Conservation News 11
In May 2024, the Serindit Philosophy Centre, a youth-led non-profit organization from Batam Island, conducted fieldwork in the Senayang Islands, supported by Denver Zoo through theWomen in ConservationAward. Our activ- ities included research and awareness campaigns about du- gongs and hawksbill turtles, as well as mapping seagrass distribution and identifying hawksbill nesting sites. We also engaged an ecologist from the National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia to ensure scientific data collection ran alongside community engagement. Our re- search identified a 185-ha seagrass bed, primarily composed of Enhalus acoroides, a key food source for dugongs (Herandaru et al., 2019, Panduan Survei dan Monitoring Duyung dan Lamun). Through our fieldwork, we estimate that dugongs frequently inhabit c. 4,615 ha of marine area around the islands. We found hawksbill turtle nesting sites on Belading, Kapal Kecil and Kapal Besar Islands, on sandy beaches shaded by mangroves or coconut trees, and sur- rounded by coral reefs, a primary food source for hawksbill turtles.
Dugongs and hawksbill turtles face severe threats from
bycatch, hunting and poaching in the area. Dugong hunting persists, and local fish traps called Kelong worsen bycatch in some seasons. In 2002,c. 12 dugongs were captured and exploited without being released. Local communities remain largely unaware of these threats, leading to the depletion of many nesting sites by predators or poachers. Through our environmental education we reached 19 pre- school and 78 high school students, using educational books to increase their knowledge of the two species. We emphasize the need for a robust conservation strat-
egy, including community-based efforts, in situ and pseudo in situ conservation for hawksbill turtles, and further re- search on dugongs.
FAUZAN ALAWY1 (
alawy@serindit.org), CHANTIRA SAIFIMAR1, ALIA FIRDAMAYANTI1,RUSMADI2,KESUMAWIJAYA3 and
HENTI HENDALASTUTI RACHMAT4,5 1Serindit Philosophy Centre, Batam, Indonesia. 2Lingga Regency Fishery Service, Lingga, Indonesia. 3Protected Forest Management Unit II, Batam, Indonesia. 4Research Centre for Ecology and Ethnobiology, National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia. 5IUCN Species Survival Commission Indonesian Plant Red List Authority
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence CC BY 4.0.
critical habitats for the persistence of sharks, rays and chi- maeras (hereafter sharks). Although the initiative has been a turning point for the conservation of sharks, bold actions are required to safeguard the future of these species. More than one-third of sharks are categorized as threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Over the last cen- tury, fisheries have had a large and cumulative impact on sharks and this threat is being compounded by habitat loss and climate change. Area-based conservation can play a crit- ical role in reversing population declines by reducing mortal- ity, increasing resilience, providing refuge from threats, and supporting population recovery. Important Shark and Ray Areas are nowequipping resource managerswith the informa- tion needed to incorporate sharks into conservation planning. As of January 2025, Important Shark and Ray Areas have
been delineated in six of the 13 regions worldwide: Central and South American Pacific, Mediterranean and Black Seas, Western IndianOcean,Asia, PolarWaters, andNewZealand and Pacific Islands. So far, 868 scientists, citizen scientists, fishers and resourcemanagers have been engaged in the iden- tification process and contributed to the delineation of 590 Important Shark and Ray Areas incorporating 327 species (one-quarter of all shark species globally). Important Shark and Ray Areas factsheets, spatial layers and regional compen- diums are available at
sharkrayareas.org/e-atlas.Over 210 spatial data requests have been received from51 jurisdictions, and Important Shark and RayAreas are increasingly featured in scientific publications. Important Shark and Ray Areas have been incorporated into other area-based conservation approaches such as the Nosy Be Important Shark and Ray Area being recognized as a Key Biodiversity Area. Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals adopted a decision to engage with the Important Shark and Ray Areas process and consider identi- fied areas in their spatial planning and conservation action (including when updating National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans). In line with their growing use in conservation efforts, grant making initiatives are also now increasingly prioritizing Important Shark and Ray Areas. The most recent Important Shark and Ray Areas work-
Turning the tide for sharks: Important Shark and Ray Areas
Two years after the Important Shark and Ray Areas project was launched, nearly two-thirds (63.8%) of global marine waters have been examined and 4.3% are identified as
shop washeldinJanuary 2025 to assess critical habitats in the South American Atlantic and South American Inland Waters regions. The assessment of the remaining five regions (European Atlantic, North America and Caribbean Atlantic, African Atlantic, Australia and Southeast Indian Ocean, and North American Pacific) is intended for completion by 2027. This timeline will ensure resource managers and policy ma- kers are provided with the information needed to consider sharks in conservation planning when meeting their political commitments under Target 3 of the Convention on Biological Diversity Global Biodiversity Framework to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030. Through a global, col- laborative and open-access process, Important Shark andRay Areas are bringing attention to the conservation needs of
Oryx, 2025, 59(1), 10–18 © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605324001790
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