Episode 4 - Zach Boakes on Artificial Coral Reefs Restoration in Bali
Zach Boakes is marine biologist, currently living in northern Bali in a village called Tianyar, north east Bali, currently writing his PHD on the study of coral rehabilitation. Zach first came to Bali as a passionate surfer turned fresh-faced drum teacher and integrated into a remote Balinese community untouched by tourism, soon realizing that there was a great need to protect local coral reefs which had been degraded.
Zach set up North Bali Reef Conservation, which is a nonprofit NGO founded in 2017, working with the local community and local fishermen, training them to be stewards of local marine wildlife. One of the main aims of his research is to study pro-environmental behavior, analyzing what tends to encourage somebody to do something towards caring for the environment. With the support of local village leaders, the project is now employing local villagers as tour guides and diving instructors, there is accommodation for over 50 volunteers.
Zach discusses how one of the keys to success of a local marine based NGO was the integration of local community fishermen in this project. They needed to feel like they were owners of a project and one of the best ways to incentivize them. With now more than 9,000 structures built, Zach is in the process of monitoring how fast wildlife returns and corals grow, and has just published his first paper entitled ‘Coral reef conservation in Bali in light of international best practice, a literature review’. Through his research, he is proving that developing these sort of Marine-protected areas, not only has a localized benefit to the ecology, but also to the local people that depend on these species for their survival, and that it really does work.
Through this NGO, waste management is also being tackled with a small local plastic recycling centre aiming to avoid the daily burning of plastic litter.
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Zach Boakes | LinkedIn
About us marine conservation volunteer program in Bali, local NGO coral reef protection
OTHER RELATED LINKS
Marine Conservation Volunteering Abroad | GVI Planet
Volunteering – NORTH BALI REEF CONSERVATION
North Bali Reef Conservation | Facebook
Bali Marine Conservation – The Mighty Roar
Coral reef conservation in the eastern tropical Pacific
Coral reef conservation in the Anthropocene: confronting spatial mismatches and prioritizing functions