REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), through the Center for Oceanographic Research (P2O), has launched the Indonesian Coral Reef Health Index as an important standard for managing coral reefs owned by Indonesia as the largest archipelago country in the world.

LIPI's Acting Head, Bambang Subiyanto, stated here on Monday that the Indonesia's Coral Reef Health Index was very useful for the management of coral reefs and other related ecosystems.

"With this index, we can ascertain the health of our coral reef ecosystem. Only a few countries in the world have their coral reef health index, and Indonesia is one of these few countries in the world that has its index. We should be proud of it," he explained.

Bambang noted that the Indonesian Coral Reef Health Index is based on LIPI's data and experiences in research and monitoring on coral reefs in almost all waters in Indonesia over the years.

The Head of P2O LIPI, Dirhamsyah, remarked that the index is based on data, which were intensively collected by the institution since more than 20 years ago when the Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program (COREMAP) began in 1999.

In 2017, LIPI is entrusted to continue COREMAP Phase III, which will end by December 2020.

The program, which is funded by World Bank and the Global Environment Facility, will further contain activities aimed at enhancing institutional capacity in research and monitoring of coastal ecosystems (coral reefs, sea grass, and mangroves), as well as improving data and information on management capacity, both at national and local levels.

"The results from COREMAP Phase 1 to Phase 3 are utilized by stakeholders," Dirhamsyah revealed.

The P2O LIPI also launched three books, entitled Mangrove in Indonesia, Absorb Carbon, and Five Decades LIPI, at the Jakarta Bay. These books include researches conducted by LIPI for the last few decades.

For instance, Five Decades LIPI in Jakarta Bay is a summary of all LIPI researches, which were conducted in Jakarta Bay for more than five decades.

The P2O LIPI is now authorized to provide competence certification to assessors of coral reef conditions and other related ecosystems.

Corals grow in warm, clear, and shallow waters, and these reefs are found throughout the tropics. Indonesia is part of the Coral Triangle, a region that contains the highest diversity of marine life in the world. The Coral Triangle covers areas within six countries, namely, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, and Timor-Leste.

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