Environmental Impact of the Intensive System of Vannamei Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) Farming on the Karimunjawa-Jepara-Muria Biosphere Reserve, Indonesia

The Karimunjawa-Jepara-Muria area, with a landmass of 1,236,083.97 ha, was recently designated as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO on October 28, 2020. However, this area is currently facing challenges in the form of increasing intensive shrimp pond development. The wastewater from shrimp pond aquaculture can adversely impact the waters of the Biosphere Reserve Core Zone. This research aimed to investigate the environmental impacts of pond activities on the Karimunjawa Biosphere Reserve. Sampling was done in July-December 2020. Samples were 54 respondents from society and 11 farmers. Questionnaires were distributed to the respondents to gain information about the environmental impact of the intensive pond, while water quality parameters (DO, salinity, temperature, nitrate, and phosphate) were measured from 3 stations; each station consists of 12 sampling points. Questionnaires were analyzed using a Linkert scale and SPSS. The results showed that based on water quality measurement, most of the parameters showed values that were below the threshold, except the nitrates and phosphate. The harmful impact of shrimp pond activities in the Karimunjawa-Jepara-Muria Biosphere Reserve on the ecology was 34.81% in the form of pressure on marine biota and agriculture, while on social it was 34.22% in the form of social conflict in the community. Ponds also have not significantly improved the surrounding community’s economy; the effect is only 9.36%. Therefore, the strategies needed to deal with environmental impacts are creating the effective Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), increasing the human resources of farmers, and monitoring or supervising the sustainable pond management application.