For nearly a century, Rolex has supported explorers who work to push the boundaries of human endeavour. These efforts have evolved over time as the brand shifted its focus from championing exploration for the sake of discovery to projects that protect the planet by using science to better understand the Earth, and to devise solutions to its environmental challenges.

Rolex subsumed its various efforts in this sphere under the aegis of the Perpetual Planet Initiative in 2019. Among them is its longstanding collaboration with Mission Blue, founded by Rolex Testimonee Sylvia Earle in 2009. The group seeks to safeguard oceanic regions of significant value by establishing protected areas—called Hope Spots—and aims to expand this network to cover 30 per cent of the oceans by 2030. One such Hope Spot, the Nusa Penida Marine Protected Area (MPA), has seen significant traction in its conservation efforts.

More importantly, the region has managed to strike a delicate balance between the needs of local communities, tourists, and the ecosystem, thus offering a successful formula for conservationists elsewhere to follow and adapt.

Located within Indonesia, the Nusa Penida MPA spans 20,057 hectares of waters surrounding the Balinese islands of Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nusa Ceningan, which lie east of the main island of Ubud. The region welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors yearly and is famous for its dive spots’ sublime views.

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One reason for this popularity is the marine life on display: The MPA is part of the Coral Triangle, an area between the Pacific and Indian Oceans that’s recognised as the global centre of marine biodiversity. In fact, the Nusa Penida MPA alone is home to some 570 species of reef fish and 300 species of coral. Visitors aside, around 48,000 residents also depend on the marine ecosystem for their livelihoods. These needs represent both opportunities and challenges for the MPA, especially given the importance of the environment in local culture.

With the support of Rolex and Mission Blue, Hope Spot Champions Rili Djohani and Wira Sanjaya are helping the residents of the islands to balance the needs of MPA’s ecology, culture, and economy. By extension, this Hope Spot is serving as an example of how ocean conservation can be successfully done while meeting the needs of local communities and tourism.

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The work of Djohani and Sanjaya centres on the former’s non-profit foundation, the Coral Triangle Centre (CTC). Through this organisation, they work with both the Indonesian government and local communities to divide the MPA into designated zones for different purposes. From tourism to seaweed farming and even sacred grounds that respect and honour the importance of the environment in local culture, the zoning measures don’t just help to deconflict the often competing needs of tourists and residents, but also allow locals to live sustainably.

What’s more, the islands’ residents are also incentivised to become guardians of the sea, to protect the MPA for future generations. To that end, the CTC works to support sustainable livelihoods and food security for the locals, while also running outreach activities and conservation training. These efforts were responsible for the successful management of the MPA and, subsequently, the area’s designation as a Hope Spot in 2020.

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Today, conservation work at the Nusa Penida MPA continues through the efforts of Djohani and Sanjaya. One key project involves mangrove rehabilitation following the deforestation of the MPA’s coastal mangroves for timber. On this front, the CTC has been educating local communities on the mangrove forests’ role in maintaining local biodiversity, protecting against sea level rises, and providing ecotourism opportunities.

The islands’ residents have been encouraged to help restore the mangrove forests, and a recent reforestation effort has seen more than 10,000 seedlings planted.

In much the same way, the CTC has also extended its conservation efforts underwater, specifically to the Nusa Penida MPA’s reefs. These coral reefs aren’t just globally significant for their exceptional biodiversity, but also because of their resilience amidst warming waters caused by climate change. Protecting them is thus vital to coral conservation efforts globally, given the scientific insights they could provide from further studies in the future.

To safeguard this critical asset, the CTC has engaged youth groups in coral restoration. The programme has already installed more than 400 linked structures to the ocean floor to serve as a support bed on which new corals can grow, and transplanted some 6,000 fragments of coral totalling 240sqm of damaged reefs.

Beyond just projects, Djohani and her team are also seeking long-term impacts by making conservation a part of the local culture—it is the key to protecting the MPA in the years to come. To engage local communities, the CTC created an ocean-themed performance in the style of wayang, the centuries-old Indonesian art of shadow puppetry, with beautifully crafted puppets that bridge the traditional medium with the contemporary issues it explores.

There is more to come, of course. With the support of Rolex and Mission Blue, Djohani and Sanjaya are spreading awareness of the MPA and lending their expertise to the Indonesian government in their goal to protect 30 per cent of the country’s waters.Other conservationists are also leveraging their experience in efforts to establish and fortify additional MPAs within the Coral Triangle and beyond.

With time and a little luck, Mission Blue’s goal of establishing Hope Spots to cover one-third of our oceans may just become a reality.