West Papua Creates the World’s First “Conservation Province”
Shawn HeinrichsThe film festival was “like IMAX in the jungle,” Heinrichs says.
I remember that moment 15 years ago when I first descended beneath the surface in Raja Ampat, West Papua.
What I beheld was beyond anything I had seen: schools of fish so dense you could press your hands through them; reefs so vibrant there were no words to describe them; and an unfathomable diversity and abundance of life pouring forth from every crevice. Above the surface, a tropical paradise of extraordinary beauty revealed itself. I knew in that moment that some of our most important work would be to help protect this sacred place.
More than a decade of groundbreaking conservation work has since led to Raja Ampat’s recognition as one of the world’s great conservation success stories. But the riches of this entire Indonesian province are under constant danger of exploitation, and the region is under increasing pressure from marine and terrestrial threats.
West Papua is the heart of the Coral Triangle, the epicenter of global marine diversity, and home to more species of fish and corals than anywhere else. It also supports one of the world’s largest intact rainforests and the world’s largest mangrove forest, a critical blue carbon buffer to climate change.
In 2015, inspired by the success in Raja Ampat, the governor of West Papua declared the region Indonesia’s first conservation province. What followed was an unprecedented initiative uniting the national and provincial governments, local communities, industry and NGOs to galvanize support for the declaration. Four years of hard-earned progress culminated in a grand-scale outdoor film and concert tour across the province, created and hosted by Blue Sphere Foundation/SeaLegacy, Conservation International and the provincial government. Told in the voices of local people, the film inspired communities and their leaders to stand together in defense of their heritage.
Shawn HeinrichsA local man safeguards a leatherback sea turtle nesting site.
On March 20, 2019, this remarkable vision was codified into law by the provincial parliament. The newly established West Papua Conservation Province is based on a first-of-its-kind legal framework that puts sustainable development and conservation at the forefront of any economic activity. The law is uniquely farsighted in its intent, as it sets the stage for a new gold standard for regional conservation and sustainable development, and creates a blueprint for conservation initiatives that protect Earth’s most sacred ecosystems.
About the Author: Shawn Heinrichs is founder and executive director of Blue Sphere Foundation and a co-founder of SeaLegacy.
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