Fishers, Women, and Youth Gain Skills to Protect the Banda Sea

xIn the Banda Islands, local fishers, women, and youth are gaining new skills and knowledge to help protect the marine resources they depend on. From documenting fish catches to learning how marine protected areas (MPAs) work, they are learning how to contribute to conservation efforts in their own communities.

These efforts are part of the CTC’s Kalesang Banda Program, a collaborative initiative to strengthen conservation area management and protect Endangered, Threatened, and Protected (ETP) marine species in the Banda Islands. Kalesang, which means “to organize or care for” in Ambonese Malay, reflects the program’s focus on caring for the marine environment through community participation.

For local fishers, caring for the ocean means becoming part of the process of collecting the information needed to understand their fisheries.

From August 29 to September 5, CTC, together with the Balai Pengelolaan Kelautan Kupang – Banda Service Unit and Maluku Marine and Fisheries Branch Office Cluster VI, trained 85 fishers from eight villages to use the Catch Documentation and Reporting System (CODRS).

With cameras, measuring boards, and weighing scales, fishers learned to document their catches and record information such as fish size, weight, fishing activities, and Endangered, Threatened, and Protected (ETP) species. The data collected will help build a clearer picture of local fisheries, informing future fisheries and MPA management.

For Suban Salasa, a fisher from Ay Island, the training introduced skills that were previously unfamiliar.

“As traditional fishers from Ay Island, we didn’t know much about the different fish species found around Ay Island in the past. Through these activities, we were taught how to identify the different species and learn their names. We also didn’t know how to collect and record fish data. Now, through this training, we have learned how to do that,” he said.

Meanwhile, on Hatta Island, 23 women, youth, and teachers took part in a separate training from September 1 to 3. Through games, discussions, practical activities, and reflections, they explored marine ecosystems, fisheries, MPAs, sustainable tourism, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI), and CTC’s Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM).

The training helped participants connect what they learned with their local marine environment and how they can take part in protecting it. Rupi S Lasamuna, a teacher from Mis-Al Hilaal Pulau Hatta, hopes to share what she learned with her students and the wider community.

“This knowledge can be applied in schools and is also very important for the wider community, so that we can better understand and identify areas that may be designated as MPA. I hope I can share the knowledge I have gained with the local community, so that they can also learn about it, even if they were not able to attend this training.”

By equipping fishers with data-collection skills and helping women and youth understand their roles in conservation, the Kalesang Banda Program is supporting greater community participation in managing and protecting the Banda Islands’ marine resources.

Writer: Megan Alexis
Photos: Megan Alexis/CTC