
Towards a New Era of Management of the Derawan Islands Coastal and Small Islands Conservation Area and Surrounding Waters
The Derawan Islands Coastal and Small Islands Conservation Area and Surrounding Waters (KKP3K-KDPS), located in Berau Regency, East Kalimantan Province, is one of the areas with the highest marine biodiversity in the world, and is part of the coral triangle. KKP3K-KDPS is located in the Sulu Sulawesi Seascape with a total area of 285,548.95 hectares.
The area is also known as a migration route for important marine life and a fishery area with high economic value. Given these facts, managing it in partnership and sustainably is essential.
In order to optimize the management of these MPAs, a sustainable funding scheme is needed. To ensure management efforts can continue to run effectively.
"Sustainable funding is a challenge in conservation area management in general because most conservation activities, such as biodiversity monitoring, surveillance, and habitat restoration, are costly and must be sustained. Dependence on unstable or limited funding sources can hamper efforts to protect and restore ecosystems," explained the Head of the East Kalimantan Marine and Fisheries Agency (DKP), Irhan Hukmaidy.
Irhan added that to support the management of KKP3K-KDPS, the DKP of East Kalimantan Province then formed a Regional Technical Implementation Unit (UPTD) as a management unit tasked with carrying out management in KKP3K KDPS, which was authorized through East Kalimantan Governor Regulation Number 7 of 2024.