Raja Ampat is the most marine biodiverse place on Earth. But its reefs are under threat.
Help us protect them.
Heading here xxxxx if not you then who? If not now, when?
Raja Ampat is one of the last wilderness places on Earth. Help us keep it that way.
Raja Ampat is a remote Indonesian archipelago off the northwest tip of Bird’s Head Peninsula in West Papua, this sparsely populated archipelago of 1411 islands over 4.6million hectares, shelters an incredible abundance of life, and forms what is currently thought to be the most biodiverse marine system on the planet. At the heart of the Coral Triangle, Raja Ampat is home to 75% of the worlds known hard coral species, 1600+ species of fish, 6 out of 7 species of sea turtle, 18 species of marine mammal and 699 known species of mollusc.
These stunning reefs provide a rich and sustainable food source to the local communities scattered throughout the archipelago, and in some areas, also support a healthy tourism economy providing livelihoods to a significant portion of the community. Yet, these long-sustained ecosystems are now under pressure from emerging and existing threats associated with rapid and unsustainable development at a local level, and climate change on a global scale.
The SEA People (locally named ‘Orang Laut Papua’), is a field based non-profit foundation working to contribute to the protection of one of the last locations on Earth where coral reef systems still thrive. Taking a holistic approach to marine conservation, we work with local communities, who depend on healthy coral reefs for both food and livelihoods, and aim to provide mutually beneficial solutions to ecosystems based management. By combining science and technology with traditional skills and management techniques, we focus largely on capacity building; strengthening the ability of local community members to obtain the skills, knowledge and understanding required for improved management, protection and enhancement of local marine resources.
The Reefs are at Risk. We’re on a mission to change that. Here’s how.
CAPACITY BUILDING
We focus on strengthening the ability of local community members to obtain the skills, knowledge and understanding required for better management, protection and enhancement of local marine resources. We combine cultural heritage, local skills and knowledge with science, field training and modern conservation principles to develop projects that serve platforms for:
- measurable ecological output
- skills based training (diving, reef restoration, reef health monitoring, management and planning)
- ecological & environmental awareness
- providing alternative livelihoods
- inspiring local empowerment and behavioural change
- facilitating more sustainable resource management, a more profitable Blue Economy, and ultimately greater environmental and financial security
SUSTAINABLE PROJECTS
Our projects are designed to be sustainable in the long term, so that their impact and benefits extend far into the future. We begin with the end in mind, and from the outset know exactly who could and should benefit from the projects, and how. We define exactly what sustainability means in terms of quality and measurable outputs, and in terms of risk. We design projects that enhance natural resources, as opposed to exploit them, and in doing so ensure that our projects are non-harming, and the resources needed are themselves sustainable. We source funding from multiple sources, to ensure financial sustainability and project longevity. And most importantly, we build the projects with and around local communities, empowering them to be the facilitators of their own projects in order to better ensure their longevity.
collaboration is key to success
Healthy Reefs mean Healthy Communities and Secure Livelihoods
Raja Ampat’s reefs serve as a valuable resource and asset that supports local and international economies, regional stability, and scientific understanding. At present, a variety of stakeholders – including local communities, local and federal government, the tourism industry and operators – each benefit greatly from the current state of health of the region’s reefs. Yet these stakeholders, who are at times at odds with eachother in terms of understanding and objectives, can only continue to succeed through a collaborative approach and common vision to keep Raja Ampats reef’s healthy and abundant.
The future of local communities and stakeholders depends upon the continued health of the reefs, and the continued health of the reefs depends upon the decisions of these organisations. The SEA People strives to create mutually beneficial projects and collaborations that serve all stakeholders, and in doing so, protect the most marine biodiverse location on earth. .
What we do
Our Work
YAF KERU REEF RESTORATION
Yaf Keru is a community based reef restoration program that empowers local community members to Restore degraded areas of coral reef, protect pristine areas of coral reef, whilst providing free education and training, along with livelihoods to local community members.
CAPACITY BUILDING
All our programmes are underpinned by capacity building efforts for local community members. In an area where opportunities for training and employment are limited, our conservation efforts serve as platforms for further education, training and employment in a variety of areas including diving, reef restoration, ecology, teaching, managing and planning, combined with an emphasis on soft skills training. LINK TO NEW CAPACITY BUILDING PAGE!
ORANG LAUT RAJA AMPAT - MPA AND MEGAFAUNA MONITORING
Established in 2015, this project was one of the regions first Citizen Science based program focussing upon marine megafauna monitoring. The project utilised trained dive guides and recreational divers and snorkelers to monitor and evaluate the performance of the Marine Park and Shark Sanctuary, contributing to the better understanding of megafauna residency and seasonality, tourism pressure, and other reef health influences and indicators within protected areas.
CONSERVATION TECHNOLOGY
We aim is to maximise the effectiveness of all our conservation and ecosystem management efforts by using custom technology (desinged and built in-house) to collect, compile, archive and display widely spread environmental and socio-economic information data from the field. By using such technology we can better support effective and optimised management within a network of marine protected areas covering 2+ million hectares of remote archipelago.
SCUBA DIVING TRAINING - LOCAL COMMUNITY
The SEA People provide free scuba diving training and certification to local community members from Raja Ampat. Whilst (area specific) scuba tourism thrives, local people have limited access to safe, quality scuba diving training, leaving them overlooked for positions within the industry. We use our conservation programs as a platform to provide internationally recognised training, with an emphasis on conservation and good environmental practice, free of charge to local people. LINK TO CAPACITY BUILDING OR SCUBA DIVING PAGE?
CROWN OF THORNS STARFISH (COTS)
These coral eating starfish can devastate entire reefs when their populations abnormally increase in response to pollution, warming and overfishing of predators. At this point, there are several reefs within Raja Ampat’s MPAs considered to have COTs populations at outbreak level (with fluctuations in populations over time). The SEA People have established a participative citizen science approach that provides real-time information on outbreaks and their locations, whilst our team of coral gardeners are trained in COTS mitigation and management, and are equipped to conduct culling or monitoring of up to 40,000 COTS per year if necessary.
What Drives Us
Our Vision
We envision a Raja Ampat where regional stakeholders collaborate and commit to valuing and caring for marine ecosystems, securing a future for the world’s most biodiverse reefs, and for the long term benefit of all the lives and livelihoods these ecosystems support.
Our Mission
To combine applied science, technology and modern management practice, with local and traditional knowledge, skills and management techniques in order to responsibly and sustainably care for regional ecosystems. We aim to empower local communities to obtain the skills and knowledge required to Restore, Protect and Conserve the reefs and marine resources their culture, heritage and future depends upon. WORK ON THIS!!
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All rights reserved. Yayasan Orang Laut Papua is a registered NGO under the Ministry of Law and Human Rights Republic of Indonesia. Number AHU-0016408. Year 2019. The SEA People is a registered Charitable Association under the Gouvernement de la République in France (Numero Identification Siren 853074300) and serves as an administrative and fundrasing base for supporting the fieldwork of Yaysan Orang Laut Papua. Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions