Fifty new species discovered off Indonesia's Papua coast.

23/04/2007 00:00:00 SEPTEMBER 2006. Dozens of new species of marine life, including epaulette sharks, ‘flasher’ wrasse and reef-building coral, have been discovered during two Conservation International (CI) expeditions to Asia's ‘Coral Triangle’, confirming the area as the richest seascape in the world. The unrivalled marine biodiversity of the Bird's Head peninsula Seascape, on the north-western tip of Indonesia's Papua province, currently includes more than 1,200 species of fish and nearly 600 species of reef-building coral, 75%of the world's total. Researchers found some amazing species in this special underwater environment, including a small epaulette shark that ‘walks’ on its fins.

Over-fishing with dynamite and cyanide, deforestation and mining that degrade coastal waters all pose major threats and immediate steps are needed to protect this unique marine.

‘These reefs are virtually 'species factories' and require special attention to protect them from unsustainable fishing and other threats so they continue to be a benefit to their local owners and the global community,’ said Mark Erdmann, senior adviser of CI's Indonesian Marine Program. ‘6 of the survey sites, the size of 2 football fields, contained more than 250 species of reef-building coral each - more than four times the number of coral species in the entire Caribbean.’ Despite low population density in the region, the population of the Bird's Head peninsula is heavily dependent on the sea for its livelihood - which is under threat from a plan to transfer fishing pressures from Indonesia's over-fished western seas to the east toward Papua province.

‘The coastal villages we surveyed were mostly engaged in subsistence fishing, farming and gathering, and they require a healthy marine environment to survive,’ said Paulus Boli, a State University of Papua researcher who led the socioeconomic component of the expeditions. ‘We are very concerned about the potential impact of planned commercial fisheries expansion in the region, and we urge a precautionary approach that emphasizes sustainability over intensive exploitation.’ 2 Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) surveys in 2006 (And a third expedition in 2001) studied waters surrounding Papua province from Teluk Cenderawasih in the north to the Raja Ampat archipelago off the western coast and southeast to the FakFak-Kaimana coastline. A few hundred kilometres inland lie Papua's Foja Mountains, where a CI team and the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) discovered a virtual ‘Lost World’ of new species of birds, butterflies, frogs and other wildlife in 2005.

Researchers discovered over fifty new species of fish, coral and mantis shrimp in the Bird's Head Seascape. This same seascape includes the largest Pacific leatherback turtle nesting area, as well as migratory populations of sperm and Bryde's whales, orcas and several other dolphin species.

Only 11% of the seascape is protected, mostly in the Teluk Cenderawasih National Park that is supported by the World Wide Fund for Nature-Indonesia (WWF-Indonesia). Results of the CI-led surveys highlight the need for a well-managed network of multiple-use Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to conserve the seascape's biodiversity and ensure the long-term sustainability of commercial and subsistence fishing.

Partners in the two 2006 surveys funded by the Walton Family Foundation included the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry's Department of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation and its local offices in Papua; Teluk Cenderawasih National Park Authority, the State University of Papua, and WWF-Indonesia.

Courtesy of Conservation International.