"Indonesia has declared a vast sanctuary for sharks, turtles and manta rays in a region known as one of the world's richest sources of marine biodiversity, officials and conservationists said Tuesday."
"The sanctuary covers 46,000 square kilometres (17,760 square miles) of waters around the Raja Ampat islands in eastern Indonesia, part of the so-called Coral Triangle region of Southeast Asia."
"Sharks, manta rays, mobulas, dugongs and turtles are fully protected within the sanctuary, and destructive practices including reef bombing and the aquarium fish trade are banned, local officials said."
"Sharks, as apex predators, play a vital role in regulating the health of important commercial fish species, population balance, and coral reefs," conservation group Shark Savers and the Misool Eco Resort, which are supporting the sanctuary, said in a statement."
"Despite this importance, up to 73 million sharks are killed annually with some shark populations declining by as much as 90 percent, mostly for shark fin soup."
"In Raja Ampat, three fourths of its shark species are threatened with local extinction."
Source:http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ien0iGs35IASdRlJuBZjCJfm80Yg?docId=CNG.d2b96042d79e62832e6348438c194968.21
This is great news for marine life which lives in this area of the world,I commend the people who got together to think of this idea and implement it to help save these species from being possibly going extinct.I hope other nations in our World follow the lead of Indonesia and create sanctuaries like this in their marine ecosystems!
