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https://freedium.cfd/https://medium.com/southern-winds/indonesias-battery-economy-is-bulldozing-paradise-ac41998e8d20>
'I come from a place where the water is so cruel it bites, where diving means
digging a hole in the ice and surfacing with your eyelashes frozen shut. I
began cold plunging to support my grandfather after doctors suggested it might
help with his cancer-related joint pain. At first, we'd barely wade knee-deep.
But I developed a knack for it, and soon enough, I was scuba certified and
exploring the underlayers of frozen lakes.
Without proper mental and physical training, this kind of diving I do now could
be a death sentence.
But sometime after another Arctic melt season and too many maps showing
vanishing permafrost, I started craving a different kind of immersion. Warmer
depths. Other currents. Diving has rewired something in me: there's a silence
below the surface that reminds me of home.
That's how I found Raja Ampat.
First, a photo of limestone peaks cresting above turqoise waters like the humps
of a dragon. Then a
National Geographic listicle calling it a "must-see" for
2025 followed by a
New York Times spread including it in its bucket list
dream. And then — the other side of the coin. Deforestation figures. Mining
maps. Legal loopholes. Suddenly, the most biodiverse marine ecosystem on Earth
wasn't just a paradise. It was a frontline.
Because Raja Ampat — an archipelago in West Papua, Indonesia — is more than
just the "crown jewel" of the Coral Triangle, the name scientists have given to
this area of Southeast Asian seas that sustain the richest marine ecosystem on
Earth. It's what the world stands to lose when we greenwash collapse.
UNESCO named it a Global Geopark in 2023. Over 2 million hectares of its reefs
are protected. Its karst islands and coral-covered seabeds are so biodiverse
they make other reefs look like deserts. In its villages, about 70,000 West
Papuans live by the tides, navigating in wooden canoes, speaking over a dozen
dialects. They call the forest
mother, and the sea
father. Even the view
from Piaynemo Island appears on Indonesia's highest-value 100,000 rupiah note.
But currency comes with a cost.'
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
