The GoodPlanet Foundation, supported by OMEGA is proud to announce the official launch of « Time for the Planet » projects in Indonesia. Through a press trip with more than 40 journalists from around the world, the GoodPlanet Foundation was able to highlight the considerable challenges of natural heritage conservation for local communities that depend on them.
« Time for the Planet » projects are based on three central issues:
- Restoring the mangroves and by preserving the seagrass
- Working with the communities and local authorities to consolidate the protection of the coastlines
- Raising awareness among local stakeholders and young people of the challenges of managing this heritage.
These 3-year projects, carried out in close collaboration with local conservation actors and local communities, will maintain an exceptional natural heritage and the development of local economic activities.
Tanakeke project
The project in Tanakeke Island relies on innovative techniques for mangrove restoration in order to restore local fisheries. Following the aquaculture boom in the 1990s, Tanakeke Island lost more than 70% of its mangroves. This destruction has greatly reduced local biodiversity. The establishment of a mangrove restoration project on Tanakeke Island will enable the regeneration of an ecosystem on which the local populations heavily depend.
Find out more about the Tanakeke project
Bahoi project
This project proposes improving the protection of the ecosystems by reinforcing, extending and creating protected marine areas in North Sulawesi using a participatory approach with the local communities. It also aims to raise awareness among local communities, children and adults in sustainable management of natural resources, facilitating access to alternative energy sources such as coconut coal.
Find out more about the Bahoi project
« Time for the Planet » projects focus on the restoration and conservation of two iconic ocean ecosystems of our planet: the mangrove forests and seagrass beds.
Emblematic of the tropic regions, mangroves are immense forests between land and sea. They allow the emergence and maintenance of incredible biodiversity, essential for the environment and local communities that depend on them. And yet, on a worldwide scale, mangroves are among the most degraded natural environments in the twentieth century: they have lost a third of their surface in less than twenty years, so that’s 4 million hectares. 40% of the disappearance of mangroves is in Asia.
Meanwhile, seagrasses are vast underwater meadows that exist in most of the world’s oceans. They are not composed of algae, but of grass, very similar to the land-based plant, hence the name “seagrass”. Seagrasses are part of the most diversified ecosystem on the planet and constitute a genuine biodiversity hotspot, essential for the proper functioning of the entire coastal ecosystem. Today, seagrasses are disappearing at a rate of 1.5% per year.
Since 2012, the GoodPlanet Foundation, supported by OMEGA is committed to a better preservation of the marine world. Therefore, the Ocean programme contributes every day to inform and to educate the general public on major environmental issues related to oceans. Conveyed by the film « Planet Ocean », a book and photographic exhibitions, this message has highlighted the essential need for action. These projects are made possible through the support of OMEGA and the creation of a watch, Seamaster Planet Ocean 600 M GMT GoodPlanet. Part of the profits is donated to these field projects.
