Our guest speaker today was Putu Liza Mustika , who some time back assisted our club with a brochure that was launched in May 2009.  You can see that brochure here. She spent 7 years in Australia and received a PhD from James Cook University in Townsville.  Today she was assisted by  I Made Jayaratha who is a Technical Office with the Bali MPA network.   She described a single Marine Protected Area (MPA) as a marine area with a well defined boundary that is recognized by the Provincial government and the Regency Governments.  These governments then implement the restrictions that provide the protection.

Then, an MPA network is a series of MPAs that work together to meet broader objectives.  Such a network can support ecosystems that cover a wider area than just one MPA help to resolve conflicts of interests among those who are using the marine resources assist with management of the economic benefits from the wider area

An MPA network will be most effective if it

• adequately covers enough ecosystems
• it represents many species
• it is “connected” in the sense that the inidivual MPAs are not too far apart, and so benefits from one MPA can assist nearby MPAs
• is “resilient” –  meaning that the recovery from a setback on one MPA can be helped from the health of nearby MPAs

The Bali MPA network aims to manage marine resources around Bali, and to support the Bali Government’s vision for

• One Island, One Management
• Bali Green Province

There were plenty of questions for Putu.

• How will it affect fishermen?  Putu says they will work closely with fishermen.  While the use of explosives or chemicals will be prohibited, fishing with nets will continue.
• Will the MPAs be able to address the issue of plastic waste on the reefs?  Putu said that initially the focus of the MPA network will be on the protected marine areas, in the future they may be able to expand their scope to include some management of the rivers where the plastics originate
• There was a question about ships dumping rubbish.  This can sometimes be a problem, and it is quite difficult to manage.