Indonesia is thought of as a perfect wild paradise filled with stunning views and sunsets, crystal clear water, dense forest, and exotic plants and animals. For the most part that is true. It is the last place on earth where wild tigers, elephants, rhinos, and orangutans still coexist in the same habitat. In our travels, we were privileged to see wild monkeys, macaques, orangutans, a gibbon, hornbills, lots of geckos, and a wide variety of plants. We also saw exotic marine organisms including octopi, many coral reef fish, endemic corals, and a sea turtle. However, because of the allure and interest in these exotic animals, Indonesia is rapidly losing one of its key identifying features, its wildlife.
Indonesia is a hotspot for wildlife trafficking because it is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world and has hundreds of endemic species. By definition, these species cannot be found anywhere else in the world; that automatically makes them rare, valuable, and desirable.
The draw for wildlife trafficking from Indonesia is twofold: some people believe that exotic animals and animal parts have medicinal properties so they are used to cure diseases, even though there is no scientific data to back up these claims, while others are looking to own live or stuffed animals for various purposes (as pets, collectibles, to exploit them for money, etc.).
Indonesia’s most iconic species, including the Sumatran tiger, rhino, elephant, orangutan, and Komodo dragon, are probably the most well known species in high demand; however, many other species of birds, fish, corals, snakes, pangolins, sharks, manta rays, and flowering plants are also illegally captured and sold. In our experience, there were noticeably few wild birds in all of the places that we visited. Our bike tour guide on Bali mentioned that locals have birds in cages around their houses because there are no more wild songbirds in the area. If people want to hear songbirds, they have to buy one and keep it in a cage.
Wildlife trafficking is a lucrative business, with the global black market trade value estimated at $7.8-19 billion USD annually (Arinta, 2019). Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry estimates that 13 trillion rupiah (~$950 million) is lost annually to illegal wildlife trafficking, which doesn’t include the cost of rehabilitating seized animals. As an example, a single Komodo dragon could fetch 500-900 million rupiah ($36,000-66,000) (Tarahita and Rakhmat, 2019).
Rudi Putra, head of the Leuser Conservation Forum (FKL), said that a lot of wildlife trafficking in Sumatra occurs on the east coast of Aceh because it is close to other countries (Malaysia and Thailand) and easier to slip away from patrols with illegally captured animals. Over the last 5 years, Rudi and his team have found and removed over 5,000 snares for wildlife capture in the areas of the Leuser ecosystem that they patrol and the number of snares found in the regions have been decreasing each year. The FKL has also captured around 10 illegal wildlife traders during their patrols. Although Sumatra is a hotspot for wildlife trafficking because of its extensive intact forests, illegal trafficking occurs all over the country by locals and foreigners.
Wildlife trafficking isn’t confined to just terrestrial animals. Many marine organisms, especially exotic coral reef fish, are also sought-after commodities. In our meeting with the Panglima Laot in Pulau Weh, Aceh he mentioned that they had to make it illegal to take clown fish from the reef so they don’t get wiped out by collectors. Manta rays are also heavily sought after for their gills, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine. Sharks are valued for their fins for shark fin soup.
Indonesia has had a wildlife trafficking policy in place since 1990. Two hundred and ninety four species are strictly protected under the law with a maximum 100 million rupiah ($7,000) fine and five years in jail (Clements). Even with a policy in place, how has trading actually increased since this policy was adopted? To start, the risk versus reward for participating in wildlife trafficking is low. The law is not strict and also not well enforced. Another major challenge to combating illegal wildlife trafficking is the shift from physical market stalls to virtual markets through social media and the internet. Rudi talked about how FKL and other groups, from Indonesia and Malaysia, work together to conduct intelligence operations online and on social media to track wildlife traders. Many times a ranger will go undercover with poachers to learn the network of people and operations.
At first glance the obvious solution is to enact stronger laws and provide more enforcement for the laws, which is necessary; however, this would just address the surface problem. Not only are internationals illegally entering Indonesia and trapping wildlife, but many local people are involved in wildlife capture because it can provide a livelihood that they otherwise wouldn’t have. In Morse’s 2018 article on bird trafficking, he interviews a man who kills and sells the exotic birds around his house. He does this to pay for his children’s school fees. To address wildlife trafficking, you also need to provide and incentivize a positive alternative income and education about the importance of conservation for the local communities. By doing this, communities can protect their local wildlife in two ways: first, by not capturing and selling the animals themselves and, second, by participating in patrolling and the reporting of traffickers. Local communities could also participate in structured ecotourism as a source of income that values these exotic animals in a different way, including their protection (for example, scuba diving with manta rays).
Even with some positive outcomes and decreasing trends in the Leuser Ecosystem, there is still a lot of work for the national government, local governments, NGOs, and other stakeholders to do to ensure Indonesia’s wildlife will continue to survive in the only place in the world much of it can.
By Christine Knauss
References
Arinta, N. (January 2, 2019). Illegal Wildlife Trade: From the Markets to Gadget. World Wide Fund for nature. Retrieved from: https://www.wwf.or.id/?70863/Illegal-Wildlife-Trade-From-the-Markets-to-Gadget
Clements, T. (n.d.) [PDF] Wildlife Trade in Indonesia: Key issues and responses. Wildlife Conservation Society https://global.wcs.org
Ismail, M. (2018 September 12). Indonesia’s sacrificial songbirds. The Asean Post. Retrieved from: https://theaseanpost.com/article/indonesias-sacrificial-songbirds
Morse, I. (2018, December 11). In eastern Indonesia, a bird-trafficking hotspot flies under the radar. Mongabay https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/in-eastern-indonesia-a-source-of-the-illegal-bird-trade-flies-under-the-radar/
Tarahita, D.and Rakhmat, M. Z. (2019 September 17). Indonesia’s pre-social media laws are no match for animal traffickers South China Morning Post. Retrieved from: https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3027632/indonesias-pre-social-media-laws-are-no-match-animal
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