COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Of the 255 islands in the Anambas cluster, only 26 are inhabited with an approximate population of 45,500.
Most of the people rely on fishing and the oceans for their livelihood and know no other jobs therefore it is our mission to encourage them to pursue other options.
Of the area, 97 percent of its territory is sea and most of the islands are small island that lie quite far out in the South China Sea away from most of the other Indonesian islands. Many of the inhabited islands are barely touched by the outside world and for decades they have lived with very limited facilities, including foods, education, electricity, and phone/internet connection. Most of the people rely on fishing and the oceans for their livelihood and know no other jobs therefore it is our mission to encourage them to pursue other options. Through education, we are helping them to understand what really happens to the waters around them; the significant damage to many coral sites and how some areas are overfished illegally. We hope they will voluntarily take part in the programs we have created to provide them with better incomes.
Part of doing this, is showing them that if they stop relying on fishing for a while, they will give time for the environment to restore itself, including the fish stock and therefore conserve the biodiversity for future generations. As such, one of the biggest issues facing the Anambas is the lack of education and awareness about the environment. Being born, raised, and having spent their entire lives on remote islands, they simply do not realize that what they have been doing i.e. dumping waste into the ocean, consuming turtle eggs and meat, using a lot of plastic products, collecting stones from the forests for constructions has had a detrimental effect the environment. Damage which ultimately jeopardises their own lives. Through providing education and direct implementation, we believe the community can be actively involved in various efforts.