCD Alor is expected to bring services closer and reach the implementation tasks of the NTT Provincial Marine Fisheries Service based on the mandate of Law Number 23 Year 2014. The KCD in Alor is special because it is a KKP KCD established in an archipelago district, unlike the Flotim-Sikka-Lembata KCD which is in one part of Flores.

In the opening meeting of the Socialization of Marine and Fisheries KCD of NTT Province in Alor Regency and Dissemination of Resource Use Monitoring (RUM) Results, May 9, 2019 at Pulo Alor Hotel. The Regent of Alor, Amon Djobo, expressed support for the existence of conservation areas. "We need to assemble data to be the basis for the program. The potential for seaweed is quite extensive, as well as dugong conservation on Sika Island and Baranusa - this is an added value for the region," he said.

The Head of KCD also talked about inter-authority cooperation in Alor, for example in terms of marine tourism. In terms of authority, the District Government can manage tourism on land, while the Provincial Government manages MPAs (East Nusa Tenggara Governor Regulation No. 21/2018). In the future, there is a need to sit together to determine revenue sharing in MPAs.

Collaboration as Management Solution

According to Alexander S. Tanody, NTT Provincial Marine Conservation Council, there is room for all parties to engage in partnerships and collaboration. "Conservation is a tool to manage, to keep nature sustainable. Based on scientific studies, by protecting 30% of the resources we have, we can restore the existing ones for sustainability," he said.

He also said that MPA management has a mission to support community welfare, regional development, and environmental sustainability. "Rich communities, sustainable environment, sustainable development. Community empowerment is part of conservation. Because if the community is still destructive (especially in fishing and tourism) it will not have a good impact."

KKP in Alor Regency has a cross-sectoral scope of work. The goal is to have good management in terms of fisheries, tourism, important protected species, and education. "Therefore, in the management of regional marine protected areas, networking and management partnerships are needed. The main way is collaboration, there needs to be networking between fields, between stakeholders. Empowerment through CSR with non-governmental organizations, dive operators and tour guides," he continued.

One form of collaboration that is being carried out is the implementation of RUM in the Pantar Strait SAP and the surrounding sea, Alor Regency on March 21-23, 2019. Monitoring was carried out inside and outside the conservation area. The team consisted of inter-agencies in the Alor Regency and NTT Province, namely the Navy, DKP NTT, BBKSDA NTT, DKP Alor, Alor Police, Tribuana University Kalabahi, Pokmaswas Pante Deere Village, Pokmaswas Kabola Village, Pokmaswas Munaseli Village, and WWF-Indonesia.

"The recorded mobile resource users are 43 fishermen within the conservation area. No tourists were found either inside or outside the conservation area," Veronica Louhenapessy, Fisheries Officer Alor WWF-Indonesia explained in her presentation. Monitoring was carried out on eight tracks along 30 km inside the marine protected area, and 1 track outside the area. "Based on monitoring, the type of fleet/vessel most widely used (fishermen) is a boat without an engine. Other fleets are vessels

There are still some violations that occur during monitoring activities. There were zoning violations, taking protected marine life (clams), and using compressors as fishing aids. Coaching of the perpetrators of these violations has been carried out by members of the monitoring team who have the authority.

In addition to being one of the tools to conduct surveillance in Pantar Strait SAP and the surrounding sea, this RUM study is also useful to determine the level of community understanding related to conservation areas. One of the recommendations from this study is to increase public understanding of the Pantar Strait SAP conservation area and its surroundings.

Management Challenges

As part of the monitoring team for resource utilization in the Pantar Strait SAP and its surrounding sea, there are several challenges faced. "The community's understanding of the existence of the conservation area is still limited, requiring thorough socialization. Monitoring (in the future) must be done regularly, it needs to be handled together. Collaboration also needs to be done with law enforcement officials - Polair and Navy, so that what happens in the field can be handled," said Rasid R. Hans - PSDKP Kupang.

Lack of knowledge about the zoning in the conservation area was also confirmed by the Head of KCD Alor. "Sport fishing is still widely practiced in Rusa Island, even though the location is a core zone - absolute protection and research zone". There are 4 zones in the SAP waters conservation area of Pantar Strait and the surrounding sea, namely the core zone, sustainable fisheries zone, tourism utilization zone, and other zones (protection).

The solution that we can do is to hold regular meetings. "Internal district governments must meet each other, we schedule capacity building, knowledge, and strengthen commitment in carrying out authority," said Jasril Sinaro, Commander of the Kalabahi Navy Post. This agenda is considered very necessary by the meeting participants, considering that there are many things that must be agreed upon and implemented for better management of Alor's conservation areas. "The existence of conservation areas will be fully beneficial, if the main mission is accomplished: the community is rich, the environment is sustainable and development is running," Alexander Tanody concluded.