Goal of the expedition
With a diverse team of scientists, teachers, conservationists from Indonesia and the Netherlands we will collect local knowledge and ecological measurements to map out future scenarios for one of the richest reefs in the world, Raja Ampat, Indonesia.
The area is a top priority for conservation. At the same time, the area is being highly promoted for national and international tourism. Can the two go together? We want to understand how the richest reefs of the world can stay resilient to climate change under increasing pressure from tourism. We’re going to study the social-ecological-system, where we take an approach that explicitly links the resilience of ecosystems to governance structures, economies and society.
Expedition participants
Six Wageningen University & Research scientists are sailing along on this floating university: Lisa Becking (Marine Animal Ecology & Wageningen Marine Research), Ingrid van de Leemput (Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management), Machiel Lamers (Environmental Policy), Erik Meesters (Wageningen Marine Research), Ludi Aji (Marine Animal Ecology), and Ery Admodjo (Environmental Policy). Also joining us will be Erik Horstman (UTwente), Awaludinnoer Ahmad (The Nature Conservancy Indonesia), Ricardo Tapilatu (Universitas Papua), Elvis (Raja Ampat Regency Ranger, UPTD BLUD) and Eva van den Broek (Behavioural Insights).
They’re going to some remote locations, so whenever they have enough internet they will share their observations and insights on this blog!
Holistic perspective
Lisa Becking leads the expedition by boat. “After years in the field,” the marine biologist says, “I have come to a better understanding that the conservation of coral reef ecosystems depends as much on ecological and evolutionary processes underwater, as on socio-economic processes above the water level. And that these different processes are intertwined.”
View our website: http://marinelakes.com/
Or follow Lisa on Twitter: @beckinglisa
Mostly when you hear about coral reefs in the news, it’s bad. Disease & death. Luckily there are a few bright spots in the world where the reefs are still quite healthy. One of those areas is Raja Ampat, Indonesia. In 2016 & 2017 there were global bleaching events, where…