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11 Apr 2017

Mapping the Cendrawasih Bay National Marine Park

Project Leader: Daniel Bona

University: The University of Melbourne

Lead Organisation: LAPAN

Collaborating Organisations: World Wildlife Federation

Project Location: Papua               

Activity Type: R&D and innovation          

Sector: Aquaculture/fisheries

Project Objectives:

  • To create fundamental marine and coastal geospatial datasets of the Cendrawasih Bay National Marine Park for use in ecosystem planning and management.
  • To promote ecosystem services, such as ecotourism, in Cendrawasih Bay to derive economic benefits to local people in the area.

Project Description:

The marine ecosystems of Cendrawasih Bay offer opportunities for ecosystem services that will provide benefits for local people. However, these opportunities are constrained by a lack of geospatial data and information for use in planning, promotion and ecosystem management. This project will enable LAPAN to address this issue by creating fundamental marine and coastal geospatial datasets of the Cendrawasih Bay National Marine Park. These datasets will be detailed, acccurate and up to date. From the dataset, LAPAN will derive an inventory of coral reef, seagrass, atoll, small island, and coast line. It will allow LAPAN to analyse the area of Cendrawasih Bay in terms of the carrying capacity of the environment, infrastructure, land use, and land cover. In addition, the project will allow LAPAN to create a tourist map of the Cendrawasih Bay National Marine Park in the form of a static printed map and a web-based interactive map.

Project Beneficiaries:

The direct beneficiaries of the project are LAPAN scientists and park staff members. The indirect beneficiaries are tourism business operators who will have guide maps to explore ecotourism objects in Cendrawasih Bay, local people who enjoy the economic benefits of ecotourism, and tourists who visit the national park.

Priority Development Area: Effective economic institutions and infrastructure 

Links with Australia:

The project focuses on ecotourism and environment management, so there are no links with Australia at this time. However, Australia has experience in legislating a Carbon Tax law and developing a Carbon Accounting System, which would be relevant if the focus expanded.

Relevant Facts:

Cendrawasih Bay National Marine Park is the largest Marine Park in Indonesia with an area of 1.453.500 Ha. Its ecosystem is one of the richest in the world with hundreds species of corals and fish. One of its main attractions is the Whale Shark.

In December 2016, the Papua Ecoregion Management Center held a workshopto exchange ideas on the management of ecosystem services in Cendarawasih Bay. It was attended by local governments in the Cendrawasih Bay area, LAPAN, LIPI, and the University of Papua. They identified the lack of geospatial data for use in planning, promotion and ecosystem management as a key issue.

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