The State Of Sangalaki!

[gee13]

Hi All

I was just browsing a few threads on diving in Maratua and Sangalaki and managed to get onto the sangalaki.net site Dive Borneo Indonesia with Sangalaki Dive Lodge in Kakaban, Derawan, Nabucco, Maratua, Samama and see mantas, turtles, sharks...
which has made an announcement of closure of the dive op. resort in march 2009 after redevelopment by Jeremy Stein? Why has there been not much discussion about this?

Can anyone shed some light on why this is so and why is it that fish bombing and other unsavoury fishing practices is allowed at targetting marine destruction in the area?

What are we doing as a global community to take action?

I would love to visit someday but Im not sure due to the reports of the inefficiencies of transfers to Maratua etc. Are there liveaboards that cruise to the area that are reputable? What is Derawan Resort like? I have also heard rather average reports about Maratua resort.

 

[Zippsy]

Okay, I spoke to someone from Indonesia who was at the resort at the end and has kept abreast of what happened and what is going on now. Apparently, the local government effectively closed the resort and kicked out the people who were managing it. The buildings now house local fisherman as a base for fishing out the area. They seem like kids in a candy shop and they are building more on the island too. Someone who saw the place recently says that the island looks like a dump site and it is so bad on the shoreline that the turtles can’t even get up to lay their eggs. For millennia, turtles have used the island as an important nesting site. According to the Turtle Foundation website, 10-20 green turtles came ashore every single night. The problem is that they aren’t anymore. I wonder how much the bribe was?

 

[rubashov]

I've been searching for info on this and have come up with zero- there was an FB page on the Sangalaki resort but it is no longer active. On a stranger note, I tried to get reservations at Dive Derawan for the Eid il Fitri Holidays, to dive Derawan / Kakaban / Sangalaki - none of the landlines I dialed worked, nor did the mobile numbers of the staff there. My emails were never answered. Something happened out there, but what, I don't know.

 

[gee13]

You can MSN Jeremy Stein and Caroline from the link I have posted. Perhaps they can shed some light on the situation. I believe Jeremy has posted on Scubaboard before when the resort changed hands from the previous unsavoury owners.

 

[Zippsy]

too late, please refer to my post. They are trying not to burn their bridges, if you know what I mean.

 

[Lamduan]

Hi all,

I was just chatting with Caroline of Sangalaki Dive Lodge and she has confirmed everything that has been said about what has happened to the resort and to the island. It is very sad indeed. A tragedy. :-(

Lamduan

 

[gee13]

This is indeed a dire tragedy, not only for our dive community but more importantly the state of nature around the island. Im perturbed at the vast dichotomy within a government that thrives on dive tourism - we have Bunaken Marine Park a nature conservation area, then we now have Sangalaki a nature destruction area from an equally very important ecosytem with the adjunct Maratua and Kakaban. I have heard of fishing competitions and fish/coral bombing still held in the area. Would like to see what the local fishermen would do when all the fish are gone indeed! Im glad the contest of Sipadan did not go to Indonesia. Imagine the state of it now should it face the same fate as Sangalaki.

 

[Bredman]

You been to Sipadan recently? A lot of Mabul/Kapalai/Saipan are bombed out too and there have been photos of shark finning going on in the area.

This news still sucks, but IMO Malaysia isn't doing any better.

 

[gee13]

Yes I have actually, I dont doubt that bombing still happens around Malaysian Waters and shark finning. I am well aware of that and incensed by it. The point Im making is that the area around Sipadan is marine protected and resort isolated and even though many divers complain about this, what they may not realise immediately is the reduction of divers and fishermen from a free for all DOES and HAS led to recovery of a lot of the damaged reef and wildlife sustenance. When I last dived Barracuda point several months ago we encountered a cross current that attracted a school of white tips. It was certainly a sight to behold.

The solution - simple but apparently too hard for some backward governments to apply. Create as many marine protected areas and police them. Regulate fishing activities, make it an offence to use illegal procedures such as bombing. Charge a marine park fee but make sure it goes into conservation, not local politicians. This will ensure healthy reefs and wildlife. Dive tourists will travel and and bring money into the region. Win-Win? Go figure..

 

[Bora_Horza]

I've asked a question about Sangalaki on the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree website, as I've been thinking of visiting, and was concerned about what's been said on this thread.

Yes, the resort on Sangalaki itself has been closed, apparently for conservation reasons (sounds like what's happened at Sipadan?), so no more development on the island. I was told it has a permanently manned guard-post and turtle conservation unit there.

I also did a google search, and found this Jakarta Post article: the-island-time-forgot-east-kalimantan, with the following info:

Pulau Sangalaki and its surrounding waters are famous for manta rays and endangered green turtles. Many top dive sites here are at moderate depths of 15–20 meters. Even snorkelers stand a good chance of catching rays gently beating their wings to glide like birds through the brine. Scuba divers can fly right along with the mantas, with the bonus of extra long dive times.

This heavy breathing reporter, usually lucky to get beyond 25 minutes on a tank, enjoyed nearly an hour of bottom time on each of two dives with a great sampling of the hundreds of species of brilliantly colored reef fish and coral along with a dozen rays. Formerly host to an international diving resort, Sangalaki now accommodates a Turtle Foundation anti-poaching monitoring station staffed by local and international conservation groups, backed by special maritime police patrols.

Of course I'm here in the UK, and have no idea of whats actually happening there! Any more info would be nice to know though.

EDIT: Its possible to get in direct contact with the Turtle Foundation (Indonesian Branch) at http://www.turtle-foundation.org/Organisation/TurtleFoundationIndonesien/tabid/151/Default.aspx for more information? I've sent a message anyway.