Amsterdam, 6 August 2024 — At the 5th Global Dialogue on Sustainable Ocean Development in Sanur, Bali, yesterday the Indonesian Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries officially launched Indonesian ocean accounting.
The country launched the 5th Global Dialogue on Sustainable Ocean Development in Sanur, Bali, an impressive presentation and focusing on sustainable marine management and reducing plastic pollution. In order to cut down ocean plastic waste by 70% as of 2025, these initiatives include seaweed farming and mangrove restoration. Collaborating with important global players and partners, Indonesia aims to tackle marine plastic pollution and support it’s blue economy initiative.A dashboard system tracking ecological impacts of investments in aquaculture and tourism is used
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This initiative places Indonesia without a shadow of a doubt as the leading country around the globe and in the world developing responsible ocean accounting.
Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, said that the high level of activity in marine spaces and coastal areas, as well as the threat of damage due to pollution and climate change, has spurred the government to make various breakthroughs to provide sustainable marine governance. And ocean accounting is one of these remarkable breakthroughs.
“We must prioritize ocean health. We no longer want ocean or river pollution or overfishing. We want to develop aquaculture for sustainable marine management. We need to remember that climate change is also greatly affected by the ocean,” the minister said in an inspiring and enthusiastic tone.
Minister Luhut
He also explained that Indonesia, with some 17.000 islands, is the largest archipelagic country in the world with large maritime resource potential and a strategic location. It also has the fourth largest population in the world.
“Indonesia has mega biodiversity with approximately 8,500 marine biota, sustainable fisheries production potential of 12 million tons per year, marine fisheries production potential of more than 50 million tons/year, 115,000 km long sea cables that support national and global digitalization flows and carbon potential. blue and new renewable energy,” he explained.
It’s just that currently Indonesia’s seas are largely unexplored, so this is what encourages Indonesia to start collaborating with international partners to explore and understand more about Indonesia’s oceans.
“Together with BRIN, IDSSE and OceanX we are trying to uncover new things by exploring the deep sea and also understanding climate change,” continued Luhut.
Currently, the contribution of the maritime industry is still very low, so it is necessary to explore and harvest maritime resources in a sustainable manner, especially in the blue economy approach.
“Indonesia is committed to taking concrete action to protect our seas, through large-scale seaweed farming with mechanization and technology, a rehabilitation program for 600,000 hectares of mangroves as well as handling plastic waste in the sea with a target of 70% by the end of 2025,” he said.
Blue Halo S is an integrated and comprehensive approach in managing marine and fisheries resource conservation and coral reef restoration projects to reduce the impact of coral and mangrove bleaching that have been carried out by Indonesia.
“Including the launch of Ocean Accounts which can enable us to measure the ocean based on its monetary value in terms of marine ecosystems, services and degradation trends. “Indonesia is taking pioneering steps towards sustainable management through Ocean Accounting,” said Luhut.
Indonesia has also initiated several global and national platforms for sustainable oceans and a blue economy that unite multi-stakeholders such as the G20 Bali Global Blended Finance, National Blue Agenda Actions Partnership (NBAAP), Archipelagic and Island States Forum (AIS Forum) and Ocean 20 (O20) which now has involvement in the G20.
“This requires an international collaborative effort. Our oceans are not just our responsibility, they are our lifeline. Now is the time to act. “Our legacy can be resilience, responsibility and commitment to preserving our oceans, for our nation, the world and for future generations,” concluded Luhut.
Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono
Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono added that Indonesia’s ocean accounting is in the form of a dashboard containing a collection of data on Indonesia’s marine and coastal resources originating from the results of research and surveys. This system processes data dynamically so as to produce the latest information according to current conditions in the field.
The dashboard is able to display the economic, ecological and social values of a marine and coastal water area. Then you can analyze the impact of investment in the sea and coast on ecological health in the short and long term. Whether it is investment in capture and aquaculture, tourism, sea transportation, to development in coastal areas that have the potential to cause environmental impacts.
Moreover, the Indonesian Marine Resources Balance Sheet can track ocean areas that have high ecological and economic value and vice versa. This information can be used to support rehabilitation activities and achieve the target of 30 percent of Indonesia’s marine conservation areas by 2045.
“With this system we can analyze the impact of marine space utilization and sea conditions quickly. This is a tool to support policy making for sustainable marine management,” he explained.
There are 10 impressive pilot project locations for ocean accounting development in Indonesia which are supported by the Global Ocean Accounts Partnership (GOAP). The area includes the conservation areas of Gili Matra, Banda, Padaido, Raja Ampat, West Waigeo, Anambas, Pieh, Aru, Sawu, and Kapoposang Island.
“The coverage area will continue to be expanded to all of Indonesia’s territorial waters,” said Trenggono.
The Secretariat of the Global Ocean Accounts Partnership (GOAP) as an international organization involved in developing Indonesian ocean accounting, appreciates the success of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries in developing Indonesian ocean accounting and is even considered a leading country in the world.
“Indonesia has shown great leadership in the development of ocean accounting, which can be a model for other countries. The collaborative efforts of the Indonesian government and partners in creating a comprehensive data-based approach for marine resource management contribute significantly to sustainable global ocean development,” said GOAP Secretariat Co-Director, Ben Milligan.
The 5th Global Dialogue on Sustainable Ocean Development itself, is a global forum held by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries together with the GOAP secretariat to discuss best practices for developing ocean accounting. Participants involved high-ranking officials from island countries, representatives of dozens of countries, international organizations including several world renowned aqua-scientists.
