Geotagging May Trigger Million-Dollar Tourism Industry in Raja Ampat

TheIndonesia.id - An environmental expert said geotagging technology is not only beneficial for experts to learn about marine species population in Raja Ampat, West Papua, but it can also be used to understand migration pattern of the wildlife and, in result, boost tourism in the region.

Executive director of Climate Change Trust Fund (ICCTF) Tonny Wagey said the utilization of geotagging in Raja Ampat can help the tourist destination to invite more visitors who want to see blue whales for themselves because the technology shows migration pattern of different marine species.

“Geotagging technology doesn’t merely calculate wildlife population, but we can also learn their pattern of migration. It can be used to invite tourists who want to see blue whales. That sector of tourism is worth millions of US dollars,” Wagey said on Thursday, March 24, as reported by Antara.

According to him, geotagging works as a metadata-based tracker that will identify geographical condition and is connected to satellite. The tracking of blue whales can assist tourist to see the species in person.

ICCTF is working together alongside Reef Check, which focuses on the monitoring and conservation of reefs, to conduct geotagging on rare blue whales and manta rays in Raja Ampat.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), as of 2018, there were only 5,000 to 15,000 adult blue whales in the world.

“We’ve put geotagging on blue whale in Sawu Sea because they are great in absorbing carbon dioxide. Within a week of installing the device, it’s already in Australia – passing through the North Pole to the South Pole,” Wagey revealed.

Junior community development at Reef Check Derta Prabuning said currently, there are 11 geotagging units attached to blue whales and manta rays in Raja Ampat since early 2021, and they consist of two type of geotagging. The first one is a marker that’s connected to satellite, and there are five units of them attached to blue whales. Another type is acoustic geotagging which is connected to receiver, and six units have been attached to manta rays.

Prabuning explained that satellite geotagging used GPS that enables the movement of blue whales to be monitored in a wide scale, while the acoustic technology will send signal of manta rays’ presence when they pass within the receiver’s radius.

Three acoustic receivers are located in Holgam and Wayang tourism areas.

Geotagging has also successfully recorded the addition of 35 new manta rays in Raja Ampat in the last year.