Prosiding: Seminar nasional membangun Kabupaten Teluk Bintuni berbasis sumberdaya alam.

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The principles of sustainable management of marine capture fisheries and the protection of biodiversity are established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and its implementing agreement (1). Building on these, Agenda 21, released after the UN “Earth Summit” in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI) from the 2002 summit, set quantitative and qualitative targets relating to the marine environment (see the table). Unfortunately, implementation of many of these commitments has been difficult, ineffective, or practically nonexistent.

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The Asia and Pacific region has some of the largest and most diverse ecosystems on earth. The Coral  Triangle boasts an astonishing 3,000 species of fish and harbours 76% of the world’s coral species. In the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), 1,200 new species have been discovered in the past 20 years, while on the island of Borneo, scientists have discovered 600 new species in that same time span. The Himalayan mountain range is another biodiversity hotspot with an incredible spectrum of flora and fauna, and the Eastern Himalayas are the source of freshwater for one billion people in the region. Despite the rich natural capital in the region, this report reveals that biodiversity is in decline in all types of ecosystems, including in forests, rivers and oceans, with the rate of species loss about twice the global average. Furthermore, data presented on ecological footprints and biocapacities shows that the Asia and Pacific region has a “biocapacity deficit”. This means that countries in the region use more biologically productive land and sea to support the  consumption of food, fibre and energy, as well as to build infrastructure and absorb carbon dioxide emissions, than is available within the region. This shortfall can only be made up by importing natural resources or by continuing to deplete natural capital, which has significant economic and environmental implications, including rising commodity prices and worsening degradation of natural resources. The loss of natural capital in the region is the result of numerous factors associated with human activity. These range from the clear cutting of primary forests to make way for plantations and agricultural land to the dynamiting of coral reefs to catch fish. In Borneo, for instance, an average of 850,000 hectares of forest has disappeared every year over the last 25
years. Similarly, deforestation has been a major issue in the GMS, with 8.5 million ha lost between 1990 and 2005. In the last 40 years, the Coral Triangle has lost 40% of its coral reefs, and 80% of the spawning aggregations of reef fish has disappeared or declined. Meanwhile, among many other impacts, climate change is accelerating the melting of glaciers in the Himalayan region, threatening regional water and energy security
and raising concerns regarding disaster impacts.

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One new site was added in the northwest, at Masacre Bay.
The mean benthic cover for all 12 sites was unchanged from 2005 to 2007. All differences between years of all benthic categories were less than 3%, and due to random chance. Thus, there was no loss of corals, but also no evidence of increase in corals. This does not provide support for the view that the reefs are actively recovering from previous disturbances, rather, they appear to be in a stable equilibrium. As in previous years, crustose calcareous algae (CCA) had much higher average cover on the south side than the north side, and higher turf cover on the north than the south. However, the new site at Masacre Bay was much more like that on the south, with high CCA cover and lower turf cover, illustrating that the rule is not absolute. The live coral index declined slightly from 2005 to 2007, however it remains much higher than the average for the South Pacific, and the decline may have been from more careful recording or from random effects. All dead corals are old and covered with algae, usually coralline algae. Coral cover on Tutuila was lower than reported at four remote unpopulated atolls in the Line and Phoenix Islands, but more than at two populated atolls in the Line Islands. The amount of coral plus CCA cover was much higher than on the two populated atolls in the Line Islands, and nearly that of the unpopulated atoll in the Line Is. When coral cover + CCA is plotted as one variable, and turf + fleshy macroalgae plotted as a second variable, Fagasa and Vatia stand out as being quite different from the other sites in having low values of the first, and high values of the second. This suggests that these two sites may be more heavily impacted than other sites. Both appear to have significant sediment impact. Trends for the three years were examined for each site. Fagamalo had a modest increase in coral cover and a decrease in CCA. Fagasa had a modest increase in coral cover, a decrease in turf, and an increase in fleshy macroalgae. Tafeu had an increase in the corallimorph Rhodactis sp. (a large polyp related to corals that does not have a skeleton) and a decrease in turf. Vatia had an increase in fleshy macroalgae and a decrease in exposed sand. In 2007 the macroalga Dictyota appeared suddenly in large quantities, growing over Halimeda, sand and live coral. This species had not been recorded previously at any transect at any site in any year. It is one of the types of algae that have grown over reefs in the Caribbean. Changes at Aoa, Aunuu, and Amaua were small and not systematic. Fagaalu had a decrease in turf from 2005 to 2006, but no change since then. Nuuuli had an increase in branching coralline algae (BCA) and a decrease in CCA recorded. Likely the decrease in CCA was due to it being covered by BCA, and it is still there under the BCA. Fagatele had a decrease in coral cover from the first to the second year that may have been due to a change in the placement of the transect tapes. In 2007 a small amount of the encrusting ascidian Diplosoma simile appeared in the transects. This species is capable of growing over corals and killing them. There was a report that it became quite common in one area of the bay, but then receded in the following year. There was little change at Leone. Changes in the mean cover of coral lifeforms in the transects at the 11 sites were small, with a slight reduction in the amount of encrusting corals and increase in the branching (including columnar) corals. There was a slight decrease in Montipora (which is usually encrusting) and slight increase in Porites over the three years. There was little change in coral species other than a small decrease in encrusting Montipora. The number of coral species in transects did not change over the three years, nor did the diversity measure, H’. Monitoring of reef flats was begun for the first time this year. Outer reef flats were dominated by turf, and turf was the most common cover item on the inner reef flat. Coral cover was higher on the outer reef flat than the inner, but turf was higher on the inner flat than the outer. There was slightly more CCA on the outer flat than inner. When comparing the reef flat with the slope, the slope had higher coral cover and much higher CCA cover than the flat, but much less turf. A cohort of juvenile table corals (Acropora hyacinthus) were observed. They were most common near the reef crest on both the reef flat and reef slope. They were most common at Fagasa, where transects revealed 0.8 colonies per m2. They were abundant enough that if they all survive to maturity they will produce near 100% coral cover in some areas. In most places they are much less common than Fagasa. Sizes were measured and the distributions are essentially unimodal, suggesting a single recruitment event. They appear to be about 3 years old. Transects were also taken at several sites in the harbor on the outer reef flat or on rock walls. Coral cover was highest near the mouth of the harbor where it reached high maximum levels (over 60%), but decreased to zero near the head of the harbor. A small oyster is abundant near the waterline on rock walls in the harbor, so estimates of the oyster cover were made for several sites in the harbor. Oyster cover was high near the head of the harbor and low at the mouth of the harbor. Oysters are filter feeders feeding on plankton and may be a good bioindicator of plankton concentrations. Visibility was then measured in the harbor with a Secci disc. Clarity was low near the head of the harbor, and high near the mouth. Plankton concentrations are high at the head of the harbor, probably because of nutrient inputs and very limited flushing, and low near the mouth of the harbor where flushing is much better. Conditions near the head of the harbor apparently are still not good enough to support coral. Coral bleaching monitoring continued, and mass coral bleaching of staghorns in backreef pools was recorded for the fourth year in a row. At Alofau, these staghorns spend almost the entire year bleached, with only a short period of recovery. So far, most corals recover each year. The bleaching record at the airport pool follows the sea surface temperature (SST) very closely. There continue to be relatively few visible invertebrates.
In general, spatial patterns of benthic cover, both between sites (along the shore) and in distance from shore (inner reef flat, outer flat, slope) showed strong variation and clear patterns, while temporal patterns (changes over time) at the same location had little or no variation at some sites, and strong changes at only a few sites, with no overall average changes. Thus there are strong spatial variations, but little or no temporal variation so far

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