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IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde along with Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan, Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo, and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani, planted coral reefs on Nusa Dua Beach recently.
Nusa Dua Beach is one of the areas that will be the center of the International Monetary Fund-World Bank (IMF-WB) Annual Meeting on October 8-14, 2018 that brings together 32 thousand economic delegates around the world.
Lagarde said the planting of coral reefs aims to provide marine biota which will improve the quality of life under the sea.
“The maritime uniqueness should be maintained as the wealth of this country,” she said.
Indonesia is a home to 60 percent of the world`s coral reefs. Unfortunately, coral reefs are very easily damaged by various causes including climate change and destructive activities in tourist sites.
“Coral reef planting is expected to produce a unique and beautiful underwater aquarium,” Lagarde added.
Lagarde along with Luhut, Perry and Sri Mulyani put corals on support structures which would then be placed on the seabed by some volunteers.
Perry Warjiyo said there should be programs aimed at preserving environmental ecosystem on the sidelines of the 2018 IMF-WB Annual Meeting.
“We should protect the environment and love life,” Perry said.
Indonesia is part of the Coral Triangle area located in the western Pacific Ocean. Besides Indonesian waters, the area also covers the waters of Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and the Solomon Islands.
The Coral Triangle has nearly 600 different species of reef-building corals, nurtures six of the world`s seven marine turtle species and more than 2000 species of reef fish.
In terms of socio-economic aspect, the Coral Triangle is a home to over 120 million people who depend their life on coral reefs for food, income and protection from storms.The Coral Triangle also supports large populations of commercially important tuna, generating a multi-billion dollar global tuna industry.
The IMF-WB Annual Meetings will be held on October 8-14, 2018. Around 32 thousand delegates including the Ministers of Finance and the Central Bank Governors of 189 countries will be present at the meetings. [antaranews/photo special]
