Raja Ampat Coral Reef Recovery takes 10 years, Expert Says
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Kamis, 1 Januari 1970 07:00 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The damaged coral reefs at West Papua's Raja Ampat area is expected to take 10 years to recover. Ricardo F. Tapilatu, chief researcher at the University of Indonesia's Research Center for Pacific Waters Resources, said the cruise ship that hit the reef has destroyed 13,533 square meters of the natural resource and damage its ecosystem.
Ricardo said at least eight generations of corals were destroyed. Hundreds of fish that normally surrounds the site are now nowhere to be seen.
"The recovery takes at least 10 years," Ricardo said on Tuesday, March 14.
On Saturday, March 4, British-owned cruise ship Caledonian Sky hit a reef at low tide. The ship ran on the coral on its way to Bitung, North Sulawesi, after a bird-watching tour.
Safri Burhanuddin, deputy of human resources science and maritime culture at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affair, said that the evacuation process will have to wait for high tide.
"We cannot just evacuate it without taking into account natural conditions," he said.
The Ministry of Environment and Forestry has sent a team to examine the damage. "We want to make sure the value of losses caused by the boat," the ministry's Director General of Pollution Control and Environmental Damage Karliansyah said.
The value lost is beyond the destroyed reefs, but also the damaged ecosystem and the possible loss of livelihoods of local residents.
MITRA TARIGAN