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he World Ocean Conference (WOC), to be held from May 11 to 14 in Manado, North Sulawesi, will discuss oceans in relation to climate change. With more than 70 percent of its national territory consisting of water, and playing host to the event, Indonesia hopes the conference of over 120 nations will produce tangible outcomes to assist its 17,000 islands in countering the impact of global warming.Sahala Hutabarat,a professor in oceanography from Diponegoro University in Semarang, Central Java, talked with The Jakarta Post's Erwida Maulia last week. Hutabarat is the current head of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry human resources department.

Question: How will global climate change affect Indonesia's marine resources?

Answer: Geographically, Indonesia consists of 73 percent water and 27 percent land. We have more than 17,480 islands and our coastline stretches as far as 95,181 kilometers. This means we have the fourth longest coastline globally after Canada, the United States and Russia.

We have huge potential in maritime and fishery industries. In the maritime sector, there are mining resources such as oil and gas, tourism potential and biotechnology and pharmaceutical possibilities. We also have seaweed, which can be planted along Indonesian shores.

Then there is the huge market for fish, both saltwater and freshwater, as well as the wider marine environment. This includes our mangrove forests and coral reefs, which play important roles indicating the fertility of sea water.

The impacts of global warming in Indonesia will become very evident as we are an archipelagic state. Increasing temperatures causes the ice poles to melt, which will significantly impact our thousands of islands. Our coral reefs will be effected as they can only thrive in temperatures between 25 and 30 degrees Celsius. Reefs can also only really survive at depths between 10 and 15 meters, in clear water with relatively strong light penetration.

Global warming causes bleaching- a condition where coral reefs are killed because of undesirable sea conditions. The marine life relying on these reefs are also killed when bleaching occurs.

Indonesia has the potential to catch around 6.4 million tons of saltwater fish every year but only manage to take in around 80 percent of this. If coral reefs are damaged, then the intake will be even less.

What does Indonesia expect from the WOC then?

With the World Ocean Conference in Manado, and the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Summit *also in Manado, scheduled for May 15*, we hope the global community will become more aware of the importance of oceans to the lives of human beings. The WOC will talk about the significance of oceans while the CTI Summit will discuss coral issues. Both are very big events.

The earth, like Indonesia, consists of 70 percent water and 30 percent land areas, so water is extremely important. Water can affect the climate. If ice in the poles is melting, sea levels will rise and change everything. So this awareness should not be shared by Indonesians only. We hope the WOC will produce a joint agreement on protecting oceans and we hope a special body will be formed within the United Nations in the future to cope with marine affairs. We have the FAO, UNICEF, the UNEP... Why can't we have a special body to handle maritime affairs, when 70 percent of our earth consists of oceans.

What role should such a body play?

To control matters related to oceans, such as preventing seawater pollution and offshore mining activities from impacting negatively on seas, and to regulate the use of harbors.

We will have to lobby other countries for the establishment of this special body. We don't expect a decision to be made in Indonesia *at the WOC*, but with everybody coming together, we hope there will be follow-up meetings on this issue in the future.

Indonesia has also been suffering huge losses from fish poaching. Will the WOC also address this issue?

Yes. Last year we lost about US$2.6 billion to poaching. We hope the WOC will proclaim it an international crime, maybe at the same level as money laundering.

As the head of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry human resources department, what will you do to anticipate the impacts of global warming on Indonesia's marine and fishery potential?

We will intensify our education programs for fishermen and other coastal communities, many of whom still use explosives to catch fish, resulting in significant coral damage. Many also freely cut mangrove trees, threatening our fish reserves.