Coastal communities across eastern Indonesia are reclaiming traditional marine management to combat environmental degradation, as documented in the new film Jejak Wallacea. Produced by Burung Indonesia and Arise! Indonesia with support from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, the documentary highlights how residents in East Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, and Central Sulawesi are using customary rules to protect ecosystems threatened by blast fishing, turtle hunting, and habitat loss.
What is the focus of Jejak Wallacea?
The film showcases locally rooted conservation systems that move beyond top-down enforcement. According to Angga Yoga, a terrestrial program specialist at Burung Indonesia, the documentary prioritizes community empowerment over NGO intervention, explaining why organizations remain largely off-camera. These community-led initiatives include seasonal octopus fishing closures, the establishment of turtle hatcheries, and the revival of customary marine protection zones.
Did You Know? In the village of Wabula, Southeast Sulawesi, the customary Kaombo system regulates access to marine resources. Suspected violators who deny responsibility may face a ritual known as Kaleo Leo, where individuals are dunked into the sea; the person who surfaces first is considered the offender.
Why do these community-led initiatives matter?
The Wallacea region, comprising roughly 1,680 islands, acts as a vital transition zone for Asian and Australasian biota. As noted by Tely Dasaluti of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Indigenous communities possess generational knowledge regarding which species and locations require temporary closure to allow populations to recover. These efforts provide a buffer for ecosystems that fall outside formal marine protected areas, potentially aligning with the concept of “other effective area-based conservation measures” (OECMs).
Expert Insight: The shift toward community-based conservation represents a significant departure from rigid, exclusionary models. By tying ecological health to local economic needs—such as the sustainable harvesting of crabs or the protection of fish breeding grounds—communities create a self-sustaining incentive structure that is often more durable than government-mandated prohibitions.
What are the primary challenges to sustainability?
Despite local successes, destructive practices like blast fishing remain persistent. During filming, director Sam August Himmawan reported witnessing an explosion approximately 200 meters away while interviewing a local fishers’ group leader. This incident highlighted the deep social and economic pressures driving illegal activity, including demand for fresh fish from urban centers and the need for food security among impoverished fishers.
The Wallacea Partnership Program II, which ran from 2020 to 2024, aimed to address these pressures through sustainable management. According to Wahyu Teguh Prawira, the team leader for the program, the next major hurdle is integrating these site-level efforts into broader government policies. Without formal recognition and stronger collaboration, these localized conservation gains may struggle to persist once specific funding periods conclude.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a “marine granary” in the context of the film?
In Solor, East Nusa Tenggara, communities established kebang lewa lolon, or “marine granaries,” which function as coral reef areas protected from blast fishing to serve as fish breeding grounds.
How did the program impact sea turtle populations?
In South Sulawesi, the program supported the protection of 41 green turtle nests and the release of 3,943 sea turtle hatchlings, while also reducing the bycatch of protected species.
What role do women play in these conservation efforts?
In Lipu Akat, Central Sulawesi, women have developed sustainable livelihoods by producing dishwashing soap from mangrove leaves, providing an economic incentive to protect the forests that serve as habitats for mangrove crabs.
Can community-based conservation effectively replace formal marine protected areas, or must the two approaches be integrated to succeed?
