Sampoerna, Santika to Build Raja Ampat Resort
Indonesia took in a total 8.7 million foreign tourists in 2013, and this year it aims to attract 9.2 million international tourists. (AFP Photo/Conservation International/Sterling Zumbrunn)
Jakarta. Sampoerna Group, a diversified holdings company, and event organizer Dyandra Media International are conducting a feasibility study for a resort in Raja Ampat, an ecotourism haven in West Papua, a government official said over the weekend.
Sudirman Saad, a director general at the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, said Dyandra's Santika chain of hotels was working with Sampoerna on building a hotel, villas and resort facilities in the area, a highly regarded diving site renowned for its rich underwater biodiversity.
Boyke Mohammad, the chairman and chief executive of Bofa Mitra, a company affiliated to Sampoerna, said the project development would likely involve foreign partners, as the work would not only cover building a resort, but also preserving marine biodiversity, the main attraction of the Raja Ampat archipelago.
Boyke said that according to the group's master plan, an integrated development project may require to Rp 1 trillion ($86 million) in investment.
He said the potential foreign investors had called on the government to provide certainty for their investment, including pressing for the local government to make the Sail Raja Ampat regatta an annual international event.
The success of the event, which sets sail next month, will underscore investor confidence in Indonesia's tourism industry, Boyke said.
"Even though the government plans to launch the Sail Raja Ampat event, the regulations related to investment [in the area] remains unclear. The land price keeps skyrocketing. It is not certainty that has been created, but rather, those events merely become just ceremonial," Boyke said.
Sail Raja Ampat is endorsed by the government to promote tourism, investment as well as development in the Papua region, on of the least-developed parts of the country.
The event, which will kicked off at Waisai Torang Cinta Beach in West Papua on June 21, is expected to attract participants from 18 countries, including potential investors in the tourism industry, travel agents and tourism promotion officials, and representatives from maritime-related institutions.
The regatta is part of the Sail Indonesia series, which each year highlights the tourism potential of various regions in the country. Last year's regatta was Sail Komodo, and previous editions have focused on Wakatobi in Southeast Sulawesi; Bangka-Belitung off southeast Sumatra; Bunaken in North Sulawesi; and the Banda Islands in the Malukus.
Sampoerna has business interests in finance, telecommunications, agriculture and property, while Dyandra is the exhibition and hotel operator arm of the Kompas Gramedia group.
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http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/ugly-truth-garbage-island-biodiversity/
The Ugly Truth About Garbage and Island Biodiversity
In this handout photograph from Conservation International a manta ray swims in the waters of Raja Ampat in eastern Indonesia's remote Papua province. Indonesia on February 21, became home to the world's biggest manta ray sanctuary covering millions of square kilometres. (AFP Photo/Conservation International/Trond Larsen)
Some of the Earth's most delicate tropical paradises are being disfigured by the by-products of the modern age — marine debris: plastic bottles, carrier bags and discarded fishing gear. Just a tiny fraction of this originates from the islands themselves — most is generated on land and enters the sea through the sewers and drains; the rest comes from passenger liners, freighters and fishing vessels, whose crews often use the oceans as a giant waste disposal unit. While much of the garbage sinks, some of it joins the giant gyres where the currents carry it across the globe.
Small Island Developing States, recognized as a distinct group of nations by the UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992, lack the space to dedicate to landfill sites and do not have the resources to deal with the huge problem of marine debris that is being washed up on their doorstep — as the tides and currents wash the accumulated marine garbage onto their beaches. Domestically, they can take steps to ensure that they do not add to the problem — American Samoa for instance has banned plastic bags — but the "polluter pays" principle would require that those responsible for producing the waste should be made responsible for disposing of it properly.
A litter-strewn beach is an eye-sore and with tourism playing a major role in the economies of many island states, marine debris can have substantial adverse financial implications threatening local businesses and employment prospects.
Palau has banned commercial fisheries in its huge territorial waters forsaking the lucrative licensing revenue and will develop ecotourism based on snorkeling and scuba diving as a sustainable alternative. Alive, Palau's sharks can bring in $1.9 million each over their life-time. Dead, a shark is worth a few hundred dollars, most of it attributable to the fins used to make soup considered a delicacy in parts of East Asia.
In February, Indonesia became the world's largest sanctuary for manta rays and banned the fishing and export of the species throughout the waters surrounding the archipelago. The numbers are about the same; as a tourist attraction, a manta ray is worth in excess of $1 million; as meat or medicine no more than $500.
Whale-watching creates jobs while bird-watching boosts binocular and camera sales and both help hotel occupancy rates. And the total number of international travelers broke the one billion mark for the first time in 2012 making tourism one of the main foreign exchange earners globally particularly for many developing countries, including SIDS.
But marine debris casts its ominous shadow and threatens to break the virtuous circle which would otherwise guarantee sustainable livelihoods and incentives to protect wildlife.
Sea birds inadvertently feed their young with plastic which then blocks the chicks' intestines preventing them from eating properly and leading to a slow and painful death. The staple prey of some marine turtles is jellyfish but the turtles often mistake plastic bags for their favorite food with same dire results.
Remote island habitats support a rich and diverse fauna often including unique endemic species and provide vital stop-over sites for migrants and breeding sites for marine birds. But long established bird colonies have fallen victim to another danger exacerbated by humans — that posed by invasive alien species. The problem of rodent infestations is well documented.
One of the fascinations of dealing with the animals covered by the Convention on Migratory Species is how they link different countries and even continents. Many of the species are endangered and their conservation as well as the threats that they face require internationally coordinated measures. This applies to marine debris, a singularly unwelcome "migratory species" whose continued presence CMS will be doing its utmost to eliminate.
Bradnee Chambers is executive secretary of the United Nations Environment Program's Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species.
Posted by: "Sunny" <ambon@tele2.se>
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