A new non-government organisation (NGO) has launched to support a marine protected area (MPA) in Bintan, Indonesia.
The East Bintan MPA was set up to protect the biodiverse island group near Singapore in 2022, but it has been compromised by limited funding and increasing industrial activity.
Named Yayasan Lentera Permata Biru, or Blue Lantern in Bahasa Indonesia, the new non-profit aims to raise awareness in the local community and tourism sector about the importance of an effective MPA and how to achieve it in an area impacted by heavy industry.
There are various forms of MPAs – with the East Bintan MPA being multiple-use, including a no-take zone where all fishing and resource extraction is prohibited and areas for traditional fishing and tourism.
The East Bintan area is also home to a massive aluminium smelter and has been historically affected by bauxite mining that has caused extensive sediment pollution.
Startup costs for Blue Lantern will be funded by private island eco-resorts Nikoi and Cempedak, whose guests will be encouraged to donate to help manage the MPA.
Over the long term, Blue Lantern plans to develop funding partnerships with local and international organisations which support MPA development and ocean conservation, including other tourism operators in the Riau archipelago as well as philanthropists and foundations, said Lilly Gilbert, a conservation finance specialist who helped set up the NGO.
It will be run by marine scientist Alexandra Waskita, who will lead a team of five including former Konservasi Indonesia executive Yusuf Rumaida, who previously worked on managing the MPA.
Funding generated from the NGO will go towards enforcement, monitoring, fuel, manpower and scientific surveys.
Blue Lantern launches a few weeks after the Riau Islands provincial government established a Badan Layanan Umum Daerah (BLUD), a special management unit to manage marine conservation areas in the province, which covers approximately 1.7 million hectares.
The BLUD allows the managing authority to legally collect, manage, and directly reinvest entrance and conservation fees, which exists in other marine parks such as the famous Raja Ampat reserve in West Papua.
Over the long term, the BLUD will manage the East Bintan MPA and raise funds from tourism, private sector companies and nature-based financing.
To date, the East Bintan MPA has relied on funding support from Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries and conversation NGOs.
Shrinking marine park
Established six years ago, the Bintan MPA initially covered 185,078 hectares, but was reduced by 25 per cent in size before it was enforced.
A guitar-shaped hole in the MPA accommodates a shipping lane for supplying heavy industry, including an aluminium processing plant owned by Chinese firm PT Bintan Alumina Indonesia (PT BAI). The aluminium plant is located outside of the MPA.
Among the threats to the marine park is an expanded industrial park owned by PT BAI that is planned for Pulau Poto, a 1,000-hectare island of forests and mangroves inhabited by 150 people. It is located directly opposite luxury island resort Cempedak island.
The guitar-shaped area surrounded by green, which marks protected areas, shows how the marine protected area has changed. Source: Konservasi Indonesia
The development on Poto will be an extension of PT BAI’s aluminium processing plant in the Galang Batang special economic zone on Bintan’s east coast, which stretches across 4,579 hectares (ha) of land and processes around 2 million tonnes of bauxite a year.
The planned industrial park will include a steel processing plant, petrochemicals refinery, ship repair yard built on reclaimed land and a cargo port, according to documents seen by Eco-Business.
One of the first programmes led by the new NGO will be a stakeholder forum involving PT BAI staff, local fishing communities and local tourism operators.
Marine scientists working on Cempedak point to the high biodiversity of the area despite heavy industrial activity. A study by the Maritime University of Raja Ali Haji (UMRAH) in 2020 estimates that US$47 billion in ecosystem services could be lost if the industrial park is built on Poto island.
Much of the ecosystem value of Poto is locked in its mangroves, which cover 410 ha of the island, as well as tropical forests.
The yellow blocks indicate mammal sightings around Pulau Poto [click to enlarge] in 2020, according to a study by Maritime University of Raja Ali Haji. Image: UMRAH
UMRAH’s study found that marine mammals including Irrawaddy dolphins, Asian small-clawed otters and dugongs were frequent visitors to Poto, and 19 species that are classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature live in the area, including the Silver Leaf Monkey and Sunda Pangolin.
A recent expedition by marine biologists including Indonesian Nesha Ichida found various species of fish, including a gobi, sand diver and grub fish, that could be endemic to the area.
Asyafa Mutia, a marine biologist who works on Cempedak, told Eco-Business during a visit to the area in 2024 that the impact of the development on species living in the area, such as bamboo sharks, dolphins and dugong, will likely be significant.
Filter-feeding species such as giant clams, sea cucumber and sea stars have already been affected by bauxite mining on Bintan, while many fish species were overfished before the establishment of an MPA, she said.
