HOW TO BUY YOUR DIVING
TAGS
( Conservation Fees in
Raja Ampat Islands
Help Conserve Raja
Ampat
—Get Your Entrance Tag today!
The Raja Ampat Regency Government is proud to announce the
introduction of a tourism entrance fee system to help support
conservation and community projects within Raja Ampat. All tourists
entering Raja Ampat are required to purchase an entrance tag.
The entrance fee for foreign visitors is Rp 500,000/person/calender
year (approximately US$55) for which they will receive a waterproof
plastic entrance tag featuring a photo from Raja Ampat. All
Indonesian visitors from outside Raja Ampat are required to pay Rp
250,000 and will receive an entry card. The annual tags and cards
will be valid from January 1st until January 31st of the following
year.
The tag system has been adapted from the very successful Bonaire and
Bunaken Marine Park systems. The 2008 tag features an endemic pygmy
seahorse, one of over 1200 fish species found in Raja Ampat—the most
biodiverse marine region in the world recorded to date. Visitors are
required to carry their tags or cards at all times—tags can be
easily fixed to guests’ snorkeling or diving gear or to their dive
bag. The entrance fee system will be enforced through spot checks
conducted by official patrols. The money collected is managed by a
multistakeholder management team (Tim Pengelola) and is divided
between tourism development, conservation, and community health
projecs.
We greatly appreciate your support and cooperation with this fee
system. Conservation of Raja Ampat’s spectacular marine habitats and
biodiversity requires long term funding. In addition, the local
communities who own these reefs need to see direct benefits of
tourism through community programs that will improve their quality
of life.
Tim Pengelola, JE Meridien Hotel Sorong
Tel +62 951 328358 | Fax +62 951 326576
Raja Ampat Tourism Entrance Fee Information For Tourists
Why do I have to pay a fee to enter Raja Ampat? Raja Ampat is
blessed with some of the highest marine biodiversity and healthiest
coral reefs in the world. In order to protect this unique
biodiversity, Raja Ampat has 7 nationally mandated and locally
managed marine protected areas (MPAs). As with any park or reserve,
conservation and tourism management costs money, and the Raja Ampat
government is adopting a tool commonly used throughout the world for
financing protected areas management – entrance fees.
Fact for Traveller
Moreover, the villagers in Raja Ampat have traditional marine tenure
rights over all of the reefs and are entitled to seek compensation
from users of their reefs. In an effort to harmonize these various
needs and avoid a very complex set of fees for tourism use of
individual reefs, the Raja Ampat government and local communities
have agreed to a centrally-collected single entrance fee of Rp
500,000/person/year (approximately US$55) for international visitors
and Rp 250,000/person/year for Indonesian visitors.
Where do I purchase my Entrance Tag?
First check with your dive operator to see they have pre-purchased a
tag for you. If not, the Raja Ampat entrance fee management team has
established a booth at the Sorong Airport where arriving guests can
directly purchase their tags. At this time, payment must be in
rupiah, though we will endeavor to expand this to at least US$ and
Euro in the future. In this case, the guest buys the tag and the
receipts are filled in with the following information: guest name,
country of origin, tag number, passport number, and email address
(optional if the guest would like to receive further information
about Raja Ampat conservation efforts). To ensure accountability the
guest receives their copy of the 2 receipts, the accompanying dive
operator representative (if present) receives their copy, and the
management team’s copy is directly entered into the guest database.
How was the fee set?
Raja Ampat is huge, covering nearly 50,000 sq km, with a population
of 32,000 spread over 92 villages and sub-villages. Managing such a
large and diverse area is costly. Providing direct benefits to each
of the 88 remote villages is especially costly, particularly given
the relatively low number of tourists visiting Raja Ampat. In trying
to convince the government and villages to prioritize eco-friendly
tourism development over lucrative but environmentally-damaging
sectors such as mining and forestry, it is important that they see
real benefits from tourism. The result is that the single overall
fee is significant (Rp 500,000), but we believe this is a small
price to pay to encourage the stewardship and protection of the most
biodiverse reefs on earth. Note that the fee system actually only
contributes a small part of the overall conservation and management
costs of Raja Ampat’s MPA system.
Why do I have to pay for a 1 year tag even if I’m only visiting for
a few days?
There is a growing consensus among MPA managers that the annual
waterproof tag system is the most efficient, robust and convenient
method of collecting entry fees, avoiding the significant hassle and
enforcement issues that arise with daily fees – especially in
large-scale MPAs where guests do not pass through a central entrance
gate on a daily basis.
Why was I given 2 receipts when I purchased my tag?
The fee has two main components: a governmental tourism
management fee of Rp 150,000 and a conservation and community
development fee of Rp 350,000. In order to ensure transparency and
make it very clear where the money goes, each guest will receive two
receipts, one for each fund.
Who manages the revenues from the fee system?
The Raja Ampat tourism entrance fee is managed by a
multi-stakeholder team that is comprised of local community leaders,
Raja Ampat govt. officials (from the departments of Marine Affairs
and Fisheries, Tourism, and Health) local and international
conservation NGOs (CI, TNC, and the Papuan Turtle Conservation
Foundation), and a rep. of the private marine tourism sector.
Where does my money go?
The Rp 150,000 tourism management fee enters the coffers of the
Raja Ampat tourism department and is targeted at improving tourism
management in Raja Ampat. The Rp 350,000 conservation and community
development fee is split by law into 3 components: 40% for a
community development fund for activities that benefit all 92
villages/sub-villages in Raja Ampat; 40% for a conservation and
enforcement fund, and 20% for management of the fee system
(including paying for the office and staff required to collect,
manage, and distribute the entrance fee proceeds). The priority
activities under the community development and conservation funds
are determined on an annual basis by the entrance fee management
team. For more information click here.
What are the initial priorities with the entrance fee funds?
In 2007, the conservation fund will be used to strengthen a
patrol program to eliminate destructive fishing practices such as
blast and cyanide fishing. In order to reach out to all communities
in Raja Ampat and provide them some direct benefit from tourism, the
community development fund will be used to re-establish the
“Posyandu” system which brings basic health care to mothers and
young children in every village. NOTE: as it will take time to
accrue funds in the entrance fee accounts, the 2007 activities
described above are actually being funded by grants from
conservation NGOs; the revenues from the 2007 entrance fee will be
used to fund 2008 activities in Raja Ampat, 2008 revenues will fund
2009 activities, and so on.
Why do I still see people fishing in Raja Ampat’s Marine Protected
Areas?
Raja Ampat’s MPAs were only declared in mid-2007 and the zonation
and management plans for each MPA are still under development. Local
communities are still allowed to fish in their traditional areas and
may continue to do so with certain agreed gear restrictions. That
said, fishing activities including blast and cyanide fishing,
trawling, and shark-finning are illegal throughout Raja Ampat. While
a joint patrol team comprised of police, fisheries officers and
community members has now been launched to confront these
environmental crimes directly, the reality is that patrolling this
huge area will always be a challenge and a system is being developed
so that tourism operators can report violations.
How can I help Raja Ampat further?
As an honored guest to Raja Ampat please respect the rules and
especially the reefs of the park. Avoid damaging corals and other
marine life by controlling your buoyancy and not standing on or
contacting the reef. Photographers should be especially careful and
not manipulate marine life. Ensure boats follow the operator code of
conduct and anchor in deep water >40m. Anchoring on the reef is the
primary cause of tourism-related reef damage! Also insist that your
operator does not dispose of solid wastes at sea, which is still a
problem!
Secondly, consider donating to either the conservation or community
development funds described above. The multistakeholder management
team is developing a number of programs which you may like to
support such as supplying library books to schools and villages and
mosquito nets to reduce the threat of malaria. While we are working
on setting up a system where you can donate directly through your
operator, for now donations can be made at the entrance fee office
at the Sorong airport. Similar to the transparency for the entrance
fees collected, all donations are recorded and you will receive an
official receipt.
How to buy your tags
In order to make this system as convenient as possible to dive
operators and dive tourists, there are several ways to purchase the
tags.
1. Purchase on arrival at the Sorong airport
The Raja Ampat entrance fee management team has established
booth at the Sorong Airport where arriving guests can directly
purchase their tags. At this time, payment must be in rupiah, though
we will endeavor to expand this to at least US$ and Euro in the
future. In this case, the guest buys the tag and the receipts are
filled in with the following information: guest name, country of
origin, tag number, passport number, and email address (optional if
they would like to receive further information about Raja Ampat
conservation efforts). To ensure accountability the guest receives
their copy of the 2 receipts, the accompanying dive operator
representative (if present) receives their copy, and the management
team’s copy is directly entered into the guest database.
2. Pre-purchase of tags for a known guest list at Sorong airport
If an operator knows they will have a group of X number of
guests arriving in the near future and wishes to pre-purchase tags
for convenience sake, this is also possible. The operator or their
agent simply brings (or faxes ahead of time) the guest list with
complete data (names, country of origin, passport number) to the
Sorong airport office to receive the tags and the completed
receipts. Payment can either be in cash or could be previously
wire-transferred to the bank account set up by the management team –
in this case, the operator or agent need only fax or bring proof of
transfer to the airport office to receive the tags. The most
hassle-free way of doing this would be to fax ahead the passenger
list and proof of wire transfer and an agent can simply pick up the
completed receipts and tags at the airport.
3. Pre-purchase of tags for a known guest list at CI Bali office
For those liveaboard operators that would prefer to pick-up tags in
Bali, this is also possible during office hours. The only difference
between picking up tags at the CI Bali office and picking them up at
the Sorong airport office is that the CI Bali office cannot receive
cash payment – payment must be previously conducted through wire
transfer to the entrance fee bank account in Sorong and the proof of
transfer shown when picking up tags at the Bali office.
4. Prepurchase of bulk tags from Sorong airport (guest names not
yet specified)
Some operators might prefer to simply pre-purchase tags in bulk
(eg, 50 or 100 tags) and then re-sell them to their guests and fill
in the receipts themselves. This is also permissible under the
system; the added complexity here is the need for the operator to
fill out the receipts for the guest and ensure that the guest data
is reported in a timely manner back to the management team for
inclusion in the database. In this case, the operator can
wire-transfer the specified amount to the entrance fee account or
bring cash payment to the airport and pick up the bulk tags and
their associated pre-numbered receipts (this purchase is recorded in
the database to track the numbers of the tags that have been
purchased in bulk). The operator then re-sells the tags to their
guests and fills out the pre-numbered receipts. At this point, the
operator needs to either arrange to physically return the pink
copies of the receipts to the management team for recording in the
database, or could fax/email the requisite data (tag number, guest
name/country of origin/passport number) to the management team.
Prepurchase of bulk tags from CI Bali office (guest names not yet
specified).
This option is identical to the one above, except that direct
payment in cash is not available at the CI Bali office. Rather,
proof of wire transfer to the entrance fee account is required in
order to pick up a bulk tag purchase from the CI Bali office.
Please note that the option to purchase tags in Bali at the CI
office is an attempt to make things as easy as possible for
operators, and CI is doing this as a favor to the entrance fee
management team. The CI office will not receive any cash payments
but only will act as an outlet for operators to collect tags during
office hours that they’ve already paid for by wire transfer to the
Sorong entrance fee account.
Why the tags are individually numbered and why we need your help to
return associated guest data to the management team
Entrance tags are individually numbered as a means of preventing the
re-use of tags by multiple guests. If an authorized patrol does a
spot check of a dive boat in Raja Ampat, they may request guest
names and their associated tag numbers – they can then radio this
information back to the entrance fee office to check against the
entries in the database. For this system to run smoothly, it
requires that data on guests name and tag numbers is kept up-to-date
in the database. When tags are purchased directly by guests or for a
known guest list, the receipts are filled out in the entrance fee
office and this data immediately entered into the database. However,
if operators choose to pre-purchase tags in bulk without associated
guest names, the operators must then fill in the guest information
into the receipts when providing guests with tags. This data must
then be sent to the management team promptly (either by sending pink
receipt copies or faxing/emailing the guest name/tag number data).
If you choose this option, we ask that you please cooperate to send
the data to the management team as soon as possible.
Below is the contact information for purchase of tags in either
Sorong or Bali. For the time being, the Sorong contact is via the CI
office in Sorong; we hope the entrance fee office in the Sorong
airport will soon have telecommunications/internet access and we
will provide this contact information to you as soon as it is
available. Thank you again for your patience and cooperation with
the launch of this new system, which we believe will be a
significant improvement over the previous system and provide real
benefits to Raja Ampat’s villagers and reefs.
Management Office
JE Meridien Hotel
Sorong 98413
Tel: +62 (0)951-328358
Fax: +62 (0)951-326576
POC: Office Manager
e-mail: info@diverajaampat.org CI Office in Bali
Jalan Dr. Muwardi No 17
Renon, Denpasar, Bali 80361
Tel: +62 (0)361-237245
Fax: +62 (0)361-235430
POC: Laurencia Citra, Office Manager
e-mail: citra@conservation.or.id
Raja Ampat Tourism Entrance Fee bank account information:
Account Name: KLASINA.D.RUMBEKWAN AND CHIPUTRI W K,
Account Number: 1-042-20892-3
Bank Name: Bank International Indonesia (BII)Bank
Address: JL. Basuki Rahmat No 11 Sorong
Swift Code: IBBKIDJA
 |
|
|
RAJA AMPAT DIVE
LIVEABOARDS |
|
|
 |
 |
