EIB Global Leads Coral Reef Restoration and Marine Clean-Up in Indonesia’s Thousand Islands
EIB Global Leads Coral Reef Restoration and Marine Clean-Up in Indonesia’s Thousand Islands https://pharosproject.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/EIBGlobal-and-partners.jpg 800 600 PHAROS Project https://pharosproject.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/EIBGlobal-and-partners.jpgA Day of Action in the Thousand Islands
The campaign focused on Gusung and Macan islands, two small but strategically important sites in the archipelago just off the coast of Indonesia’s capital. Organised by EIB Global, the development arm of the European Investment Bank, the event brought together Team Europe representatives, Indonesian authorities, civil society organisations, NGOs, students, researchers and local residents for a hands-on environmental intervention.
On Gusung Island, participants concentrated on marine litter, collecting more than 130 kilograms of waste in just the first 30 minutes of work, a stark indicator of the scale of pollution washing into these waters. Plastics, discarded fishing gear and other debris were cleared from the shoreline and nearshore areas, reducing immediate threats to marine life and highlighting how collective action can quickly translate into visible results.
Coral Restoration and Clownfish Release
While Gusung showcased the urgency of tackling pollution, neighbouring Macan Island became a living laboratory for reef recovery. Working closely with the Langit Biru Pertiwi Foundation, teams carefully attached damaged coral fragments onto artificial substrates designed to stabilise and regenerate the reef structure over time.
To further boost the recovering ecosystem, juvenile clownfish raised in protected nurseries were released into the restored reef area, helping to repopulate degraded habitats and restore ecological balance. These targeted interventions aim to build long-term resilience in a region increasingly stressed by warming seas, erosion and waste accumulation, while also supporting local tourism and livelihoods that depend on healthy coral reefs.
Team Europe Diplomacy in Action
The initiative formed part of EU Green Diplomacy Week, a global campaign that uses concrete projects to showcase climate and environmental cooperation between the European Union and partner countries. In the Thousand Islands, this translated into a visibly European-Indonesian team: the EU Delegation to ASEAN, embassies of EU Member States in Jakarta, national and local Indonesian authorities, and community groups all worked side by side on the beach and in the shallows.
EIB Global framed the day not as a one-off event, but as a symbol of how international partnerships can transform ambitious policy goals into local, practical action. By convening financiers, diplomats, experts and citizens, the bank sought to demonstrate that tackling marine degradation is as much about people and cooperation as it is about funding and technology.
Voices From the Ground
EIB leadership stressed the broader significance of the operation for both environmental and economic resilience. Vice-President Nicola Beer underlined that protecting marine ecosystems is a shared global responsibility and highlighted Indonesia as a long-standing partner in pursuing sustainable development pathways.
Sunita Lukkhoo, Head of the EIB Group for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, who coordinated the campaign on site, emphasised that seemingly small actions such as debris removal, coral planting and fish release can cumulatively drive progress toward wider conservation goals. European Union Ambassador to ASEAN Sujiro Seam echoed this message, pointing to the power of “small acts” carried out consistently and collectively to address what he described as the “triple planetary crisis” of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss.
Building a Blue Economy Future
Local authorities used the occasion to spotlight both the fragility and the economic potential of the Thousand Islands. Regency representative Tri Indrawan welcomed the international delegation and underlined the region’s commitment to building a sustainable blue economy in line with Indonesia’s national development priorities, with coral reefs, coastal ecosystems and marine tourism at its core.
For EIB Global, the campaign fits into a wider portfolio of ocean-focused initiatives under the Clean Oceans and climate action agendas, which channel European finance and technical expertise into projects that tackle pollution and restore marine ecosystems worldwide. In Indonesia’s Thousand Islands, that strategy has taken visible shape: cleaner shorelines, newly restored coral structures and young clownfish returning to the reef, offering a hopeful glimpse of what sustained international cooperation can achieve below and above the waterline.