Experiences gained from implementing management plans in other areas have demonstrated that the local population must be involved from the start, and must directly derive benefits from the establishment and operation of the park, either through jobs or additional income from tourist purchases. In order to undertake the survey of some 200,000ha of sea and reefs, the project will operate a liveaboard and a land based training and operation centre, which will be in a traditional Sulawesi guest house on uninhabited Hoga island. Specialist marine scientists will be spending up to three months at a time on the project, to research different aspects of reef ecology. The project will work closely with Indonesian scientists, the Wallacea Development Institute and the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences. The project is expected to last three years, concluding in the production of a field guide to the islands, and establishment of a working infrastructure and development guidelines for the marine park.
Divers now have a chance to participate in real conservation in an extraordinary region.
The Operation Wallacea homepage is online with complete details about the expeditions.