CENDERAWASIHConservation, culture and commerce BAY Part of the breathtaking Bird’s Head Seascape, Cenderawasih Bay’s crystal clear turquoise waters are a picture of abundance and life. But this wasn’t always the case. Plagued by unregulated and destructive fishing practices, which led to rapidly declining fish stocks, the local communities and authorities realized that the protection of their precious marine resources was imperative.

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Num 1,453,500ha 6,000 people CENDERAWASIH BAY US$20 is the size of the protected live in 18 villages throughout region in Cenderawasih Bay. Cenderawasih Bay. All visitors entering traditional marine Kwatisore Bay management areas are expected to WEST contribute a fee to the Cenderawasih village US$9.2 million In 2002 fund, an agreement Fisheries from the region are Cenderawasih Bay officially WWF helped to estimated to contribute IDR became Indonesia’s largest facilitate with tourism 123 billion per annum to the marine national park. and Papua Province, Indonesia operators. Indonesian economy.

CENDERAWASIH BAY NOTABLE WINS & KEY LESSONS Situated between the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua — covering the regions of , Teluk Wondama, , Waropen and Yapen — the uniquely isolated location of Cenderawasih Bay has enabled a marine area with incredibly high diversity and density.

WWF’S APPROACH IN CENDERAWASIH BAY

Raising awareness and conducting © Evi Nurul Ikhsan / WWF Nurul Ikhsan© Evi / WWF / Freund © Jürgen education and community resource mapping activities to generate HARNESSING ECOTOURISM POTENTIAL TRADITIONAL CONSERVATION greater understanding of sustainable resource management Unlike other regions, which depend on whale shark Building on the emerging awareness and motivation for sighting seasons, Cenderawasih’s whale shark environmental stewardship, WWF worked with communities to Establishing traditional marine population is consistent all year round, providing a establish a series of traditional marine management areas. management areas and providing significant opportunity for marine tourism Crucially, WWF identified traditional systems already in place training based on customary development. In 2011, WWF and partners began that could be utilized to manage the issuing of quotas for marine ownership and historical tagging the sharks in Cenderawasih to gather much harvesting and the limiting of gear types permissible in tribal access rights needed data and to assess the distribution of the particular areas. Armed with this knowledge, WWF and the world’s biggest fish. Since then, WWF assisted in the Cenderawasih park authority incorporated these informal Introducing locally-based fishermen development of district marine tourism strategies, as traditional management approaches, whilst vertically aligning to the benefits of total allowable catch well as a code of conduct for whale shark tourism them for formal government recognition.Through considerable (TAC) limits in an effort to safeguard activities. In Cenderawasih, there were few existing research, planning, design and advocacy, these management and restore fish populations tourism activities. However, whale shark watching areas first became recognized at the village level through Contributing to a district marine has recently seen a leap in visitors. An estimated customary decrees and were then legally adopted in four tourism strategy and conducting 5,000 tourists visit the national park annually. villages: Yomaka, Isenebuai, Yomber and Syeiwar. community workshops on ecotourism opportunities “Since WWF programmes came into our village, we could see a gradual change, with people Facilitating and collaborating on stopping the use dynamite for fishing. Personally, I have stopped using dynamite because biodiversity studies throughout the region, including efforts to monitor I realize that I must protect the sea for our future generations.” Fisherman, Yomaken Village the whale shark population

WWF in the Coral Triangle Learn more about WWF’s approach in Cenderawasih Over the past two decades, WWF has been working in the Coral Triangle to help safeguard the health of the region’s valuable resources and to ensure the wellbeing of the millions of people who depend on this globally significant ecosystem for food and livelihoods. panda.org/coraltriangle/mpa