IAN helping to plan and establish multiple Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Indonesia

Jane Thomas from IAN has been in Bali working with The Nature Conservancy (TNC). Together with Conservation International and World Wildlife Fund, TNC has been helping the Indonesian government to plan and establish multiple Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Bird's Head/Raja Ampat region of Indonesia's West Papua province. This region is in the heart of the Coral Triangle, which is the center of the highest coral diversity in the world. Surveys around Raja Ampat show that this area has the highest marine biodiversity on earth. IAN has been working with TNC to develop a series of conceptual diagrams depicting the benefits of MPAs for the reefs and wildlife, and the communities that depend on them for sustenance and livelihood. The major threats to the Bird's Head/Raja Ampat region are unsustainable fishing (including longlines, shark finning, dynamite and cyanide fishing), logging (causing erosion), and mining.

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