DESIGNING CORAL REEF TRANSPLANTATION PROGRAM WITH LOCAL COMMUNITY IN FORM OF MARINE ECOTOURISM TOUR PACKAGE

Abstract

Since 1990 Pangandaran has developed into one of the main tourism destination in West Java which focuses its development on Marine Ecotourism. The development drawn high number of tourists and impacted the condition of the marine ecosystems. The coral reefs were slowly being damaged by tourists activities, plastics waste and pollution, thus the clarity of the water was degraded.This Program was conducted to analyze the level of damage to coral reefs and community preparedness in cultivating coral reefs, as well as providing training to the community so that the model of transplantion would be generated. The subjects of this training were fishermen communities in Pananjung Subdistrict. The training was delivered in the stages of: 1) identification of the condition of coral reefs in the Nature Reserve Waters; 2) analysis of community readiness and ability in developing coral reef cultivation, and 3) training in coral reef cultivation for the community. The target of this activity is to improve the quality of the aquatic environment and increase the knowledge of local communities through training in coral reef cultivation. Whenever the transplantation is ready, the local community will be able to develop an independent tourism business, based on water conservation, and improve the economy of the community, thus helping the government in realizing a sustainable marine tourism.

Keywords: Coral Reef Transplantation, Ecotourism, Marine tourism.