By Nathan Price
The Raja Ampat Islands are located off the tip of the Bird’s Head Peninsula, on the island of New Guinea, in Indonesian’s West Papua Province. The four main islands are Batanta, Misool, Salawati and Waigeo, but this tropical archipelago is made up of more than 1000 paradise islands.
Nathan is a marine biologist, avid scuba diver and conservationist. He specialises in coral reef ecology, investigating aspects under the principal themes of marine protected areas, anthropogenic impacts and reef resilience. He has research experience in the Cayman Islands, where he investigated the effectiveness of marine protected areas, and has conducted extensive research documenting fish, benthic and sea slug communities in Southeast Asia. Some of his recent expeditions in Asia include, travelling to Bukit Lawang, Sumatra to investigate issues surrounding the palm oil industry and the effects this has on native habitats for tigers, elephants and orangutans. Furthermore, he travelled to Cenderawasih Bay, Papua to investigate local issues surrounding the food provisioning of whale sharks, and educate the locals on conservation-based practical approaches to anthropogenic impacts on the environment and subsequent effects on whale sharks. He is currently living and working in Nosy Be, Madagascar as a principal investigator for a marine conservation program. He conducts regular fish and invertebrate surveys to investigate the health of coral reefs