Raja Ampat,'Last Paradise on Earth', under Threat

KOMPAS.com - Huts on stilts perch above the coral of the turquoise lagoon, hammocks awaiting a lazy siesta and sunset cocktails. The Indonesian archipelago of Raja Ampat is a living Eden. But for how long?

This remote pearl of Asia between the Pacific and Indian oceans in eastern Indonesia's Papua province has remained a closely guarded secret and one of the last frontiers of tourism, known only to intrepid travellers and avid divers.

Raja Ampat's palm-fringed islands, surrounded by an underwater kaleidoscope of coral and fish, are described by the regional tourism office as "the last paradise on earth".

A 2002 report by US-based Conservation International (CI) classed the waters as "potentially the world's richest in terms of marine biodiversity," with nearly 1400 varieties of fish and 603 species of coral.

The 610 rocky islets of Raja Ampat -- meaning Four Kings in Indonesian -- are sprinkled over an area of 4.5 million hectares, boasting 750 kilometres of pristine sandy beaches.

"It's the best diving in the world," said Pam Roth, an enthusiast for 33 years. "I like the remoteness of the place. You don't see a lot of people here," the 78-year-old retired Londoner said.

But trouble is lurking.

In the Papua mainland, a thousand kilometres southeast of Raja Ampat, calls for independence by Papua's indigenous Melanesian population that began decades ago have become more vocal in recent years, after Indonesia's turn toward democracy in 1998.

Tribal and local leaders accuse the government of robbing rich forests and mines, polluting water and land in the resource-rich region, and putting little back into one of the country's poorest areas. The Papua region is off-limits to foreign journalists.

Last month eight people were killed in ambushes and clashes with police after an ongoing workers' strike at a gold and copper mine operated by US company Freeport McMoRan turned ugly near Timika, a city in Papua's mainland. Because of the distance from the mainland, the sparsely populated Raja Ampat islands remain largely untouched by the troubles for now.