Kaimana Regency, located in the southern part of the Kepala Burung region and the southern coast of Papua Province, has officially been formed since 2002. The status of the government position and function of Kaimana administratively changed from a district under Fakfak Regency to a regency in West Papua Province. Today we can find seven districts, two urban villages, and 84 villages in the regency.
As the regency is close to marine and coastal areas, the coastal conservation profile of Kaimana is another fascination to follow. Here are some details you can dig.
Home of Fish and Corals
Kaimana Regency, West Papua, morphologically covers flat, hilly, and even mountainous areas, with slopes varying from < 2% to above 70% with altitude ranging from 0 – 2,800 m above sea level. There are two seasons (dry and rainy), but what makes it more interesting is that the local people prefer to divide the seasons into four. They are the east pancaroba (March to May), the east wind (June to August), the west pancaroba (September to November), and the west wind (December to February) seasons.
The most common fish species are Lutjanus decussatus, Parupeneus barberinus, Parupeneus multifasciatus, Ctenochaetus binotatus and Scarus flavipectoralis. Meanwhile, more than half of the recorded target fish biomass consisted of families Caesionidae (fusiliers), Scaridae (parrot fish), and Acanthuridae (surgeon fish).
The marine and coastal areas in Kaimana have fringing reefs. The topography of the coastal area is sloping. The results of research from CI during 2006 to 2010, the Kaimana MPA area has 1,003 species of fish, 471 species of coral, 28 species of shrimp, and two mantises. The result of coral cover showed that the coral cover of dead corals reached 16%, live corals 15%, rubbles 10%, sand 42%, and other biota species 17%.
Fishery and Tourism
In Kaimana, West Papua, the number of fishing households in 2013 was 2,841. Total fishery production in 2013 was 10,844.5 tons with a value of Rp 111.99 billion. The number of boats in 2013 was 1,653 units with details of 1,062 units of non-motorized boats, 275 units of temple motorboats, and 591 units of motorized boats. The number of fishing gear is 2,755 units, of which 57 units consist of trawls (double prawn trawls, fishing trawls, ring trawls), 613 units of nets (gill nets, bagan nets), and 2,165 units of fishing rods (longlines, tondas, other fishing rods).
The tourist area that can be developed is located in Triton Bay. Based on the proposed recommendations, the waters of Triton Bay included in this zone are designated as Marine Tourism Park areas (diving tourism, snorkeling, swimming, fishing, white sand, island exploring, bird and wildlife watching). There are sometimes festivals in Kaimana, too! There are coral reef ecosystems, sandy beaches, rocky beaches, muddy beaches, and estuary ecosystems within this area. Besides, you will find historical relics such as cliff paintings around this area.
Accessibility
Kaimana’s topography is bay-shaped, so it relies more on water transportation as a means of transportation between sub-districts. No wonder in every sub-district in the regency, there is a dock even though it is simple and made of wood. In Teluk Arguni District, for instance, the wooden pier can only accommodate small boats entering and leaving Arguni Bay.
Similar conditions were also found in Teluk Etna and Buruway Districts. In the Buruway sub-district, there is a land route limited to the sub-district capital and on Adi Island, while access roads to exit the sub-district are not yet available. Besides by sea, Kaimana relies on air transportation. Utarum Kaimana Airport can accommodate Boeing-type aircraft. So far, the people of Kaimana have been served by Merpati and Dadali Air airlines and Lion Air which has just opened a flight route to Kaimana.
The coastal conservation profile of Kaimana, West Papua, is always interesting to learn, isn’t it?
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