After five years of negotiation and planning, Indonesia and Australia on October 7 signed an agreement to cooperate on maritime and blue economy projects at the Road to Ocean 20 (O20) event with the theme “Workshop on Blue Carbon of Seagrass Ecosystem and Livelihood”, in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara.
Blue economy is the sustainable development, preservation and regeneration of the marine environment. Blue carbon is the term for carbon captured by the world’s ocean and coastal ecosystems.

The agreement was signed by Firman Hidayat, Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Indonesia, and Nikki Fitzgerald, Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water, Australia.
“Indonesia will always support the development of blue economy and blue carbon, to create healthy and sustainable oceans, by fighting unsustainable fishing and crime, especially in the fishing sector,” said Hidayat, October 10 in his office.
He added Indonesian waters, which stretches across 6.4 million kilometers, have a wide variety of marine biodiversity, including seagrass, also known as the “lungs of the sea” because they release oxygen into the water through the process of photosynthesis.
Based on a 2018 study by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Indonesia’s waters contained 290,000 hectares of seagrass, which is also a habitat for various marine animals, works as a substrate for many adhering biota, as well as a nursery area for fish larvae and other biota.
“Given the benefits, we must continue to monitor the health of the seagrass ecosystem and the cooperation with Australia, which includes joint research, capacity building, technology transfer and knowledge exchange, is therefore very important,” said Hidayat.

Nikki Fitzgerald said the seagrass ecosystem received less attention than what it deserved, compared to the mangrove and coral reef ecosystems. He hoped this cooperation with Indonesia, which has the largest seagrass ecosystem in the world, would change that.
Andreas Hutahean, policy analyst, Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment said the government has issued Presidential Regulation Number 16 of 2017 concerning Indonesian Marine Policy (KKI) to support the cooperation.
Road To Ocean 20 is a collaboration between the governments of Indonesia and Australia in the Indonesia-Australia Blue Carbon program, with the aim of delivering policy recommendations.
Top Photo credit: Pexels/ Bagus Tri Kuncoro .J