Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T16:35:44.548Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Trade in dugong parts in Southern Bali

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2015

Paige Biqi Lee
Affiliation:
Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), Conservation, Research and Professional Training, 80 Mandai Lake Road, Singapore 729826, Singapore
Vincent Nijman*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gibbs Building, Gipsy Lane, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: V. Nijman, Department of Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gibbs Building, Gipsy Lane, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK email: vnijman@brookes.ac.uk

Abstract

Dugong Dugong dugon Lacépède, 1799, a globally threatened marine mammal that occurs in the coastal waters of the Indian and Pacific Ocean, is traded in small numbers throughout their range. We surveyed 128 shops selling wildlife in seven (June 2013) and eight (July 2014) towns on the island of Bali, one of Indonesia's most popular tourist destinations. Dugongs are protected under Indonesian law and CITES Appendix I Iisting precludes international trade. Despite this dugong parts were observed in trade in Denpasar, Mengwi and Sanur where 14 traders were interviewed. We recorded over 130 dugong parts, including raw bones and teeth but also many carved items and some derivatives, with no noticeable difference between years. The most common items were cigarette pipes carved from, predominantly, dugong ribs, and decorative carvings from bone and teeth. The total value of the items observed was $1500–3000. The trade was open and qualitatively similar to trade in parts of non-protected species. Information from traders suggests that dugongs are caught throughout Indonesia, and are both targeted specifically and caught accidentally. It is imperative for the management of dugongs to take the illegal trade in dugong parts into account and for the authorities to curb the trade by taking appropriate action in line with Indonesia's legislation. Greater awareness of the plight of the dugong, including the impediments to their conservation posed by the illegal trade in body parts, by the residents of and visitors to Bali, may aid in pressuring the authorities to take these steps.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Adulyanukosol, K., Hines, E. and Boonyanate, P. (2010) Cultural significance of dugong to Thai villagers: implications for conservation. Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on SEASTAR2000 and Asian Bio-logging Science (The 9th SEASTAR2000 workshop), 4349.Google Scholar
Atmojo, W. (2013) Domestic tourists flood Bali on vacation. Jakarta Post. 25 June 2013.Google Scholar
Barber-Meyer, S.M. (2010) Dealing with the clandestine nature of wildlife-trade market surveys. Conservation Biology 24, 918923.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Iongh, H.H., Hutomo, M., Moraal, M. and Kiswara, W. (2009a) National conservation strategy and action plan for the dugong in Indonesia, part I. Jakarta: Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden and Research Centre for Oceanography, 39 pp.Google Scholar
De Iongh, H.H., Hutomo, M., Moraal, M. and Kiswara, W. (2009b) National conservation strategy and action plan for the dugong in Indonesia, part II. Jakarta: Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden and Research Centre for Oceanography, 31 pp.Google Scholar
Forth, G. (1988) Apes and dugongs: common mythological themes in diverse Southeast Asian communities. Contributions to Southeast Asian Ethnography 7, 198229.Google Scholar
Hasan, R. (2007) Balai konservasi sita barang antik dan tulang binatang langka. Tempo. 19 November 2007.Google Scholar
Heinsohn, R., Lacy, R.C., Lindenmayer, D.B., Marsh, H., Kwan, D. and Lawler, I.R. (2004) Unsustainable harvest of dugongs in Torres Strait and Cape York (Australia) waters: two case studies using population viability analysis. Animal Conservation 7, 417425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hines, E., Adulyanukosol, K., Duffus, D. and Dearden, P. (2005) Community perspectives and conservation needs for dugongs (Dugong dugon) along the Andaman coast of Thailand. Environmental Management 36, 654664.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kencana, M.A. (2009) Dugong found snared by fishing nets in Bali. Jakarta Globe. 14 December 2009.Google Scholar
Marsh, H. (2008) Dugong dugon. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.2. Retrieved from http://www.iucnredlist.orgGoogle Scholar
Marsh, H., Penrose, H., Eros, C. and Hughes, J. (2002) Dugong status reports and action plans for countries and territories. Nairobi: UNEP, 162 pp.Google Scholar
McNiven, I.J. and Bedingfield, A.C. (2008) Past and present marine mammal hunting rates and abundances: dugong (Dugong dugon) evidence from Dabangai Bone Mound, Torres Strait. Journal of Archaeological Science 35, 505515.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mustika, P.L., Ratha, I.M.J. and Purwanto, S. (2012) The 2011 Bali marine rapid assessment (Second English edition August 2012). RAP Bulletin of Biological Assessment 64. Denpasar: Bali Marine and Fisheries Affairs, South East Asia Center for Ocean Research and Monitoring, Warmadewa University, Conservation International Indonesia, 137 pp.Google Scholar
Nijman, V. and Nekaris, K.A.I. (2013) Trade in wildlife in Bali, Indonesia, for medicinal and decorative purposes. TRAFFIC Bulletin 26, 3136.Google Scholar
Noerjito, M. and Maryanti, I. (2001) Jenis-jenis Hayati yang Dilindungi Perundang-undang Indonesia. Cibinong: LIPI.Google Scholar
O'Connor, C. (2013) Dugong sightings off Sanur. Jakarta Post. 7 November 2013.Google Scholar
Rajamani, L. (2013) Using community knowledge in data-deficient regions: conserving the vulnerable dugong (Dugong dugon) in the Sulu Sea, Malaysia. Oryx 47, 173176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rajamani, L., Cabanban, A.S. and Ridzwan, A.R. (2006) Indigenous use and trade of dugong (Dugong dugon) in Sabah, Malaysia. Ambio 35, 266268.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed