THREATS

The dominating concerns surrounding the major marine conservation issues in Indonesia

Despite Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in Indonesia growing in size and number over the last decade there continues to be many obstacles that face officials in the ultimate success of establishing and maintaining them. Mismanagement and lack of resources for enforcement and biological assessment are leading factors that give rise to inefficient MPAs. Coupled with additional human pressures such as unsustainable fishing, exploitive tourism, and pollution, it is not surprising that some established MPAs are not attaining the positive results they were projected to have.

Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) / Over Fishing Practices

Fisheries resources in Indonesia are highly exploited due to rapid population growth, economic development, and technological advancement within fisheries As the result, an area becomes less productive and conflict between users increases, pushing the fishermen to venture to new areas such as the eastern part of Indonesia and inside MPAs – yielding a new problem among newcomers and the local community (Muawanah et al 2012).

Unsustainable fishing practices persist within Indonesia despite increased protected areas and new fisheries management policies put in place The use of potassium cyanide, blast fishing, compressor diving, bottom trawls and drift nets are common in traditional fishing in rural areas (Nurdin & Grydehøj 2014). These harmful practices threaten the coral reef existence which is a critical habitat and nursery ground for many species. With a lack of policy enforcement this issue could disturb the ecosystem balance, resulting in a devastating crash in fish stocks.

Marine Debris

Plastic accumulating in our oceans and coast lines has become a global crisis. Approximately 12.7 million megatons (Mt) of plastic ended up in the oceans in 2010 (Jambeck et al 2015) Plastic pollution has a direct and deadly effect on wildlife and humans. Thousands of seabirds, sea turtles, seals and other marine mammals are killed each year as a result of human waste, either from ingesting or entanglement. Microplastics are brokendown plastic waste, synthetic fibres, and beads found in personal hygiene products. These microplastics are possibly the leading issue facing marine conservationists today While China produces the most marine debris, Indonesia is ranked second, closely followed by the Philippines, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka (Purba et al. 2019).

Elasmobranch Decline

Sharks have been roaming the oceans for the past 400 million years, surviving multiple major extinctions, but in less than a century humanity has pushed their population sizes to a critical point. "Sharks are more vulnerable today than ever before", said Boris Worm, a professor of biology at Canada's Dalhousie University. An estimated 73 million sharks are killed annually, working out as more than 10,000 sharks per hour. The most significant threats are overfishing, habitat loss and pollution. The roles of sharks are varied but they are well documented as key species in the ecosystems they inhabit. As predators, sharks maintain the balance between the trophic levels of the food chain. Through a cascade effect, a decline in sharks can result in an increase in primary producers (algae) This imbalance has a negative effect on reefs, and ultimately on the livelihoods of local communities. Indonesia’s marine resources are among the richest on Earth. With a lack of species specific protection, it has become the largest shark and ray landing and exporter in the world (Prasetyo et al. 2021) and has been ranked as the number one shark fishing nation for the last 2 decades (Jaiteh et al. 2017).

Coral Reef Health

Coral reefs only take up 0.1% of the area of the ocean but support 25% of all marine species on the planet, rivalling the species richness of tropical rain forests of the Amazon or New Guinea. Hundreds of millions of people rely on coral reefs for essential nutrition, livelihoods, and natural protection from storms and natural disasters. They are also crucial to tourism and economic opportunity. Around half of the world's shallow water reefs are already gone. Without immediate action to address climate change, pollution, overfishing, irresponsible tourism, and destructive coastal development these crucial, life-sustaining natural wonders could disappear in our lifetime. It is known that under anthropogenic pressure, coral reefs around the world degrade over time (Bellwood et al 2004). Specifically, in one of our regions of study, Nusa Penida MPA, there is scientific evidence of coral reef degradation in both the northern and southern areas (Tito & Ampou 2020). The general survey of Indonesian coral reef health was last conducted in 2019, which highlighted the importance of intense monitoring to better understand the coral reef health and restoration efforts across the country (Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia 2020).

Mangrove Deforestation

Mangrove forests provide important nurseries and feeding grounds for commercially valuable species of bony fish, crustaceans and elasmobranchs. These critical coastal habitats are known to have a large capacity to sequester carbon, are important in mitigating climate change and protect the shoreline from abrasion and high waves (Arifanti 2020). Despite their value in ecosystem services, mangroves in Indonesia are being destroyed for their commercial value and to make way for coastal development, aquaculture and agriculture. The total mangrove area in the world is estimated at 136,000 km2 and it is distributed in 118 countries (Spalding & Leal 2021) Indonesia, having the highest mangrove coverage worldwide (3 31 million ha [Kementrian Kehutanan dan Lingkungan Hidup, 2019]), has lost approximately 30% of its mangroves between 1980 to 2005, with a deforestation rate of 52,000 ha annually (FAO 2007)

Indonesia is on the front line for some of the leading marine conservation issues facing our modern world.

There is a thirst for knowledge and a commitment to do better in Indonesia.

Through our research we strive to bridge the knowledge gap by providing standardised, high level open-sourced data sets in our regions of study. We focus on three main strategy categories:

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Ecological Monitoring

Direct Conservation

Education & Outreach

Combined, these strategies help to enact positive data driven policy changes in Indonesia.