#lamakera

An Update on Lamakera

Manta Hunting Village

Of the handful of locations that account for the majority of manta fishers, the central Indonesian village of Lamakera is at the top and is considered the world’s largest manta fishing site. Villagers here have conducted traditional manta hunts for many generations, but with the arrival of the gill-plate trade in the early 2000’s, the community converted to diesel engines and transformed to a full-scale commercial fishery, landing over a thousand mantas in a single season. Since then, the fishing intensity has only increased, sending the manta population into a downward spiral. Having documented this grizzly hunt, we wondered how could we possibly mobilize action to save this vanishing species before it was too late? We had to act but needed international and domestic support first to make it happen.

Please go to www.wildaid.org/lamakera to contribute, get involved and learn more.

You can also support the protection on manta rays with the purchase of a sustainable gift HERE 

Manta Sanctuary

Following a landmark victory for mantas at the 2013 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and after a one year campaign in Indonesia by Conservation International and WildAid, in January of 2014 we achieved an unprecedented achievement, securing full national protection for manta rays and establishing Indonesia as the world’s largest manta sanctuary!  With this landmark legislation in place, we immediately turned our attention back to Lamakera and began planning in earnest what would become the kick off for a massive community transition program to end the slaughter of manta rays.

Lamakera Ocean Theater

Our team traveled by air to Bali and onward to Flores, then by trucks over the rugged mountains of Flores, and finally by sea to the village of Lamakera. Undeterred by scorching sun followed by monsoon downpours, together with the community we erected the massive screen and inflated our giant 21-foot inflatable manta ray. As the sun dropped below the horizon we switched the projector on, and what followed was one of the most powerful and transformative moments for not only for this community, but also for the Racing Extinction team.

 Lamakerans gathered by the hundreds in the schoolyard, while more lined the fences surrounding the yard. When the fist images a giant manta lit up the screen, a hush fell over the stunned crowd, followed immediately by deafening cheers of exuberant children. The show was on! We delighted them with profound imagery, video shorts featuring stunning blue chip marine footage, and conservation stories about manta rays and the oceans. Even the most hardened of the manta hunters were transfixed by beauty of a world they had only witnessed from the other end of a harpoon shaft. Turning our gaze to the screen, we noticed a row of small children sitting, their beautiful dark wide eyes soaking up every image on the screen. For these children a seed was planted and a brilliant transformation was already taking place. Suddenly their futures presented exciting new opportunities, not as hunters, but as guides, researchers and maybe even photographers. We felt hope return and I saw a path to end the slaughter and transform the livelihoods of this remote community.

  A New Day in Lamakera

Building off this spirited and inspirational community outreach event in April 2014, with support from Vulcan Philanthropy, MacArthur Foundation and private donors, and in partnership with Misool Baseftin Foundation (charity of Misool Eco Resort), WildAid, Reef Check Indonesia, and Indonesian Manta Project, and with full support from the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, we are now working within the community to make lasting change in Lamakera. Having earned the trust and respect of many village elders, we are engaging with the community at large, educating community members more thoroughly about the state of the oceans (and the inevitable fate of their industry and villages if they don’t act sustainably) and gathering wide-spread support for a community transition from manta fishing to research, sustainable fisheries, and tourism.

 However, a community transition to new industries can be extremely challenging, especially in a place like Lamakera, where the manta hunt is not just a source of income for locals but also a source of pride and traditional identity. As such, we are engaging respectfully and carefully to ensure that our presence is invited and respected throughout the communities. Our activities in the villages are completely transparent, and designed to engage every interested or concerned villager in public forum. The decision to stop fishing may come from the village elders, but the vast majority of people must support the transition for it to be effective.

 A successful initiative that ends the manta hunts will not only play a pivotal role in helping Lamakera find a sustainable path forward, but will also create an inspiring example to the rest of Indonesia, and the world, that we can effectively conserve vulnerable marine life, even in some of the most challenging sites on earth.

In order to preserve the populations of mantas across Indonesia, where fishing is a primary source of income, an alternative solution must be provided. It isn’t just as simple as saying “don’t hunt mantas.” Fishing has been an integral component to the culture and economy of the country, and if there is any hope of shifting their practices, there must be a viable reason.

Thankfully, beyond the positive ecological impact there is a sound financial reason for limiting the hunting of manta rays as well, especially in Lamakera.

Ecotourism.

It is estimated that manta ecotourism worldwide brings $140 million USD per year, with $15 million USD being in Indonesia alone.  If you take that $15 million and compare it to the estimated $400,000 USD generated by the manta fishing, the difference is dramatic.

However, even with those numbers as fodder for the transition from fishing to tourist income, it is still a challenging road ahead for a village like Lamakera.  While the sale of a manta is immediate income, tourist money takes time to reshape a local economy, and when there are children and families that need providing for, that can be a difficult wait.

If small steps are taken in this direction though, and champions for mantas step up within the community, these changes are possible.

There is a serious problem occurring in the world’s oceans, yet for a vast majority of the world it goes unseen.

Indonesia is home to millions of fishermen who depend on the bounty of the ocean to not only feed their families, but to make a living as well. It is deeply rooted in Indonesian culture, and one that is not easily transformed.

Recently, there has been a shift in the fishing communities to hunt manta rays – partly for the food that the meat provides, but more notably for the prized gills, commonly sold to countries like China for medicinal remedies that have not been scientifically proven. For a majority of the fishermen in Indonesia who are poor with little other resources available to them, hunting the mantas are their only option for survival.

And with the increase in demand for their gills, the methods in which fisherman use to hunt them evolve, swapping pontoons and paddles for diesel engines.  It increases the speed in which a fisherman can hunt, but it just as rapidly diminishes the number of mantas in the ocean.

The supply just cannot keep up with demand.

One prime example of this fishing practice is in Lamakera, a small village on one of 17,000 islands across Indonesia. With the increased demand for manta gills, Lamakera had almost completely decimated the manta populations.

However, there is still hope.

In 2014, Indonesia declared the largest manta sanctuary in the world, spanning nearly 6 million square kilometers of ocean, including the waters off of Lamakera.

This sanctuary is a huge win in preserving the ecology of the oceans around us. Yet it provides an equal challenge for the fishermen of Lamakera. When there are few other means of income, it is not a cut and dry solution to simply stop fishing. Other means of livelihood must be established in its place, posing an economic and cultural shift across villages and the country.

Slowly but surely though, this shift if happening, but there is still work to be done. Through education, trust, and respect for long standing cultural institutions, the local communities are at the forefront of lasting change across the country.