Combining law enforcement and livelihood-based incentives to deliver measurable conservation outcomes in the world's largest targeted manta ray fishery

Overexploitation represents a significant threat to wildlife, with the severest impacts felt by slow growing, economically valuable species. Manta rays have been increasingly targeted in recent decades to meet emerging demand... [ view full abstract ]

Overexploitation represents a significant threat to wildlife, with the severest impacts felt by slow growing, economically valuable species. Manta rays have been increasingly targeted in recent decades to meet emerging demand for their gills in traditional Chinese medicine markets. In an attempt to improve their conservation status, manta rays were listed on Appendix II of the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) in 2013 and declared a fully protected species in Indonesia in 2014. Indonesia is a global priority for manta ray conservation, as it’s the world’s largest elasmobranch fishing nation, a major supplier of manta ray gill plates to consumer countries, and home to one of the largest known targeted manta ray fisheries in the world – Lamakera in Solor, East Nusa Tenggara. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has been working in partnership with Misool Foundation and local government authorities in Lamakera since 2015 in order to implement Indonesia's manta ray regulation on the ground. We adopted an integrated approach, including aspects of strict site-based law enforcement and livelihood-based incentives, and collected comprehensive monitoring data to measure our impact. Despite initial challenges due to strong socioeconomic drivers for continued manta hunting, our monitoring data shows that our approach has now successfully reduced illegal exploitation of manta rays in Lamakera by more than 90%. The results provide a case study of how a local-level intervention has reduced illegal hunting and trade of protected marine megafauna, and showcases techniques for conducting robust impact assessments for conservation interventions.