NTA5 in Indonesia: A Tale of Two Cities (and ESRs) – part 1

Sunday – Day 0

Mariya

After 38 hours on the go I was finally rewarded with a luxury of a hot shower and a comfortable bed. Not a lot of sleep, as in the morning I had to rush for a tasty breakfast and enjoying the view of the sea from my window. After meeting most of the 4D-REEF team and having coffee for some functioning, I joined a part of the team in discovering our surroundings. We visited the Fort of Rotterdam, all that effort and long way, and yet I am back to Rotterdam again!

In the evening most of us arrived in Makassar, so it was time for a group dinner, live music and trying the first Indonesian cuisine dishes.

Monday – Day 1

Mariya

Jetlag wasn’t kind to me – after no night’s sleep, I joined Katt and others in the hotel’s conference room. We finally met our colleagues from the University of Hasanuddin in person and got to know each other better through the ice-breaker activities. And let’s not forget the 4D-REEF distinguished bags for everyone ;)

On a serious note, we learned a lot about the local fisheries and their governance and the difficulties the fishermen face in their day-to-day life.

Tuesday – Day 2

Mariya

We were welcomed by Prof. Jamaluddin Jompa at UNHAS, and our programme followed with a set of seminars on marine management and conservation. I was shocked and inspired at the same time by the talk of Tries Razak, PhD, on reef restoration practices. Inspired by successful ones and shocked by the destructive impacts of poorly-designed ones. All of our actions have consequences, so quality above quantity – we should remember that in our work as well.

Wednesday – Day 3

Mariya

Dream day – field day!

We started with Barrang Lompo and visited the UNHAS field station and had a walk around the island to learn about the livelihood of the island. Colourful houses, many built with sturdy massive corals, kids, riding the “daycare” bike-cart with music and fishermen, drying their catch in the hot midday sun. Some of them dried trepang –  sea cucumbers – the marine animal of great value, captured from the sea bottom (a dangerous process of capture for fishermen) and sold to China. The people of Makassar traded sea cucumbers with Indigineous Australians and China since the 18th century en-masse. Sadly, because of the expensive price of sea-cucumbers, none of the local fishermen we met have ever tried even a tiny piece of the animal – all of the capture is sold overseas.

On the next islands we visited –  Pulau Bonetambung and Pulao Kudingareng Lompo, we learned about the local community initiative to set up an aquaculture facility and a primary school for kids to get the basic education. Life on those further islands from Makassar city is also complicated by the shortages of fresh water, and we witnessed how locals are dealing with this issue in their households.

And I also learned a lot from the local people – big smiles, music and happiness – despite all of the hardships they have daily, they are genuinely happy, with everything the day brings to them – something we need to remind ourselves more often about!

Thursday – Day 4

Mariya

Guided by Lily Damayanti and Cudo Prasetya, we witnessed HOPE of MARS coral restoration project efforts. 14m-long letters are built from hundreds of  reef stars – 3D stable steel structures coated in resin and sand for creating a surface for coral attachment. Overall,coral fragments from 42 species and collected sustainably (e.g. from breakage after storms) from nearby reefs with similar environmental conditions to facilitate coral survivability and are attached to reef stars.

Also, I snorkelled for the first time ever! An exciting day, with bumps of leaking snorkel tubes :D But enjoying the day with our amazing boat crew and being rewarded by them with tasty donuts – all the efforts were worth it!

Friday – Day 5

Mariya

We had a chance to see the University Coral Collection and talk to local scientists about the coral biodiversity and state of reefs around Makassar. The rest of the day we discussed our projects with each other and with Indonesian colleagues and looked for potential collaboration opportunities.

Saturday – Day 6

Mariya

Visiting reef sites again!

Cats, cats, cats everywhere on Kodingareng Keke. And great view onto the reef structure from the observation point – you can even see the seasonal sediment dynamics patterns, change in coral cover between reef flat and slope. Also, the island has pretty interesting history of unsuccessful commercialising of the area and failed efforts of the hotel construction. All in all – no wonder it did not work – the island is very dynamic, small and has no fresh water!

Samalona island – one of the closest to the shore, turbid reef. To our surprise, the coral cover was amazing, considering a lot of it was absent some 10 years ago! In some areas of the reef, coral cover was up to 95%, so we had to be careful swimming around.

Sunday – Day 7

Mariya

As for my day off – no rest for the wicked! Starting at 7am, I joined our little crew to collect some sediment samples for future composition analysis of grains with the AI, developed by our colleague, William Harrison. We returned to Kodingareng Keke for the transect sampling across the reef flat. In the areas closer to the rim it got really tricky, as there was so much coral cover that I barely could get some sand!

Things were more complicated in the degraded turbid reef site – strong current, no coral is sight and fields of sea urchins. I got deserved rest and a great recovery after swimming for so long with a relaxing massage by Indonesian masters and enjoying another tasty dinner and fruit drinks. Everyone has to try sirsak! And if you are weak to spicy food – it will save you 🙂 To continue with the first experiences – I joined guys for the evening karaoke – something I have never done before but now will definitely do again!