Go Green: Operating in a Marine Protected Area

Setting up shop in a marine protected area (MPA) is certainly no simple feat; just ask these liveaboard and dive resort owners and reps behind some of Asia Pacific’s most well-known green businesses.

Running a dive business in a regular tourist hotspot is one thing, but to do it in a marine protected area (MPA) – that’s a whole new ball game. It’s clear that it’s all about finding that right balance of profit and conservation, so what does it take to ensure the scales aren’t tipped in a negative way? We zoom in on three MPAs and three dive operations that – after overcoming plenty of hurdles – have managed to make their green businesses work.

WHY ESTABLISH A DIVE RESORT IN AN MPA?

It actually started the other way around. When resort founder Lorenz Mäder first discovered the site that is now Wakatobi, he wanted to protect it. To do this, he made agreements with fishermen and villagers in the area before he opened the resort; in exchange for halting destructive fishing practices and agreeing to honour no-take zones, the local people would receive a portion of resort revenue and other civic benefits such as electricity and funding for village schools. This led to the creation of Wakatobi’s Collaborative Reef Conservation Programme, which now protects more than 20 kilometres of reef.

WHAT STEPS IS WAKATOBI DIVE RESORT TAKING TO MAKE THE RESORT SUSTAINABLE AND ECO-FRIENDLY?

Conducting reef monitoring and cleaning whenever needed; ensuring resort structures are created by local craftsmen using locally-sourced, sustainable materials; treating all wastewater in biological ways (microbiological decomposition under ideal conditions at 28°C/leach fields/ other treatments to prevent nutrients from entering the sea) – just to name a few. We also work together with Project AWARE to advise operators worldwide how to contribute substantially towards the marine ecosystem, and we’re managing a turtle nursery on the resort grounds – this operation is returning hundreds of healthier, stronger hatchlings to the wild each year.