From Reaction to Prevention: Why Marine Conservation Must Start Before a Reef Collapses
Marine Conservation
When people hear the words marine conservation, what do they imagine?
Coral nurseries. Reef restoration. Coral transplantation. Artificial reefs. Beach clean-ups. Divers attaching fragments of coral to structures underwater.
All of these activities can have value.
But there is an uncomfortable question that we should be asking on the Gili Islands:
Why are we so focused on repairing damaged reefs while remaining relatively quiet about the activities that may be damaging them in the first place?
At Oceans 5 Gili Air, we believe conservation cannot start underwater.
And it certainly cannot end at the shoreline.
If we genuinely want to protect the Gili Matra Marine Protected Area, conservation has to include what happens on the beaches, inside businesses, around construction sites, in the groundwater, in wastewater systems and along the coastline.
Otherwise, we are not preventing environmental degradation.
We are simply waiting for damage—and then trying to repair it.
Reef Restoration Is Important—but It Is a Reaction
There is nothing wrong with reef restoration.
Indonesia has hundreds of documented coral-restoration projects, and restoration can be an important tool for helping damaged ecosystems recover.[1]
But we should understand what restoration actually means.
Restoration happens because something has already been damaged.
The coral has already died.
The reef has already degraded.
The habitat has already disappeared.
The intervention comes afterwards.
That makes restoration primarily a reaction.
Imagine having a leaking water pipe in your house. Every morning you mop the floor and proudly tell everyone how much water you removed.
But nobody repairs the pipe.
Eventually someone has to ask:
Why are we celebrating the mopping instead of stopping the leak?
Marine conservation should work the same way.
We need restoration where restoration is necessary. But at the same time, we need to identify and reduce the pressures that created the damage.
Conservation Does Not End at the Shoreline
One of the biggest mistakes in marine conservation is treating the ocean as if it were separated from the land.
It isn’t.
Everything is connected.
What happens on Gili Air, Gili Meno and Gili Trawangan can eventually influence what happens in the surrounding marine environment.
Wastewater doesn’t magically disappear because it leaves a hotel.
Sand doesn’t stop being part of the ecosystem because someone constructs a wall.
Construction near the coastline doesn’t automatically become environmentally harmless because it happens a few meters above the waterline.
Research from tourism-intensive Sanur, Bali, provides an important warning. Researchers identified tourism development, wastewater discharge and coastal development as interacting pressures on coral reefs. They concluded that many responses remain localized and short-term and that interventions focused on the visible reef can fail to address land-based sources of wastewater and sediment.[2]
That lesson should matter enormously to the Gili Islands.
The Questions Conservation Organizations Should Be Asking
If we are serious about marine conservation, our discussions cannot only be about coral transplantation.
We also need to ask uncomfortable questions.
What is the environmental impact of continued overdevelopment on three extremely small islands?
What happens when more permanent structures are constructed close to the beach?
What happens when hard seawalls change natural coastal processes?
What happens when channels are created through shallow reef areas so boats can reach businesses or beaches?
Where does the wastewater from an increasing number of hotels, villas, restaurants, swimming pools and households actually go?
How effectively are septic systems functioning?
How is groundwater quality changing?
How much nutrient enrichment is entering the coastal environment?
How is coastal erosion changing?
And perhaps most importantly:
Are we monitoring these things before visible ecological damage occurs?
These questions may be less attractive than planting coral.
But they may ultimately be more important.
A Marine Protected Area Is an Ecosystem, Not Just a Reef
Gili Air, Gili Meno and Gili Trawangan sit within the Gili Matra conservation area.
Its management uses a zoning system that includes core zones, limited-use areas and other designated zones, while conservation objectives include coral reefs, seagrass and important marine species.[3]
Government authorities themselves have demonstrated that activities connected with coastal infrastructure can become marine-conservation issues.
In 2024, Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries investigated drilling associated with a desalination project on Gili Trawangan following indications of environmental pollution. The ministry explicitly warned that drilling waste could damage coral reefs and other marine habitats and stressed the need to mitigate impacts before ecological damage spread further.[4]
That is prevention.
And it demonstrates an important principle:
You cannot manage a marine protected area by looking only at what happens below the surface.
Overdevelopment Should Be a Conservation Issue
Development is not automatically bad.
The Gili Islands depend heavily on tourism. Hotels, restaurants, dive centers and other businesses provide employment and economic opportunities.
Oceans 5 is part of that tourism industry as well.
The question isn’t whether development should exist.
The question is:
How much development can a small island ecosystem support, and under what conditions?
A 2026 study of sustainability in the Gili Matra Marine Protected Area found ecological performance to be a principal limiting dimension and identified coastal degradation, waste and pollution pressure, stakeholder coordination and social conflict among the priority issues affecting sustainability.[5]
Those aren’t simply tourism-management problems.
They are conservation problems.
If development creates environmental pressure today that contributes to reef degradation tomorrow, waiting until tomorrow to restore the coral makes little sense.
Why Aren’t We Talking More About Seawalls?
Walk around the Gili Islands and you will see hard structures constructed to protect beachfront property.
From the perspective of an individual business owner, the logic is understandable.
The ocean is approaching the property.
Protect the investment.
But coastlines don’t function property by property.
They function as connected systems.
A structure that changes wave energy, sediment movement or erosion in one location can have consequences elsewhere.
So conservation organizations should be part of the discussion about coastal engineering.
Not after beaches disappear.
Before walls are built.
Because protecting reefs while ignoring major changes to the coastline beside them is not integrated conservation.
And What About Wastewater?
Wastewater may be one of the least photogenic subjects in conservation.
There is no beautiful Instagram picture of a properly functioning septic system.
Nobody wants to pose beside wastewater infrastructure.
But nutrient pollution and poorly managed wastewater can place serious pressure on tropical coastal ecosystems.
And this is precisely why prevention receives less attention than restoration.
Prevention is often invisible.
When prevention succeeds, nothing happens.
The reef doesn’t collapse.
The water doesn’t become polluted.
The algae bloom doesn’t appear.
The beach doesn’t disappear.
There is no dramatic before-and-after photograph because the environmental disaster never happened.
That should be considered a conservation success.
The Halimeda Warning
Recently, we have been observing extensive Halimeda growth around parts of Gili Trawangan.
Oceans 5 has participated in removing Halimeda from selected areas together with other conservation stakeholders.
But we are very clear about something:
Removing the algae is not the solution.
It is a reaction.
If unusual growth is occurring, the important scientific question is why.
That is why we support further investigation and water-quality research rather than immediately announcing a cause without sufficient evidence.
Until research provides answers, we should not pretend we know exactly what is driving the change.
But uncertainty is not an excuse for inactivity.
It is a reason to investigate.
Marine conservation should not only ask:
“How do we remove this?”
It should ask:
“Why is this happening?”
And then:
“What can we change so it doesn’t keep happening?”
That is the difference between reaction and prevention.
Why Do Conservation Organizations Sometimes Stay Quiet?
This is perhaps the most uncomfortable part of the discussion.
Why do conservation organizations sometimes speak loudly about plastic, coral restoration and beach clean-ups, but much more carefully about overdevelopment, questionable coastal construction, wastewater, seawalls or activities affecting shallow reefs?
There may be several reasons.
These subjects are complicated.
Different authorities have different jurisdictions.
Scientific evidence must be gathered before attributing a particular ecological change to a particular activity.
Businesses provide employment.
Investors have influence.
Tourism generates income.
Stakeholders have competing interests.
And challenging development can create conflict.
It is much easier to organize a coral-restoration event where everyone agrees that planting coral is good than to question whether a new development should have been constructed where it is.
Prevention sometimes requires saying something people don’t want to hear.
The Problem With Conservation Funding
There is another question worth discussing openly.
The conservation world frequently operates through projects.
A project needs objectives.
It needs activities.
It needs photographs.
It needs measurable results.
It needs reports.
A coral nursery can provide those things.
“We transplanted X corals.”
“We installed X structures.”
“We restored X square meters.”
Those are visible outputs.
But how do you photograph a reef that wasn’t damaged because someone prevented the damage?
How do you create a dramatic fundraising campaign around wastewater regulations being enforced?
How many social-media likes do you receive because somebody decided not to construct another seawall?
Preventive conservation can be politically difficult, socially uncomfortable and less visually marketable.
And challenging another stakeholder may make future cooperation more difficult.
That creates a dangerous incentive:
Repairing environmental damage can sometimes be easier to fund and promote than preventing the damage from occurring.
That doesn’t mean restoration organizations are acting in bad faith, nor should it be presented as a claim that organizations deliberately ignore problems for grant money.
But it is a structural question the conservation community should be willing to discuss.
Is Oceans 5 the Only Organization That Understands This?
We don’t think Oceans 5 should claim to be the only organization on Gili Air that understands conservation beyond reef restoration.
There are people, community groups, government agencies, scientists, businesses and conservation organizations doing valuable work across the Gili Islands.
And government authorities such as BKKPN Kupang are actively monitoring activities and zoning compliance within Gili Matra. In August 2025, for example, BKKPN reported patrols across Gili Air, Gili Meno and Gili Trawangan specifically aimed at monitoring use and addressing zoning violations.[6]
But Oceans 5 is willing to say something that we believe needs to be said more often:
Marine conservation cannot stop where the ocean meets the beach.
And sometimes that means raising subjects that aren’t popular.
It can mean questioning development.
It can mean asking about wastewater.
It can mean opposing destructive coastal practices.
It can mean asking why a channel is being created.
It can mean questioning another tourism business.
It can even mean questioning practices within our own industry.
That doesn’t always create friends.
But conservation shouldn’t be measured by how few people you upset.
It should be measured by whether ecosystems are better protected.
Prevention Is Harder Than Restoration
Restoration often creates a positive story.
Something was damaged.
People came together.
Something was rebuilt.
Prevention has a different story.
Someone proposes something.
Another stakeholder raises environmental concerns.
Questions are asked.
Permits are checked.
Scientific studies are requested.
Plans may need to change.
Someone may lose money.
Someone becomes angry.
There may be meetings, disagreements and accusations.
And if prevention succeeds?
Nothing dramatic happens.
The reef simply remains alive.
That is exactly the point.
Conservation Requires Courage
There is a tendency to make conservation comfortable.
Pick up plastic.
Plant coral.
Post photographs.
Thank the volunteers.
Repeat.
We support beach clean-ups. Oceans 5 organizes them regularly.
We support reef restoration where it is scientifically appropriate.
We support education.
We support research.
But conservation cannot only consist of activities everyone agrees with.
Sometimes conservation means asking:
Should this be built here?
Where will this wastewater go?
What happens to the coastline if this wall is constructed?
Why is this channel necessary?
What environmental assessment was conducted?
Who is monitoring the consequences?
And who will be responsible if damage appears five years from now?
Those questions may create problems with other stakeholders.
But remaining silent doesn’t protect a marine park.
From Reaction to Prevention
Imagine a different conservation model for the Gili Islands.
Before another coastal development begins, environmental consequences are properly considered.
Before another seawall appears, its effects on neighboring coastline and sediment movement are assessed.
Before a channel is altered or created, ecological impacts and legal requirements are examined.
Wastewater and groundwater are monitored routinely.
Water-quality data are collected over years rather than only after something unusual happens.
Development limits reflect the carrying capacity of small islands.
Scientists, government, businesses, conservation organizations and local communities share information.
And when somebody sees a potential environmental problem, they speak.
Not after the coral dies.
Before.
That is the direction Oceans 5 believes marine conservation needs to take.
Because if we wait until a reef collapses and then proudly announce a project to rebuild it, we have misunderstood what conservation should be.
Restoration will always have a role.
But the greatest conservation success is not rebuilding a reef.
It is making sure we never have to rebuild it in the first place.
FAQ
Is Oceans 5 against coral restoration?
No. Coral restoration can be an important conservation tool, particularly where reefs have already been damaged. Our argument is that restoration should be combined with prevention. There is little sense restoring coral while environmental pressures responsible for degradation continue.
Is Oceans 5 against tourism development on the Gili Islands?
No. Oceans 5 itself is a tourism business. Tourism provides jobs and income for thousands of people. The issue is responsible development that respects environmental limits, coastal regulations and the carrying capacity of small islands.
Are seawalls always environmentally harmful?
The impacts depend on location, design and local coastal processes. That is precisely why coastal engineering should be assessed professionally rather than approached property by property without considering the wider shoreline.
Does wastewater damage coral reefs?
Poorly managed wastewater can introduce nutrients, contaminants and pathogens into coastal environments. Research in tourism-intensive tropical coastal areas shows that land-based wastewater and development pressures need to be considered alongside direct reef impacts.[2]
Is wastewater causing the recent Halimeda growth around Gili Trawangan?
We are not making that claim. The cause needs to be established through scientific investigation. Oceans 5 supports research and water-quality monitoring precisely because conclusions should be based on evidence rather than assumptions.
Why isn’t reef restoration enough?
Because restoration treats damage that has already occurred. Long-term reef conservation also requires reducing the pressures causing degradation—including pollution, inappropriate coastal development, physical damage and other local stressors.
Why does Oceans 5 speak publicly about these issues?
Because Oceans 5 operates inside and economically benefits from the Gili Matra marine environment. We believe that creates a responsibility to protect the entire ecosystem, even when discussing environmental problems is uncomfortable.
References
[1] Razak, T.B. et al. (2022). Coral reef restoration in Indonesia: A review of policies and projects. Marine Policy, 137, 104940. The review documented more than 500 restoration-project records in Indonesia between 1990 and 2020.
[2] Understanding coral reef change in urbanised and tourism-intensive seascapes: Insights from Sanur, Bali. The study highlights interacting pressures from tourism, wastewater and coastal development and argues that reef-focused interventions can fail when upstream land-based pressures remain unresolved.
[3] BAPPEDA NTB (2021). Public Consultation on the Review of the Management and Zoning Plan for the Gili Air, Gili Meno and Gili Trawangan Marine Tourism Park. The consultation describes core, limited-use and other zones and emphasizes continuing stakeholder education and coordinated management.
[4] Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) (2024). KKP Reviews Desalination Drilling Location in the Gili Matra Conservation Area. KKP reported an investigation following indications of pollution associated with drilling activities and emphasized mitigation to prevent wider ecosystem damage.
[5] Widianto, A. et al. (2026). Assessing Multidimensional Ecotourism Sustainability and Zoning Conformity in the Gili Matra Marine Protected Area, Indonesia. The research identifies coastal degradation, waste and pollution pressure, stakeholder coordination and social conflict among important sustainability priorities.
[6] BKKPN Kupang (2025). BKKPN Kupang Enforces Zoning Violations in the Gili Matra Island Conservation Area.The agency reported monitoring activities across the three Gili Islands as part of zoning oversight and enforcement.