Indonesia creates fund to protect manta rays globally
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Indonesia will become the first country to establish a financing scheme to support manta ray conservation, with plans to launch it in 2029.
The country’s waters attract these large marine animals, including two endemic species, reef manta ( Mobula alfredi ) and oceanic manta ( Mobula biostris ), in the Raja Ampat area of West Papua province. Both species face threats from overexploitation, slow growth rates, and late reproductive maturity.
Conservation International (CI) and Konservasi Indonesia (KI) designed the financing scheme to safeguard both manta ray species and support the local economies that depend on their habitat. Mochamad Iqbal Herwata Putra of KI explained that manta rays are targeted for their gills, used in traditional medicine, and also caught unintentionally as bycatch. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists reef manta rays as Vulnerable and oceanic manta rays as Endangered.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) prohibits all international trade of both species except for non-commercial purposes like research or conservation.
