\u201cConservation<\/em>, sustainability<\/em> et community<\/em> are three words that Lembeh Resort has always been passionate about,\u201d said Danny Charlton, co-founder of the resort\u2019s on-site dive center, Critters at Lembeh Resort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the beginning, founder Alex Rorimpandey provided training and employment for people living in nearby villages on Lembeh Island. \u201cWe encourage villagers to cherish the natural environment, both above and below the sea, as well as their traditional cultures,\u201d Charlton said, adding that the resort staff also have the opportunity to get certified as divers. \u201cWe hope it will cultivate a greater appreciation for our unique and precious underwater ecosystems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Twenty years ago Rorimpandey, a North Sulawesi native from Tondano, built a single cottage overlooking Lembeh Strait. He intended to build a holiday home for his family, but by December 2002 the property included three guest cottages. Critters at Lembeh Resort began taking guests on dives in the strait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rorimpandey also donated materials to build the local church in nearby Pintu Kota Kecil, which laid the groundwork for a strong bond between the resort and the people of Lembeh Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rorimpandey died in July 2003, but his wife and sons retained ownership of the resort and today remain actively involved in its management. The dive operation is managed by Charlton and his wife, Angelique, who is originally from North Sulawesi and is the daughter of the late Dr. Hanny Batuna and his wife, Ineke, who founded Murex Dive Resorts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMurex Resort Manado, Murex Bangka and Lembeh Resort have cooperated for almost 18 years, and our staff is like family,\u201d Charlton said. \u201cMany of our staff have been with the company for years \u2014 decades in some cases.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lembeh Resort provides electrical power for the church and Sunday school, which is at the heart of the community on the island. It also hosts barbecue parties for its guests, during which children from the Sunday school provide musical performances. \u201cGuests can buy a recording from the choir, and proceeds go to the Lembeh Foundation,\u201d Charlton said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lembeh Resort guests contribute in other significant ways by bringing school supplies, such as crayons, paper, colored pens, pencils, English dictionaries and books, and sports accessories. \u201cSchool uniforms are mandatory in Indonesia, and a complete set costs US$55 on average,\u201d Charlton said. \u201cThis expense is quite difficult for some families to afford, so we accept donations to help them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The nearest village, Pintu Kota Kecil, is populated with small-scale fishers, subsistence farmers and employees of local dive resorts. \u201cThrough the Lembeh Foundation, we have constructed a trash bank that people can use to generate income,\u201d Charlton said, \u201cand we are building a learning center with a green library, which we are hoping to complete soon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the pandemic, the resort has remained open. \u201cWe remain committed to continuing to employ and assist as many people as possible,\u201d Charlton said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n * * * * * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n MISOOL RESORT, RAJA AMPAT<\/p>\n\n\n\n In many ways the founding of Misool Resort is a love story. Soon after meeting, co-founders Andrew and Marit Miners went on a very special third date \u2014 a scuba diving trip to Raja Ampat. While there, they explored the remote island of Batbitim and discovered a recently abandoned shark-finning camp. Shocked, they vowed to protect this place with which they had fallen in love. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Building a resort was not in their initial plans. In 2005 Andrew contacted the local clans and asked for permission to create a no-take zone and conservation center. The couple gained the blessing of local tribal leaders and leased an area that has grown to include nine large, uninhabited islands and the rights to the surrounding 460-square-mile seascape. Realizing that a private island resort could fund the conservation work they desperately wanted to do, the couple persuaded investors to share their vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before construction work could begin, however, details of the lease agreement had to be hammered out, said Jo Marlow, marketing and communications manager of Misool Resort. \u201cThe boundaries of the leased area came from a series of town hall meetings. The agreement included that the no-take zone should be far enough away from the villages so that their traditional fishing grounds were still available but close enough that artisanal fishers would benefit from the spillover effect of resurging fish populations. The parties agreed on an area that had historically been fished illegally by outside fishermen, including shark-finners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n On paper it looked good, \u201cbut the community lacked the resources and infrastructure to intercept the poachers who were decimating their natural heritage,\u201d Marlow said. A locally staffed ranger patrol was created, and \u201ctoday the Misool Marine Reserve is a bright beacon of hope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2019 Misool Resort donated $358,950 to the Misool Foundation, which is enough to operate the ranger patrol. The resort also donates $100 on behalf of every guest and encourages visitors to match the donation. Together the two organizations employ more than 169 staff, 95 percent of whom are Indonesian. \u201cWe estimate that these salaries support 650 people from the local community,\u201d Marlow said. \u201cWe provide English lessons and job training. We also offer open-water dive training to interested staff from all departments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n With support from Seacology, the Misool Foundation built a kindergarten in 2011. \u201cOur commitment to education extends to the villages of Yellu and Djabatan,\u201d Marlow said. \u201cWe employ seven local teachers, pay their monthly salaries and provide material support to four local schools.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The resort is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and now gets 60 percent of its energy from renewable sources. It also operates an on-site hydroponic garden, which is expected to produce nearly two tons of organic vegetables in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe resort\u2019s mission to protect the world\u2019s richest reefs is meaningless if we do not take immediate and decisive action to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions and their resultant effects on climate change,\u201d Marlow explained. \u201cOur goal is to become carbon neutral by 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The resort would also like to increase its educational support of local children. \u201cIt\u2019s often hard to find teachers who are willing to commit to long-term placements in these remote locations,\u201d Marlow said. \u201cOur education program is a long-term investment in the future of Raja Ampat. We hope that increased access to education will better equip the next generation to take on leadership roles that preserve their natural and cultural heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n * * * * * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n WAKATOBI DIVE RESORT, SOUTHEAST SULAWESI<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWakatobi Resort is surrounded by some of the most pristine and best-protected reef systems in the world,\u201d said Karen Stearns, director of marketing and media relations for the resort. \u201cIn addition to preserving the region\u2019s high biodiversity, the resort\u2019s groundbreaking collaborative conservation program has become a model for sustainable ecotourism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n Before founder Lorenz M\u00e4der opened the southeastern Sulawesi resort in 1995, he met with local fishers and village elders from surrounding communities and offered a unique proposal. In exchange for agreeing to honor a no-take zone on nearly 4 miles of reef, the residents of 17 area villages would receive direct lease payments from Wakatobi. Since then, the initial no-take zone has expanded to cover more than 12 miles of reef and is now one of the world\u2019s largest privately funded marine protected areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese zones replenish fish populations by serving as safe breeding grounds, which in turn boosts sustainable harvests in areas outside the reserve,\u201d Stearns said. \u201cThe same fishermen who were initially skeptical of the program are now some of its most vigilant enforcers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wakatobi Resort has placed mooring buoys on all its dive sites and provided additional moorings in nearby harbors to protect more areas of the seabed. The resort also supplies clean water and electricity to a nearby village, organizes community awareness seminars and purchases and distributes educational supplies to area schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The resort employs more than 100 people from the surrounding villages, and local people hold about 90 percent of the jobs at the resort. \u201cThese jobs include hospitality workers, chefs, maintenance and groundskeepers, and boat captains, crews and divemasters who have earned their credentials through our training programs,\u201d Stearns said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wakatobi sponsors weekly village cleanups involving up to 100 local people and works closely with local communities and governments on waste management issues. The resort provides waste bins, organizes waste collection vehicles and sponsors additional waste storage for the adjacent island of Tomia; it also funds a team of 20 leaders and well-respected individuals to help promote sustainable practices. These individuals use their social status to increase public awareness of reef conservation and waste management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wakatobi\u2019s legacy to the community is sustainable fisheries and economic prosperity. \u201cThe resort has continued its monthly compensation payments to local villages, even during the pandemic when we\u2019ve had no guests,\u201d Stearns said. \u201cThose who visit here can witness how positive change can be economically beneficial as well and share our founder\u2019s vision of creating benefit for all parties. Tourists learn to appreciate a living reef and understand what has been lost in other places. They contribute by visiting and spreading the word to others. Seeing the difference they make motivates others to actively protect reefs around the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n * * * * * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n BILIKIKI<\/em>\u00a0LIVEABOARD, SOLOMON ISLANDS<\/p>\n\n\n\n Land-based resorts are not the only entities that work with villagers to provide economic incentives for protecting local resources. The Bilikiki<\/em> liveaboard has been operating since 1998 in another Coral Triangle hot spot, the Solomon Islands. Traditionally, the local tribe owns all land and adjoining reefs and the tribe\u2019s chief controls them. Since the beginning, the company that owns Bilikiki<\/em> has paid to dive on the reefs it visits. Those payments have prompted the local tribal chiefs to protect their reefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Le Bilikiki<\/em> itinerary includes a visit to Marovo Lagoon, where local villagers produce exquisite wood carvings that guests can purchase. Since its first cruise, the company has handed out seeds and then paid for the produce grown by local villagers, who deliver fresh vegetables and fruits to Bilikiki<\/em> using traditional canoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are remote areas where people rely mostly on growing crops and catching fish, so to be able to introduce some small form of mutually beneficial economy is helpful to everyone,\u201d said Sam Leeson, managing director of Bilikiki<\/em> Cruises. \u201cIt makes the local people as happy to have us around as we are to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The three resorts accept donations to fund their conservation work and community initiatives. Here\u2019s how to help:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Misool Foundation, the Lembeh Foundation, the Wakatobi Collaborative Reef Conservation Program and the Bilikiki<\/em> liveaboard help conservation efforts and support people from their local communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHistory in the Making<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Lasting Legacy<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s Next<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Powerful Partnership<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
History in the Making<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Lasting Legacy<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s Next<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Collaborative Community<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Wakatobi](\"https:\/\/world.dan.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/wakatobi-often-recruits-and-trains-divemasters-from-the-local-village.jpg\")
History in the Making<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Lasting Legacy<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s Next<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"purchasing](\"https:\/\/world.dan.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/bilikiki-works-closely-with-the-villages-along-their-itinerary-to-buy-local-produce.jpg\")
![\"islander](\"https:\/\/world.dan.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/bilikiki-partners-with-the-loloma-foundation-to-provide-dental-and-vision-care-to-local-solomon-islanders.jpg\")
\n\n\n\nA Helping Hand<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The Lembeh Foundation accepts general donations, but you can also designate your contribution for local schools, households and families or resort staff.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
The Misool Foundation uses funds to benefit its recycling program and support the Misool Ranger Patrol.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Donations help provide the local population with a sustainable source of regular lease disbursements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nEn savoir plus<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n