The tiny island off Bali has gained a reputation for its majestic underwater beauty and unspoiled beaches. Since the 1990s, seaweed farming in the island — which is located southeast of Bali — has had to adapt to ecological changes in the coastal area.

Using a traditional planting method, locals have successfully expanded their farming areas, especially throughout the northern coast of Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Penida, as well as to the adjacent smaller island of Nusa Ceningan. They have also enforced a customary law system called awig-awig to regulate the planting method and ownership of the farming area.

Seaweed farming makes up a large area in Nusa Penida.

According to a 2009 Nature Conservancy (TNC) survey, close to 310 hectares has been dedicated to seaweed farming across the three islands, mostly of the Spinosum variety.

Farmers collect an average of 40 to 50 tons each harvest. The planting cycle lasts for 35 days. The price of seaweed has a tendency to fluctuate significantly, with Spinosum ranging between Rp 2,000 and Rp 2,900 per kilogram, and Catony between Rp 4,000 to Rp 5,300 per kilogram.

Sustainable farming: A seaweed farmer shows his crops after harvest. Every farmer makes approximately Rp 300,000 from a 100-square-meter area.

The seaweed is usually planted every 35 days, said Wayan Masni, one of the farmers from the Jungutbatu village in Nusa Lembongan. The village accommodates around 600 families, who mostly work in the seaweed farming industry.

“After harvesting, we dry the seaweed under the sun for two to three years, depending on the season. During the rainy season, drying can take a week,” she said.

“I usually sell between 500 kilograms to 1 ton per month,” she added.

The dried seaweed is then collected and sent to Surabaya, East Java, and other big cities for further processing before being exported.

Farmers in Nusa Lembongan don’t have a processing plant, not even a proper drying facility, said Nyoman Landep, the head of seaweed farming at the Nusa Penida district, which covers the three islands.

“The seaweed here boasts the highest quality, but we are not equipped with the proper facilities [to process the seaweed further],” Landep said during a public discussion attended by Maritime Affairs and Fishery Minister Fadel Muhammad at a recent ceremony to launch Nusa Penida’s marine protected area.

Raking away: A seaweed farmer dries her crops under the sun in the coastal area of Nusa Lembongan Island. Another problem, he added, was the outbreak of a disease locally known as ais-ais, which causes seaweed stalks to decay.

 “This could be because we don’t change the seed’s strain, we use one strain all year long.

“That’s why we are asking the ministry to provide us with processing facilities and several different strains fit to be planted here to increase our productivity.”

Aside from seaweed farming, locals have also developed the mangrove forest into an attractive ecotourism site in Jungutbatu village.

Tourists can enjoy a 30-minute trip on a traditional boat around the mangrove forest for Rp 60,000 per boat. One boat can accommodate up to four people.

“Boats leave several times a day,” added Wayan Sukitra, the founder of the mangrove tour groups.

So far, they have been making one trip a day, but in high season they can get up to  five trips, taking tourists mostly from Europe and Japan around the mangrove forest.

Based on a survey last February of the 230.7-hectare mangrove forest — mostly located in Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan — TNC detected 13 species of mangrove, five of water birds and 25 of land birds around the forest.

With the support of TNC, which also provided seeds and technical assistance, locals have intensified mangrove planting since 2003, mostly of the Rhizopora mucronata variety.

The ecotourism venture started taking off in 2006 at the initiative of the local community, said Marthen Welly, TNC’s Nusa Penida project leader.

“They even clean up the mangrove forest once a month,” he said.

The seaweed farming area and the mangrove forest are part of the 20,057 hectares declared a marine protected area last week.

Checking things out: A group of environmentalists from The Nature Conservancy monitor the mangrove forest in Nusa Lembongan Island, which has been developed as an ecotourism site. The area has been set up to protect rich marine resources, marine tourism and fish stock for the islanders’ livelihoods.

Established as a collaborative effort by local residents, Klungkung regency administration, TNC Indonesia Marine Program — and with the support of USAID-Coral Triangle Support Partnership, the area will contribute to the government’s target to protect coastal ecosystems and 20 million hectares of marine area by 2020. Thirteen million hectares are currently under protection, the ministry said.

Establishing the protected area has also been hailed as a concrete step to implement the Coral Triangle Initiative that Indonesia established along with the Philippines, Malaysia, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

This area, which is protected from destructive fishing practices, waste dumping and coral mining,
is home to 296 species of coral and 576 species of fish, with five identified as new species, according to a marine ecology study by international experts.

TNC Indonesia’s survey showed there was 1,142 hectares of coral reef, 230 hectares of mangrove forest with 13 species of mangrove, as well as 108 sea grass fields containing eight species of sea grass.

Marthen said the area was currently being zoned.

“We will set up special zones for various activities including fishing, marine tourism and seaweed farming, but we still need to consult the community further. We hope to do this within six months,” he said, adding the zoning would not change the seaweed farming area.

— Photos by JP/Stanny Angga