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The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has designated two marine conservation areas in the provinces of West Java and West Sumatra, covering some 45 thousand hectares of marine area.

"One instrument of natural resource management by the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry is the designation of an area as marine conservation area," acting Director General of Marine Spatial Management of the ministry Pamuji Lestari said in a statement here on Sunday.

The two conservation areas are Pangandaran waters in West Java and West Pariaman waters in West Sumatra.

Marine conservation area has become a crucial instrument in the management of marine and fisheries resources as it will preserve the habitat and give the benefit to the ecosystem as well as people living in the coastal area.

Lestari said, as of 2021, the ministry has set 81 conservation areas covering a total 13.93 million hectares of marine area.

The ministry has targeted to increase the marine conservation area by two million hectares in 2022, she said.

The conservation area would be located in 19 provinces namely West Java, West Sumatra, Maluku, North Kalimantan, Riau Islands, Yogyakarta, West Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, East Kalimantan, West Nusa Tenggara, Riau, Bengkulu, Lampung, Bangka Belitung Islands, East Nusa Tenggara, Central Kalimantan, Southeast Sulawesi, West Sulawesi, and West Papua.

"The designation of marine conservation area is in accordance with the global commitment in the Convention on Biological Diversity (Aichi Target 11) and Sustainable Development Goals 14," she remarked.

Meanwhile, Director of Marine Conservation and Biodiversity Andi Rusandi said the designation of the 38,810 hectares of Pangandaran waters as a marine conservation area is aimed at protecting sea turtle and lobster habitat.

Rusandi cited a study showing that four out of six sea turtle species in Indonesia can be found in Pangandaran. They are green turtle, olive ridley sea turtle, loggerhead sea turtle and flatback turtle.

"The designation of a conservation area in Pangandaran waters under the category of marine park will preserve and improve the quality of biodiversity in the area, especially the protected sea turtle," he said.

Moreover, the marine conservation area of West Pasaman covering 6,122 hectares of marine area is set to protect coral reef and sea turtle habitat.

Coral reef ecosystem in West Pasaman has covered an area of 79.74 hectares hence it should be protected to benefit the local fisheries and tourism industry, he added.

West Java has already had two marine conservation areas -- Penyu Pangumbahan Beach in Sukabumi District and Biawak Island in Indramayu District -- while West Sumatra has five marine conservation areas. They are Bunga Laut Strait in Mentawai Islands District, Pesisir Selatan District, Padang City, Pariaman City and Batang Gasan in Padang Pariaman District. (Antaranews)