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Indonesia
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Indonesia
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Education and Environmental Awareness Initiatives
| The program's outreach activities includes a cetacean and ocean conservation educational program highlighting marine environmental issues to government agencies, universities, local schools and communities.
Indonesia Oceanic Cetacean Program presentations and media briefings focus on the high diversity of oceanic cetaceans and their important ecological role in ensuring a healthy marine environment upon which Indonesia's regional economy and local communities largely depend. Active participation cetacean ecology programs for children and students are planned as an environmental education component to the research activities. |
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| The program's outreach activities include a "Cetacean Monitoring Program" for community groups and nature-based tourism operators interested in cetacean ecology.
Dive operators interested in oceanic cetacean identification have been successfully involved and are continuing to survey an extensive coastal area during their daily routes to and from dive sites. Operator staff have been trained to identify cetaceans frequently encountered at sea and sightings are recorded on a standard user-friendly data sheet. Once completed, the data sheet are faxed or e-mailed to our office. All verified entries become part of a Indonesian cetacean data base. This community involvement will ensure the program remains active between priority survey and research periods with continuous, real-time data recordings. It also facilitates information exchange between interested parties and fosters environmental awareness within the nature-based tourism industry and local guides. |
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Ocean Conservation Initiatives
| The establishment of an oceanic cetacean research presence in Northern Sulawesi, Sangihe-Talaud and Komodo has increased the conservation importance of, and interest in, these highly diverse marine areas. Our findings indicate that the high biological diversity of the research areas is not limited to coastal reefs and mangroves, but extends into the open ocean as well. The outreach activities build on these research findings to encourage the local community and regional decision makers to adopt a long-term strategic plan for the sustainable development of north Sulawesi's major nature-based industries, such as tourism, fishing and mining. The program has attracted extensive media and film exposure for the region and received excellent support from the Indonesian Government as well as universities and non-government environmental organisations. It has recommended and supported local initiatives to secure additional protection and management responses for Northern Sulawesi's Sensitive Marine Areas, whether oceanic and coastal. This includes both expansions of existing Marine Park areas and the establishment of new oceanic protected marine areas. |
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Cetacean Species Sighted in the Research Areas
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