HOW TO GET TO RAJA AMPAT ISLANDS

 

The easiest way to get to Raja Ampat is to fly to Sorong via Jakarta or Singapore. Domestic travelers can also fly via Makassar or Manado.

From Jakarta or Bali: Merpati, Express Air and Lion/Wings operate daily flights from Jakarta to Sorong (with stopovers in Ujung Pandang/Makassar and/or Manado)

From Singapore: Silkair operates regular flights from Singapore to Manado. From Manado to Sorong regular flights are offered by Lion Air and Merpati.
It is easiest to check with a local Indonesian Travel agent or directly with the airline for the lastest domestic flights available.

 

 

---

Help Conserve Raja Ampat
— Get Your Entrance Tag today!
 

The Raja Ampat Regency Government is proud to announce the introduction of a tourism entrance fee system to help support conservation and community projects within Raja Ampat. All tourists entering Raja Ampat are required to purchase an entrance tag.

The entrance fee for foreign visitors is Rp 500,000/person/year (approximately US$55) for which they will receive a waterproof plastic entrance tag featuring a photo from Raja Ampat. All Indonesian visitors from outside Raja Ampat are required to pay Rp 250,000 and will receive an entry card. The annual tags and cards will be valid from January 1st until January 31st of the following year.

The tag system has been adapted from the very successful Bonaire and Bunaken Marine Park systems. The 2008 tag features an endemic pygmy seahorse, one of over 1200 fish species found in Raja Ampat—the most biodiverse marine region in the world recorded to date.  Visitors are required to carry their tags or cards at all times—tags can be easily fixed to guests’ snorkeling or diving gear or to their dive bag. The entrance fee system will be enforced through spot checks conducted by official patrols. The money collected is managed by a multistakeholder management team (Tim Pengelola) and is divided between tourism development, conservation, and community health projects.

We greatly appreciate your support and cooperation with this fee system. Conservation of Raja Ampat’s spectacular marine habitats and biodiversity requires long term funding. In addition, the local communities who own these reefs need to see direct benefits of tourism through community programs that will improve their quality of life.

Tim Pengelola, Sorong Airport
Tel +62 81 317 242084  | Fax +62 951 331786
 

CONSERVATION IN RAJA AMPAT

The Raja Ampat Archipelago is known as the “crown jewel” in the Papuan “Bird’s Head Seascape” (named for the distinctive shape of the northwestern section of the island of New Guinea), an area with unparalleled marine biodiversity.

As of September 2008, current species tallies for the Bird’s Head include over 1356 species of coral reef fish (including 1223 in Raja Ampat alone and at least 25 endemics known only from this region), 600 species of hard coral (75% of the world’s total and over ten times the number of coral species found in the entire Caribbean), and 57 species of mantis shrimp (including 8 endemic species known only from the Bird’s Head). Other important features of the Bird’s Head include karst forests full of rare orchids, birds of paradise, tree kangaroos, regionally-important green and hawksbill turtle rookeries, whale and dolphin aggregations, and the world’s largest Pacific Leatherback Turtle nesting beaches in the Jamursbamedi-Warmon coast of the Northern Bird’s Head.

As more is discovered about Raja Ampat, its global significance continues to grow. There is now clear evidence that the coral around Raja Ampat may be naturally more resilient to fluctuations in temperatures, and thus more likely to withstand the impacts of global climate change. Powerful ocean currents carry larvae from Raja Ampat to reefs in other parts of Indonesia and the Pacific, making Raja Ampat the heart of the “supply chain” of species. This transport may help to replenish other reefs which have been damaged by disease, bleaching, overfishing, and other detrimental activities.

Without question, Raja Ampat and the broader Bird’s Head Seascape rank as global priorities for marine conservation!

Until fairly recently, Raja Ampat’s isolation and low human population have played a large part in keeping its reefs healthy and thriving. However, the region’s rich coastal and marine resources have made it a target for economic development ranging from fisheries and marine tourism, to more destructive activities such as oil and gas exploration, mining and logging.  And thus the paradox of Raja Ampat – world unique, globally outstanding, literally bursting at the seams with biodiversity - yet highly threatened.

Local governments and stakeholders require strong support in developing effective, sustainable coastal and marine resource management that conserves biodiversity while benefiting local communities. To date, that support is coming from a highly dedicated team of over 200 international and local conservation NGO staff focused on improving the management of Raja Ampat. Working in concert with the local and national government and other local institutions and stakeholders, two international conservation NGOs,  and TNCas well as the Indonesian government’s are facilitating the management of the 7 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) recently declared in Raja Ampat and local NGO, Papuan Sea Turtle Foundation, play a key role in sea turtle conservation in the archipelago. In addition, the three international NGOs—CI, TNC and WWF—have an ambitious partnership throughout the Bird’s Head Seascape.

Together, these organizations have focused on a comprehensive three-pronged approach to conservation in Raja Ampat.

The first initiative has centered on the scientific characterization of Raja Ampat, including its biodiversity and the important large-scale ecological and oceanographic processes that influence this diversity. Besides generating world record species lists and describing dozens of new and endemic species, this initiative has also succeeded in revealing patterns of genetic and oceanographic “connectivity” that are critical to understand in order to develop plans to manage the region’s marine resources in a sustainable manner.

The second set of strategic conservation activities, conducted simultaneously with the scientific characterization of Raja Ampat, has focused on creating an “enabling environment” for effective conservation and collaborative management of Raja Ampat’s rich marine resources. Over the past 3 years, the various conservation teams have worked intensively with the local government and citizens in the 90 remote villages of Raja Ampat to both better understand their development aspirations and align them with a sustainable vision for the area while also dramatically increasing local understanding and appreciation of Raja Ampat’s biodiversity, the threats to it, and the need for local leadership in effectively managing it. So far, the response of local traditional leaders and village chiefs has been overwhelmingly positive. To learn more about some of these outreach and education programs

The final strategic initiative (based upon the scientific understanding and strong local community support generated by the first two strategies) has been to facilitate the establishment of an ecologically-connected network of marine protected areas (MPAs) across Raja Ampat. In May 2007, the Raja Ampat government declared a network of seven MPAs that together covers nearly 900,000 hectares and approximately 45% of Raja Ampat’s coral reefs and mangroves. Effectively implemented, these MPAs should ensure the long term health and sustainability of Raja Ampat’s marine ecosystems. One outstanding achievement has been the work of the local NGO, Papua Sea Turtle Foundation, which has run a highly successful turtle nest program in the major rookery of Sayang-Piai in the Kawe MPA, effectively eliminating turtle poaching and protecting over 2000 green turtle nests in the past 2 years.

These three initiatives have made impressive progress over the past 5 years, but there is still much work to be done. Raja Ampat’s MPA network needs to be “operationalized” and the restrictions on destructive and unsustainable fishing practices strictly enforced.

Marine tourism development must be carefully managed to provide optimal benefits for local communities while minimizing its “footprint” in the area. Perhaps most importantly, we face a continuous uphill battle to impress upon policy-makers and community leaders the need to wisely conserve and manage this area, as the seemingly inexhaustible global demand for commodities ranging from fish to minerals to timber products continues to create strong short-term financial incentives to mine all of these resources from Raja Ampat.

Hopefully, with the continued dedication of conservation NGOs, the local and national government, and local stakeholders, and the firm support of the marine tourism sector, the reefs of Raja Ampat will continue to thrive.

Source :

www.diverajaampat.org