A brief story of Wakatobi’s landmark conservation initiative

It’s no secret that marine environments around the world face threats from human activity and that protections are needed to ensure the continued health and survival of coral reefs and other underwater ecosystems. For many years, it was thought that the only solution would be to limit or bar all forms of access to large areas of the underwater realm. But in recent years, there’s been a shift in thinking as leading voices in the conservation movement have shown the world that there’s a better way to protect the places we love. Wakatobi Resort was an early adopter of this philosophy and we remain one of the most successful examples of marine conservation programs.

Here’s a quick synopsis with some beautiful scenes of Wakatobi’s protected reefs.

The beginning

Wakatobi’s location was chosen for the magnificent coral reefs surrounding this small, remote Indonesian island. Before construction began, founder Lorenz Mäder and his team understood that the surrounding waters should be protected.

Despite its distance from any major development, the resort still faces the same issues as more populated islands. Photo by Didi Lotze

At that time, practices such as dynamite fishing and netting were spreading across many areas of the Indo-Pacific oceans, there were no marine preserves in that region of Indonesia and few if any restrictions on fishing and harvesting practices.

It took the Wakatobi team several years of steady support and communication to establish solid trust and gain the full cooperation of the local population.

Rather than seek governmental intervention, the resort team reached out to fishermen and local communities on surrounding islands with a unique proposition. In exchange for designating a six-kilometer section of the reefs as a no-fishing zone, Wakatobi would help support the people in 17 local villages. This was the beginning of the Collaborative Reef Conservation Program. In the years since this program has won numerous awards and become a model for proactive private-sector conservation.

With the program well into its second decade, local attitudes towards conservation have been transformed as the value of healthy reefs becomes evident, and local fishermen and villagers have become active stewards of the environment. Photo by Mathis Weatherall

Changing the map

The name Wakatobi comes from the first two letters of the four largest islands in the archipelago: Wangi-Wangi, Kaledupa, Tomia, and Binongko. As the new resort gained international notoriety, it set broader plans in motion and actually changed the map. In 2002, the Indonesian government adopted the name when expanding the area created by the resort’s conservation program to create the Wakatobi National Park. The park now encompasses 1,390,000 hectares of the Tukang Besi island group. The following year, the renamed Wakatobi island group became an autonomous region. In 2005, UNESCO nominated the Wakatobi National Park as a World Heritage Site, and it was added to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves in 2012.

The Wakatobi team’s commitment to the local community expands beyond the marine preserve providing full-time employment to local men and women and needed resources such as electricity. Photo by Wakatobi Resort

More than money

The Wakatobi Collaborative Reef Conservation Program has since expanded to protect more than 20 kilometers of reef habitat. The resort installs and maintains a network of moorings in the marine reserve and in area harbors to eliminate anchor damage to the reefs. Other initiatives include reef monitoring and cleaning, sponsorship of marine biology and ecology presentations, daily beach cleanings, and sponsorship of reef and fishing area patrols performed by community representatives, police, and Wakatobi National Park rangers.

Over the years, observers have documented significant improvements in the quality of the reefs and seagrass beds surrounding Wakatobi Resort. Fish counts are up, and turtle populations have increased. Photo by Walt Stearns

Wakatobi’s social commitments and economic importance to the local community have expanded beyond the marine preserve. Sustainable livelihoods are created by the full-time employment of more than 200 men and women from area villages and the periodic employment of an additional 200 craftsmen for construction and maintenance projects. The resort provides electricity for a neighboring village, creates waste management programs for the surrounding island, and sponsors additional social programs.

The numerous components of Wakatobi’s conservation and social initiatives have yielded demonstrative benefits. Today, reefs within the marine preserve are in near-pristine condition. No-take zones have nurtured a rebound in overall fish populations, allowing for sustainable harvests in permitted fishing zones. Many see the resort’s founders as visionaries who initiated one of the world’s largest privately funded and managed marine protected areas. But Lorenz often attributes their motives to be more pragmatic, explaining “You can’t pack up and move your resort when the diving is no longer good. So, it’s better to do what you can to protect it to enjoy it now and in the future.”

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