| 5
December 2006: A Skeptic takes a dousing rod for a test drive |
| By
Andrew Miners
After
my extended sojourn in Sorong, I happily stepped off the dinghy
and back onto the white sands of Batbitim… whew! After all
the work we’ve done here this place is really starting to
feel like home and it’s always a welcome relief after the
dusty streets of Sorong. |
This
time, my entourage included a “tukan bore,”
or well-drilling expert. Clove cigarette clamped firmly in one hand,
coffee in the other, he immediately started sizing up the island
for potential water sources. It was night when we arrived, but with
a clear sky and full moon above we set off scaling ridges and probing
hollows to find the perfect spot. |
windy
afternoon on the South Beach
|
fresh
coconut (no, we weren't sniffing out a well here!) |
After
locating a couple of potential sources, we decided to take a closer
look at the ridge directly behind the base camp. After much pacing
and muttering, this was declared to be the prime spot, and without
any warning our tukan pulled out a set of dousing rods
which had been concealed in the back of his jeans, removed one of
his shoes, and proceeded to investigate his hunch with intense concentration.
Now
for those of you who are unfamiliar with dousing, it’s an
age-old technique used to find water, minerals, people, that missing
sock… basically anything that you put your mind to. The rods
in this case were two small metal bars with a 90 degree bend in
them resting in an outer casing which allows them to swing freely
whilst holding them. |
| So
our tukan wandered off, criss-crossing the area. Each time
he passed one spot the rods swung inwards and crossed each other –
a sure sign of water below. On passing the spot the rods swung outwards
again indicating the edge of the area holding the well. Interestingly
enough, although we were in a depression in the ridge, the area that
gave him the signal wasn’t the bottom of the depression but
half-way up the side. |
| Always
one for something new, off came one of my shoes and taking the rods
I stumbled off down the hollow with more than a fair share of skepticism.
Sure enough, at the same spot the rods crossed, only to uncross when
I walked out the other side!! After walking up and down for a bit
trying to make the rods do the opposite of what he had them doing
I had to admit that they were responding in exactly the way he had
shown me… wow…I was water dousing! |
| Walking
back down to base camp my head was filled with dreams of an endless
supply of clean, clear, fresh water… I wonder if it works for
gold and diamonds as well...? Unfortunately I never found out, as
he was unwilling to part with his homemade diamond-detector…
I also never discovered why removing one shoe was necessary. |
I
had only a few days grace on the island as I had to return to Sorong
for a workshop on Cetaceans, more about that in a minute…
On the way back to Sorong, Mark and I dropped by the local village
to meet with the Kepala Desa, or Village Head. I try to stop by
every week or two to keep the village leaders up to date with what
we are doing.
As
per usual, this quick visit turned into a marathon of sugar-saturated
coffees and neon coloured fizzy drinks, as we were invited into
one house after another. This almost overwhelming friendliness and
hospitality is something that people who have already travelled
to Indonesia are familiar with… Misool is certainly no exception.
We tried to repay their hospitality by taking photos of their children,
who were rather reluctant models. |
Mark
and Andrew visiting the mother of one of our workers |
 |
their
parents enjoyed this experience much more than they did! |
Back
in Sorong we joined a well-mixed group for the cetacean workshop
(cetacean is the collective name for whales and dolphins). Benjamin
Kahn and his wife from APEX Environmental had just finished a ten
day Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) of the cetaceans in Raja Ampat.
APEX Environmental spends their time travelling the world identifying,
tagging, researching and swimming with whales and dolphins…
It’s around about this time people generally start the wonder
why they did a marketing degree instead of Marine Biology! |
Indonesian waters are home to exceptional marine mammal diversity,
with over 30 species recorded so far. Over one third of the worlds
cetacean species occur here along with other rare marine mammals
such as the Dugong. In their REA the APEX team found 15 different
species of marine mammals in Raja Ampat, including Sperm Whales,
Brydes Whales, Orcas, Dugongs and six species of Dolphins.
As this is the first cetacean survey in Raja Ampat it is likely
that other species will be found on future surveys. More details
of the survey and other studies by APEX Environmental can be found
on their website at www.apex-environmental.com
|
|
Unfortunately
my presentation to the local government was postponed. The Bupati was in Jakarta and couldn’t make it back in time, so we have
rescheduled our meeting for the 17th of December. This is an auspicious
date, as this is when Raja Ampat will be declared a Marine Regency. |
| I
did have a very productive meeting with Peter Mous, one of the head
guys at The Nature Conservancy. TNC are going to propose a marine
protected area (MPA) that covers the whole of southeast Misool as
well as four other areas in Raja Ampat. Our no-take zone will be at
the centre of this, and he suggested that it could form the basis
when they decide on the relative position of the other zones in the
MPA - i.e. tourism area, traditional fishing area and no-take zone. |
| After
my meeting with Peter I spoke to Mark Erdman, another prominent marine
biologist working closely with TNC, Conservation International and
WWF to form the MPA’s in Raja Ampat. He agreed with Peter Mous
and elaborated further in this email to me, reposted with his kind
permission: |
“there
are some very exciting new developments on the horizon in Raja Ampat
with respect to marine conservation and the setup of a network of
new MPAs (marine parks) in the area. We are very pleased to announce
that the Raja Ampat government's recent decision to declare itself
a "kabupaten bahari" (maritime regency) is generally VERY
good news for the marine tourism sector and marine conservation
alike. Included in this declaration, scheduled for 16-18 December
2006, are 3 things of importance:
1) The Raja Ampat government will explicitly state that maritime
economic sectors, particularly marine tourism and sustainable fisheries/aquaculture,
are to be the main economic development sectors for the Regency's
growth (putting mining and timber on a much smaller trajectory).
2) The Raja Ampat government will explicitly support the joint patrol
system that TNC and CI have been working closely with village chiefs,
adat leaders, government offiicals and the marine police to set
up for Raja Ampat. The first "floating ranger station"
for this system should be officially launched at the declaration
on 16 December, and will be focused especially on curbing destructive
fishing practices including bombing and cyaniding.
3) A network of between 4 and 6 new MPAs is to be declared to better
protect coral reef and marine resources in order to support the
priority economic sectors of marine tourism and sustainable fisheries.
The exact location of these new MPAs is still being discussed with
adat and village leaders, but candidate sites include:
SE Misool
Kofiau
Dampier Strait
Teluk Mayalibit
Teluk Aljui
Wayag/Sayang/PIai and surrounding islands
potentially Ayau
These new MPAs should each be relatively large (hopefully 100,000
hectares or larger) and cover many of the areas in Raja Ampat that
are of most importance for dive tourism.”
|
Excellent
news indeed for Raja Ampat!! |
