A SEA of mud spreads out along the coast of Tambea village in the Pomalaa district of Kolaka regency, Southeast Sulawesi. When visited last December the sound of waves and the sandy beaches along its shores had already disappeared. The fishermen’s boats lie unused near the small wooden jetty that stands upright in the brown mud.

In the past the whole coastline was a large breeding ground where ponds filled with beche de mer (sea cucumbers) we