Haji Baharuddin is the son of the last sultan of the Wakatobi area and his family has a long tradition of responsible leadership and contributions to the people in the province. He has actively advised Wakatobi Resorts from the beginning and has had a crucial role in directing and building the dialogue with the local communities.

The following is an interview of Haji by resort founder, Lorenz Maeder in 2005.

We thank you very much for your tireless support and efforts to promote Wakatobi's Collaborative Reef Conservation Program. Please give us your views on following questions regarding conservation that we have received from some of our guests:

Haji Baharuddin on reef patrol with Lorenz.

Q: What is the most important factor in gaining local cooperation in a conservation effort?

Many of our people have supported themselves for generations by fishing. If reefs are to be completely protected, the people must have an alternative source of income that at least replaces what is lost by not fishing there. Simply telling them that they can never fish there again would only meet resentment and hostility if enforced against their will.

The local people understand more easily that it is better to use the reef for divers if they see that the income from the tourism - shared with them through good jobs, opportunities for local suppliers and direct lease payments - is more then they can make from fishing. The villages benefit because money paid to them by Wakatobi?s reef lease program provides an important source of funding for community and school projects. Instead of taking our livelihood away, conservation can give us a chance for a stable future.

Q: What do the people eat when they can't fish on the protected reef anymore?

They will continue to eat fish, but now more fish caught from outside of the protected reef area. In Wakatobi we use a fish aggregation device called a Rompong. Its a floating platform made out of bamboo and anchored out in deep water. Plant material like palm fronds is suspended from it providing a hiding place for smaller fish and attracting bigger (pelagic) fish around it. Thereby the fisherman can catch more fish in shorter time then on the reef. (The faster growth and reproduction rates of pelagic species also mean that a greater quantity can be harvested sustainably when compared to the slower-growing reef species.)

Do not forget that what we are working against here is not so much our peoples' need for food, it is the foreign poachers in the Wakatobi region and the lure of quick money from illigal fishing methods and live fish trade that endangers the marine life here. When the communities understand they can get more income from divers and ecotourism than from the outside poachers, then the poachers are sent away and the local people can still eat fish.

Q: What social problems can conservation introduce to a region?

Broken promises and false hopes can be the largest negative factor. If a government agency or a private conservation foundation comes to our villages and makes big promises of money for conservation efforts that fail to materialize, the people get discouraged. We have had many NGO?s and representatives from international organizations come to us with promises of money for conservation programs. They come and they go and nothing ever happens.

The people need to see some positive actions in order to keep the hope alive. We have also learned from other areas in Indonesia that it is equally damaging when conservation people come from outside driving around in expensive boats and giving wrong ideas of easy money to the people. They come and try to tell everybody about the big money that will come in the future and what they are not allowed to do anymore in the name of conservation. But many times they think more of their lifestyle, their research and what they like to do than the real needs of the people. And when they have spent their money on themselves they go and nothing stays with the local people in the end except bitterness.

Q: How can this kind of disillusionment be avoided?

A better solution is a program like the one of Wakatobi Resorts. Everything is visible for, and agreed with, the people. Tourists come to visit our islands, we have jobs, money is paid to the villages for the diver?s use of the reefs and everyone can see where the money goes and everyone can see the benefit of the protection. The people from Wakatobi Resort have always kept their promises to us, and we respect them for that. And only with such respect can the hearts and the minds of people be won for the new ideas.

It is also good for local people to see that the foreigners at the Wakatobi Resort are humble and honest and work very hard to bring the tourist and bring new hope to the island. They are an example for the young people from the island to show that progress means hard work but also satisfaction in what they do and a better life. They are very proud that people from all over the world come to see their island, that now their island has an airstrip and that the families that work at the resort can afford a house and the communities that help to protect the reefs have money for public buildings, schools and cleaner roads etc.

Q: Has the Wakatobi collaborative reef conservation project made any changes in the way the people feel about protecting the reefs?

More and more the awareness of the local villagers about the reef lease project is rising as the people begin to understand the importance of sustainable use of their natural resources and the local ecology for the long term. People are becoming increasingly aware it is an important social obligation to be the keepers of this natural resource, a resource they want to hand on to their children and children?s children. Now, the people are actively protecting and defending the reefs from outside poachers because they realize the value to the community for the future. That is also why everybody in our communities welcomes the tourists because they understand that is the income form the tourist that makes it possible to have a better life and to protect our reefs at the same time.

Haji Baharuddin, thank you for enlightening us on your views.

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