Endangered Wildlife

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Agus Joko Supriyatno farmed, sustainable Coral , to the exports of goods

"After the ban, banned, I've Lost Everything ," says Agus Joko Supriyatno. "It cost me My House , my wife and my Health . "

for years, the 52-year-old farmer his living as a long-term Coral farmed off the coast of Nusa Lembongan , a Small Island close to Bali.

But to stop when the Indonesian government banned all Coral exports in the year 2018, The Illegal harvesting of wild corals, thousands of sustainable farms across the country collapsed.

Mr. Supriyatno had supplied hundreds of pieces of Coral per week to aquarium shops in Europe and China, where they are used in aquariums for decoration.

But the farm went broke, and he ended in a heart attack, which he says was caused by the Stress .

Mr. Supriyatno grew its sustainable Coral on racks and on the bottom of The Sea

Now, he and the other farmers hope to your life picked up again on the route to Indonesia , the new Minister for Maritime Affairs, Edhy Prabowo , the prohibition on the beginning of January.

But environmentalists fear That without a blanket ban, it will not distinguish a resurgence in illegal logging, as from farmed and wild corals are often.

Coral is a living creature, in groups of marine invertebrates That live in compact colonies. It can be either from nature or cultivated in underwater farms, as Mr. Supriyatno is.

in Front of the Indonesian ban, it was completely legal, export, grown diversity, and the Land was sold to The World 's largest supplier, accounting for 70% of the corals, the £13 billion-£15bn Global marine aquarium market.

in Indonesia , the former maritime minister Susi Pudjiastuti , But felt in the year 2018, Extreme Measures were needed to prevent overfishing and foreign poaching of wild Coral in Indonesian waters.

you also thought it was too difficult to distinguish Between farmed and wild Coral , the latter was often than the former. And so they brought in a law That stopped Coral exports all kinds of night.

was Indonesia , The World 's largest provider of managed Coral

According to an estimate of the movement caused about 12,000 people throughout the Indonesian archipelago, their jobs will lose. Among those who were taken, pet fish exporters such as Aqua First Bali, stating That he has lost almost three-quarters of its revenue in The Past two years.

Manager Irwanto Suganda explains That the importers in Europe and elsewhere, "not stopped buying our fish when The Coral was no longer part of The Package ". This is because the import costs of your often the two buy together to reduce the transport.

most small Coral -breeders, such as Mr. Supriyatno, which tend to live in coastal communities and depend entirely on their farms for income were affected.

If its offshore nursery was in operation, Mr. Supriyatno employs a team of workers to handle the delicate task of caring for The Coral , which is grown on metal racks placed on The Sea floor, about a Meter below The Surface .

It requires dipping down to brush the sensitive corals, to clean them of algae, and pruning them regularly.

corals are popular additions to aquariums

After the year 2018, the ban did not, however, Mr. Supriyatno was no longer able to pay the employees, and she had To Let go. Hundreds of racks of Coral were unkempt on the left, and are now covered with algae, suffocating slowly.

Since the government U-turn in January, licenses for the export of farmed corals will be issued, Once Again , and Mr. Supriyatno says he will help in the search for investors to start his once-profitable business.

explaining his decision last month, said the government wants to promote now to export-activity under the "good governance management", and recognized the economic benefits for the country.

But not everyone is happy with The Shift , from the given That the it risks associated with The Illegal removal of wild corals again. Coral reefs are both a breeding ground for commercially valuable fish and is critically important for the conservation of the biological diversity of our planet.

An increase in tourism to Indonesia is partly responsible for the damage to the country's Coral reefs

And in the last few decades, destroyed a deadly cocktail of over-fishing, Climate Change and tourism, More Than a fifth of The World 's Coral reefs has.

Indonesia , the seas are rich in corals, has been hit particularly hard. A 2018-a report from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences found That More Than two-thirds of The Coral reefs around the 17,000 Islands of the Indonesian archipelago are heavily damaged.

Dr Richard Thomas of Traffic, a non-governmental organization, which says it campaigns against The Illegal trade in Wild Animals and plants: "The Challenge will be to ensure That each newly grown Coral trade in Indonesia to a "gold-rush" on wild Coral reefs. "

While farmed Coral is an ethical alternative, says he likes, there is "a real enforcement challenge Here - the distinction Between what is farmed and what is wild-sourced".

the Majority of Coral species are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), which regulates the International Trade with endangered Wild Animals through quotas and import and export requirements. The agreement was signed by More Than 190 States, including the UK and the European Union .

However, Cites has not previously illegal harvesting of wild corals in Indonesia to stop the export quotas are often not properly monitored or enforced.

Mr. Supriyatno, pictured Here with his children, hopes to restart his Coral farm

The Coral farmers like Mr. Supriyatno say That , to flourish by the cultured Coral trade, the demand of wild Coral drop combat smuggling.

In 2017, the year before the ban, More Than half of the 600,000 pieces of Coral , which were imported by the EU came from Indonesia . But with the Fiji Islands and Hawaii also exports banned exceeds recently, the Global demand supply.

it has led to a growing black market, with Indonesian smugglers shipping with illegally harvested corals in the vicinity of Singapore, where they are relabelled and shipped to Europe.

Small pieces of corals usually retail for Between £20 and £50, But particularly large or colorful ones can cost as much as £4,600. "The demand is high, and for some it is value, to sell any risk [, wild Coral ]," an Indonesian trader said the BBC, under the condition of anonymity.

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In fact, in the European Union in 2017, almost half of all seizures of illegal Coral , and The Rocks on which it grows - a whopping 18,000 kg - were from Indonesia .

In preparation for the end of the Indonesian ban on agricultural exports, all of which are registered in Coral farms were examined in December, and the Ministry of fisheries staff have been trained to check shipments for export. But environmentalists are very closely watching to see That such an oversight.

Mr. Supriyatno cautiously optimistic about his chances But remains wary. Many aspects of the re-opening of trade will remain uncertain, and clear policies and guidelines are yet to be provided.

"I hope That the policy will be wiser, now," he says.

singapore, indonesia, coral reefs

Source of news: bbc.com