Banda Islands waste management and biodiversity project

The Banda Islands are located in the middle of the Banda Sea in Maluku Province, Indonesia. The islands have an interesting past, having been at the center of the colonial spice trade in the 16th century and were exchanged for Manhattan, New York, between the Dutch and the British colonizers. 

The islands are of volcanic origin and are covered in fringing reefs that drop down into the deep Ocean up to 7km deep. This creates a rich tropical marine life that varies from deep sea, pelagic to coral reef species. The area is well-known for marine megafauna and migratory animals such as pygmy blue whales, hammerhead sharks, orcas, and tiger sharks. Given this, the islands are popular with tourists who enjoy both its unique historical offerings and its underwater wonders. 

18 coastal communities live between the six main islands of Banda. The communities’ main livelihoods are agriculture and fishing. As is usual for Indonesian coastal communities, non-selective fishing gear is often used, and vulnerable marine life, such as sharks, turtles, and other cornerstone species for the ecosystem, are regularly caught.  

There is also a problem with plastic waste that ends up in the Ocean and is dangerous to marine life due to a lack of sufficient waste management on the islands. There is also a low level of ‘waste literacy’ amongst the population that is not customarily used to plastic waste and does not necessarily understand their long-lasting and damaging nature in the environment and the importance of recycling plastic waste.

The tourism industry itself also threatens the rich reef areas, including deep mesopelagic reefs, with anchor damage to the popular dive areas increasingly observed in the area. 

As marine debris continues to be a growing global issue, uncontrollable waste is entering the ocean at an unprecedented rate, impacting the health of the surrounding waters. Local authorities have declared Banda in a state of Waste Emergency, underscoring the urgent need for immediate action to address this escalating problem and protect the archipelago’s unique marine life.

In a collaborative effort to address the growing waste crisis, Ocean Eye has partnered with EcoNusa and a local waste bank, “Bank Sampah Banda Naira Mandiri (BNM) which is a program of Luminocean, a local NGO. Bank Sampah BNM has engaged in the waste issue in Banda for 12 years and has established a plastic pickup system in villages and is teaching citizens how to sort waste to be suitable for recycling. They are also running a school program to raise awareness for plastic disposal and other environmental issues among children. 

After conducting two separate workshops, we finalized the agreement made in 2024 by allocating funds received through the Ocean Eye platform to support waste management initiatives in Banda. With support from Ocean Eye, this program will rely on the participation of tourism operators, especially the liveaboard industry that visits the islands. The tourist-based donations for wildlife sighted will develop a long-term funding mechanism to bolster local waste management through the Waste Bank, emphasizing the ongoing program to increase waste reduction efforts and other community projects in Banda.

The data collected through Ocean Eye for the Banda region is also important and will be used to create a scientific baseline for a future nature crediting approach that has the potential to increase community income and conservation finance for this unique area.