Photograph: Lupo Dion
Full protection
Misool Eco Resort and Shark Savers announced today that the entire 17,760 square miles of Raja Ampat, Indonesia have been granted the status of shark sanctuary. Bupati Marcus Wanma, the Regent of Raja Ampat, made this historic declaration, demonstrating premium leadership in marine conservation. The Raja Ampat Shark Sanctuary provides full protection for sharks, manta rays, mobulas, dugongs, and turtles. Also prohibited are highly destructive practices, including reef bombing and the aquarium fish trade. The Raja Ampat Shark Sanctuary is the first of its kind in Indonesia, the largest island archipelago in the world. The declaration is a direct response to a campaign mounted by Shark Savers, an international shark conservation organization, in partnership with the Misool Eco Resort (MER). The campaign won the support of over 8,500 divers and conservationists, with hundreds of tourism and diving companies and NGOs from around the world. “This new shark sanctuary largely owes its creation to thousands of ocean advocates who expressed the urgent need to protect sharks, mantas, and other marine life,” stated Michael Skoletsky, Executive Director of Shark Savers. “Divers experience the oceans from the inside and are increasingly taking responsibility for ocean and shark conservation. Underwater ecotourism is a vital tool to counter the rampant exploitation of the world’s remaining sharks and bio-rich marine ecosystems.”
Sustainable ecotourism
The Raja Ampat Shark Sanctuary is expected to attract additional underwater ecotourism, which will bring economic benefit to Raja Ampat’s people while offsetting the cost to enforce the new wildlife protections. Shark Savers will play an ongoing role to mobilize continued support of divers and conservationists to fund long-term enforcement in the sanctuary. The new Raja Ampat Shark Sanctuary builds upon previous conservation achievements that protect vital coral reef and mangrove habitats. Conservation International (CI) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) worked with the Raja Ampat government to create seven Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in 2007, which CI and TNC maintain and enforce. In 2005, Misool Eco Resort (MER) created the 164 square mile Misool Marine Conservation Area (MCA) to protect sharks as well as reefs, in partnership with local Misool villages, WildAid and Coral Reef Alliance. Today, MER also announced the expansion of its Marine Conservation Area to 468 square miles and the Daram Islands. All of these MPAs and the MCA lie within the Shark Sanctuary. “Our MCA is constantly patrolled with the help of grants from WildAid and Coral Reef Alliance, enabling shark numbers to increase dramatically,” said Andrew Miners of MER. “To achieve similar success, the Raja Ampat Shark Sanctuary will require a broad coalition of these great conservation organizations – CI, TNC, CORAL, WildAid, and Shark Savers – together with local communities, the Regency government, and the tourism industry.” Raja Ampat enjoys the highest marine biodiversity level on the planet with 1397 species of fish and over 600 species of coral recorded. It has also been the scene of destructive overfishing that has severely threatened sharks, mantas, and other vulnerable species. Sharks, as apex predators, play a vital role in regulating the health of important commercial fish species, population balance, and coral reefs.
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