Coral reefs are one of the marine ecosystems that are important in supporting life related to their role as fish habitat, reducing the energy of sea waves that reach land, and as a tourist attraction. Unfortunately, various threats lurk in the sustainability of important ecosystem services provided by coral reefs, such as rising sea surface temperatures which are a driving factor for coral bleaching, illegal coral harvesting, and coral damage due to tourism activities.
Various efforts have been made, ranging from coral transplantation efforts, to planting mangroves to protect the flow of sediment from land, but in fact, up to now, coral reef ecosystems are increasingly threatened by various human activities.
Based on this reality, the Center for Marine Studies, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (MIPA), Universitas Indonesia (UI), in collaboration with the Karang Lestari Foundation (YKLI), is trying to increase public awareness, especially students, to learn various methods that can help optimally manage coral reef ecosystems. .
This effort is realized through training activities on the Conceptual Model of Coral Reef Management Using Participatory Modeling or community resilience-based coral reef management methods. Participatory Modeling is considered to be a method that has not been widely developed at this time.
“The Coral Reef Management Conceptual Model training using Participatory Modeling is to introduce the basic concept of system thinking in the management of coral reef ecosystems, and the application of participatory modeling to students, especially those interested in research on coral reef ecosystems,” said Head of the Center for Marine Studies FMIPA UI Dr. Riani Widiarti, M.Si. explained the purpose of the activity, Thursday (27/7/2023).
According to her, the introduction of participatory modeling is crucial for use in research related to coral reef ecosystems in particular, and marine ecosystems in general. The reason is, participatory modeling focuses on local community knowledge of the ecosystem’s current condition and the threats they face, so that they can help make decisions in ecosystem management.
The training, which was held at the FMIPA UI Multidisciplinary Research Laboratory Building – PT Pertamina, UI Campus, Depok, involved 30 participants who were teaching staff, students of the Geology and Geophysics Study Program, Department of Biology, Department of Geography, Master of Marine Sciences, and School of Environmental Sciences UI.
Dr. Suryo Kusumo as Chair of YKLI and resource person at this training shared training material on the System theory method – System thinking – Mental model, Causal loop diagram/Conceptual Model for managing coral reef ecosystems.
In System theory, participants were introduced to the concept of ‘system’ and its characteristics. In the introduction to Systems thinking, participants were introduced to important points in Systems thinking, namely the concept of the dependence of all elements.
“This concept has been applied in ecological, economic, political and even social research. Coral reef ecosystem management is seen as a unified social-ecological system, not separated between social and ecological aspects,” said Dr. Suryo.
Participants were also introduced to the concept of mental models which are an important part of understanding a system.
“A person’s understanding of mental models will influence the functionality of the system being created,” he said.
Meanwhile, through the Causal loop diagram method, training participants are introduced in more depth to the structure of thinking in conceptual models. Causal loop diagrams are used to explain the relationships between variables in a system, which will later be reflected in system behavior .
The relationship between variables can increase (+) or decrease (-). The combination of relationships between variables in a system can produce loops (+) or reinforcing , and can also produce loops (-) or balancing . The training participants were also given examples of simple systems such as atmospheric systems, natural systems, and economic systems.
Another resource person, Anindita D. Kusumawardhani, M.Si. as a research team at the FMIPA UI Center for Marine Studies explained the Participatory Modeling theory of coral reef management. In this session, Anin explained the concept of a participatory approach and the concept of participatory modeling in system dynamics.
“In participatory modeling, knowledge exchange between stakeholders is an important key. The local knowledge of the community, in particular, is considered to be the key in solving environmental problems,” said Anin.
Focus Group Discussion (FGD) is one of the methods most widely used in participatory modeling, especially in compiling Causal loop diagrams of the system that will be built. This session also presented case studies on the use of participatory modeling in coastal management.
FGDs were conducted using role-play scenarios where each trainee was given a role to play and then discussed. The roles that were made included coastal communities consisting of fishermen, fishermen’s wives, fish sellers, community leaders, tour operators, and village apparatus. The participants were also given the role of FGD facilitator, operator and note taker.
Before the simulation was carried out, the participants were guided to install the Socio-Ecological Systems App for Mental Model Elicitation (SESAME) software. The participants were then invited to hold discussions according to their respective roles, with the theme of coastal area management.
Community actors were asked to explain the current conditions of coastal ecosystems and simulate future conditions. Coastal communities were also asked to explain the relationship between each of the existing ecosystems, and what activities could pose a threat to them. The results of the discussion were recorded in minutes, and described in the SESAME application.
