TEMPO.CO, Jakarta- The Ministry of Maritime and Fishery said that 60 percent of Indonesia's 50,875 square kilometers coral reefs are damaged. Thirty percent of the reefs are in okay condition and only six percent are still in mint condition.
Toni Ruchimat, the ministry's director of fishery resource management, said that the numbers were obtained through a research by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) in 15 regencies.
Toni said that according to the research, the main cause for the damages is human behavior; in particular the methods used by people living in coastal areas to capture fish.
The ministry, he added, continues to make repair efforts in terms of ecology, economy and social aspects.
"We continue to monitor things and record [what we gathered] to a map. We urge local communities to help protect the ocean for their own sake," Toni said in Kuta on Wednesday, November 25, Bisnis Indonesia reported.
RR | BISNIS.COM