Barefoot Conservation Science Report 2022

 

Introduction:

Barefoot Conservation is an Indonesian Yayasan (Yayasan Konservasi Jejak Kaki Indonesia: AHU-0004531.AH.01.04. Tahun 2018) working to conserve the unrivalled marine life of Raja Ampat, through monitoring, research and science training of the local community. Barefoot has been running since 2012 and has been collecting data on reef health, manta populations, marine debris and crown of thorns starfish for several years, providing invaluable long-term datasets of the ecosystem over time.
Additionally, this year in 2022, several new projects have commenced, most notably a reef restoration project, but also a black corals project, cyanobacteria monitoring and anchor damage monitoring. All of these projects will be outlined in more detail below, including background, progress and goals for 2023.

Our Science team at Barefoot currently consists of three Indonesian marine science graduates: Afryan Maris Pappang Simon (Hasanuddin University of Makassar), Victor Hendrico (IPB University), Felicita Laura Annemarie (Victoria University of Wellington), a manta scientist from Plymouth University (UK) Lena Pollet, and the Head of Science Josie Chandler (James Cook University) who is working remotely from Australia.
Our Project Manager, dive instructor, divemasters and doctor are also heavily involved in the science projects.

Despite the struggles of Covid that affected our monitoring in 2020/2021, we have achieved a lot this year both within science and also community outreach and training. We reached our survey goals for Reef Check and have seen some promising results in the first year of our coral restoration project. Importantly, we have built a strong foundation for an even stronger 2023, with lots of exciting collaborations and several new projects due to commence in January 2023. This report provides an update on the progress of our major science projects in 2022.

All of the projects currently running at Barefoot Conservation, collect observational data only, and the results of the research remain within Indonesia. Correct permissions were sought from both Chief of Arborek Village, Bapa Juan Mambrasar , and Head of BLUD, Pak Safry, before commencing any of the projects mentioned in this report.

For any questions regarding the data, findings or projects mentioned in this report, please contact our Head of Science, Josie Chandler, via:- 

REPORTS (click links below)

Barefoot Conservation Science Progress Report 2022-2023 (English)

Barefoot Conservation Science Progress Report 2022-2023 (Bahasa Indonesia)