Open AccessAn integrated approach to tackling wildlife crime: Impact and lessons learned from the world's largest targeted manta ray fishery
Author(s) -
Booth Hollie,
Mardhiah Ulfah,
Siregar Hanifah,
Hunter Jonathan,
Putra Mochamad Iqbal Herwata,
Marlow Jo,
Cahyana Andi,
Demoor Apolinardus Yosef Lia,
Lewis Sarah,
Adhiasto Dwi,
Adrianto Luky,
Yulianto Irfan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
conservation science and practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2578-4854
DOI - 10.1111/csp2.314
Subject(s) - wildlife trade , threatened species , outreach , geography , wildlife , livelihood , enforcement , poaching , business , fishery , economic growth , political science , economics , ecology , habitat , archaeology , law , biology , agriculture
Manta rays ( Mobula birostris and M. alfredi ) are threatened by overexploitation for international trade. Indonesia was home to the world's largest documented manta fishery—Lamakera, in East Nusa Tenggara. However, in 2014, the Indonesian government declared manta rays a protected species. Here we describe an integrated intervention to reduce manta hunting and mortality in Lamakera, which combined community outreach and livelihood‐focused incentives with targeted enforcement actions; and assess its impact over a five‐year period (2013–2018) using a theory‐based research design. Results show that the intervention is associated with a significant decline in manta hunting effort and mortality ( p < .001), which is correlated and temporally‐associated with conservation activities, and did not occur for modeled and natural experiment counterfactuals. Overall, total manta ray mortality declined by 86% by 2018, vs. the 2013 baseline. We conclude that a multifaceted, data‐driven approach reduced illegal hunting and trade of manta rays from 2013 to 2018. However, this impact is not indefinite; new challenges are emerging, which highlight the importance of a long‐term adaptive strategy. We make several recommendations for designing interventions to mitigate trade‐driven over‐exploitation of megafauna: (a) understand diverse drivers of human behavior; (b) adopt data‐driven problem‐oriented planning; (c) continuously document and share learning; (d) establish partnerships with diverse stakeholders to develop resilient institutions for enduring impact.