Yaf Keru: It’s SO MUCH MORE than ‘transplanting coral’…

A little while ago our friends at Child Aid Papua asked if they could bring some of their students to visit Yaf Keru.. our answer? Of course! This coincided with a field visit from Conservation International and Konservasi Indonesia, together with government representatives from both Indonesia and the US, who travelled from their respective locations to visit the Yaf Keru Reef Restoration and Conservation program in person.

Now, moments like this are SO significant for our team and the program itself, because it brings together multiple stakeholders from opposite ends of the country and planet, of different ages, languages, expertise and experience – all gathering in one place to learn about Yaf Keru from our local team.

There were teenagers looking at their elder “brothers and sisters” who now working full time in conservation, presenting their knowledge and skill to government representatives. There were government representatives who’d travelled long distances, looking to our team to understand better the state of the degraded reefs and how Yaf Keru was addressing this from both an ecological and socio-economic point of view.  And then there was our team, each in their own way presenting their knowledge and skills with confidence and composure to this incredibly diverse audience.

We are so proud of how our small team is growing in knowledge and strength, unassumingly stepping into their roles as conservation leaders – as young adults born and raised here in Raja Ampat. And we’re excited at what this means for the future – short, mid and long term!!

From inception, we knew Yaf Keru could be, and should be, so much more than just transplanting coral… and it’s in moments like these, we realise – IT IS.

Thankyou to everyone who’s supported us to get this far – on behalf of our entire team, we send you much gratitude and appreciation from Raja Ampat!

For more about Yaf Keru, please visit: https://theseapeople.org/yaf-keru-reef-restoration/