SCIENCE FOR THE CONSERVATION OF COASTAL ECOSYSTEM:
CASE STUDY ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEAGRASS MANAGEMENT
DEMONSTRATION SITE AT THE EAST BINTAN COASTAL AREA

M. Hutomo* and T.E. Kuriandewa
Indonesia Institute of Science, Jakarta, Indonesia
E-mail: indo-seagrass@centrin.net.id


This article shows the process in developing a proposal of seagrass
management at East Bintan. The East Bintan seagrass bed covers large area and
surrounded by several villages, hamlets and resort sites. Therefore, the priority
seagrass sites should be selected in order to be able to manage effectively. A set of
criteria which include ecological and socio-economic variables were developed as a
tool for selecting the seagrass priority sites. A survey of seagrass inventory and its
associated organism as well as mapping was conducted in 2004. A socio-economic
survey on the community profile of the surrounding villages including threats on the
seagrass was also conducted.. The data collected during the survey were used as
input in developing the selection criteria. The ecological and socio-economic criteria
were divided into several sub-criteria, and each sub-criteria was divided into several
indicators. Each sub-criteria and indicators were then weighted and scored. The
maximum total amount of weigh and score are 100. Of the eight seagrass sites
identified, the three seagrass sites having highest score were chosen as priority to
be managed, i.e. Tanjung Berakit. Malang Rapat and Teluk Bakau seagrass beds..
Anthropogenic causes of the threats can be summarized as uncontrolled soil/sand
mining on land and seabed, as well as increasing and inappropriately treated waste
water discharge from domestic and emerging tourism sources. Further direct threats
to the seagrass habitats include destructive fishing methods such as blast fishing
and fish poisoning and over-fishing. Without effective and integrated interventions,
degradation trends in this regionally significant seagrass habitat and associated
biodiversity will accelerate. Causal chain analysis of threats was conducted to
identify the root causes of threats. The identified root causes were used to identify
interventions which are considered to able to address the threats. The identified
interventions were used as basis to develop project components which are then to
be divided into sub-components and activities. There are three project components
were identified i.e.: (1). Improving the management of seagrass and associated
habitats that consist of four sub-components and ten project activities; (2)
Awareness raising and capacity building, consisting of four sub-components and 11
project activities; and (3) Promoting environmentally sustainable economic activities
that consist of two sub-components and six project activities. A set of indicators of
the project impact within 24-36 months period) had been developed to evaluate the
success of the project i.e. (1) The area of uncontrolled soil/sand mining on land and
seabed reduced by 50%; (2) The amount of solid waste littered on the beach
reduced by 20%; (3) At least one community-based seagrass sanctuary established
by each of the three selected seagrass sites.

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