In Raja Ampat, Indonesia, a protected bay, surrounded by high limestone islands, harbors beautiful fringing reefs where small fishes and invertebrates grow.
Improving national awareness and research of dugong and seagrass in Indonesia (ID2).
Indonesia: Bintan District; Alor District; Maliku Tenggara District; and Kotawaringin Barat District
$335,374
ID2 seeks to enhance community awareness of dugong and seagrass conservation and management, improve the capacity of dugong and seagrass research and monitoring, and provide scientific information to support related conservation and management activities.
The project seeks to support dugong and seagrass conservation efforts by promoting national awareness of the threats posed to dugongs and their habitats by destructive fishing equipment, stranding, habitat destruction, pollution and coastal development. This will involve identifying target audiences through a National Communication Strategy Workshop; producing national awareness campaign materials; conducting a public awareness campaign using social and traditional media; appointing a Dugong and Seagrass Ambassador; and organising a national dugong day.
ID2 also aims to collect information and contribute knowledge to support conservation efforts, employing seagrass mapping and monitoring; a questionnaire-based dugong survey; an aerial dugong survey; and devising both carbon budget guidelines and a seagrass and dugong database. Implementation of training on these methods and community-based seagrass management is expected to build stakeholder capacity and engagement, and enable standardised methods for national dugong and seagrass research and monitoring.
Deliverables
Enhance dugong and seagrass awareness among local communities.
Improve dugong and seagrass research and monitoring capacities.
Develop a standardized methodology and guidelines for seagrass ecosystem carbon budgets and a national standardized methodology for dugong research.
Develop and operationalise a database of dugong and seagrass
YouTube Videos
What to do when you encounter a dead and stranded dugong in Indonesia
Our project partners in Indonesia (ID2) created an animated video instructing people what to do when encountering a dead dugong that has washed ashore.
What to do when you encounter a living, but stranded, dugong in Indonesia
Our project partners in Indonesia (ID2) created an animation that instructs people on what to do when encountering a stranded, but living, dugong.
Project partner films 4 dugongs with drone as they swim through Indonesian waters
Indonesian fisherman agrees to release a captive dugong after efforts of our Indonesian partners
On 22 September 2016 a male dugong was released into waters in Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. The dugong was found alive and entangled in a gillnet owned by a local fisherman. The dugong was held in captivity for a week prior to its release. While our project partners, DSCP-Indonesia, were able to convince the fisherman that dugongs are rare and fully protected in Indonesia, he consented to release the dugong. A medical examination and morphological data collection were conducted by DSCP-Indonesia Team, then dugong was released together by Tolitoli Fisheries Agency, BPSPL of Makasar, BKSDA of Central Sulawesi, Head of Dampal Utara Subdistrict, Head of Bampapula Village, DSCP-Indonesia Team and local community.
