Save Mentawai’s pristine coral reefs from illegal bombing

The world was shaken on Saturday, November 30, 2013, when 40-year-old actor Paul Walker passed away in an unfortunate car crash in Santa Clarita, California.

The world was shaken on Saturday, November 30, 2013, when 40-year-old actor Paul Walker passed away in an unfortunate car crash in Santa Clarita, California. Best known for his recurring role as Brian O’Conner in the “Fast and Furious” action movie series, it turned out that Paul had also played a significant role in saving one of Indonesia’s paradises: the pristine coral reefs of the Mentawai Islands, off the coast of West Sumatra.

The death of the actor, who also played alongside Indonesian actor Joe Taslim in the most recent series of Fast and Furious, caused a deep grief among the Mentawai People’s Alliance (Aliansi Masyarakat Mentawai) who acknowledged his brief but important role in raising awareness of the destruction of coral reefs around the western Indonesian islands caused by illegal fishing. “We deeply mourn the passing of Paul Walker” stated the Alliance as reported in tempo.co.

The Mentawai People’s Alliance explained that last year, numerous fishing boats sailed to the islands, bombing coral reefs , thus killing marine life to haul in fish catch. The illegal fishing did not only destroy the coral reefs and threaten the underwater marvels, but also threatened the livelihood of the local villagers. “We decided to upload the documentary video on YouTube on the damage done, and started an online petition at change.org ” the Alliance wrote.

The video and petition went viral and ultimately reached Paul Walker who immediately took action, tweeting a call to stop the destruction of Mentawai Islands’ Coral Reefs. Through his twitter account @RealPaulWalker, the actor shouted: “Help! The beautiful Mentawais Reefs of Indonesia are being DESTROYED in a brutal practice. Please sign to help stop it!”

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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