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Title
An integrated approach to tackling wildlife crime: Impact and lessons learned from the world's largest targeted manta ray fishery
Author(s)
Booth, H.;Mardhiah, U.;Siregar, H.;Hunter, J.;Giyanto;...;Cahyana, A.;Boysandi;...;Adhiasto, D.;Adrianto, L.;Yulianto, I.
Published
2021
Publisher
Conservation Science and Practice
Published Version DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.314
Abstract
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.
Keywords
compliance management;conservation planning;elasmobranchs;evidence based conservation;hunting;impact assessment;law;enforcement;livelihood;problem oriented policing;wildlife;crime;conservation;incentives;context;illegal;success;marine;Biodiversity and Conservation
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