Riung
Nusa Tenggara
The area known as 17-islands in the district of Riung North of central Flores was established in 1996 as a marine protected area. It includes a marine nature reserve (2,000 ha) and a tourism reserve (9,900 ha) and a terrestrial component (about 4,000 ha) established in 1992.
WWF has worked in the area as part of its poverty alleviation project to provide technical support to the protected area management authority for an number of issues:
- Surveys and research on the ecologic status of reefs, seagrass and mangrove ecosystems
- Rehabilitation of coral and mangrove habitats with community participation
- Establishing a pelagic fish aggregation device (FAD) in support of fishers moving from reefs to open waters (with double function as a floating ranger station for enforcement)
- Participatory surveillance against destructive fisheries within the protected area and
- Facilitating a multi stakeholder process and cross visits for collaborative management.
- As a result, especially the district government now significantly improves management.