WHY INDONESIA?
3rd largest producer of wild-caught fish

54% of Indonesians’ animal protein comes from fish and seafood

60% of fishers are small-scale (more than 1.6 million)

132 million people live near vulnerable coastal areas along the second-longest coastline in the world

Largest tracks of mangroves and second-largest area of coral reefs in the world

Food security is a critical issue in Indonesia where much of the local diet comprises fish and other seafood. Though the country contains 16 million hectares of marine conservation areas, they lack sufficient enforcement to protect the resources upon which local people rely on for food. Indonesia’s rapidly growing population makes this situation still more complex.

The opportunity for fisheries reform is ripe in Indonesia, where the government has set a goal of effectively managing 20 million hectares of marine protected areas by 2020. A range of traditional systems exists in Indonesia that will support the establishment of restricted access and limited-harvest approaches. These present an opportunity to regalvanize these older traditions for long-term ecological and economic benefits.

Since 2010, Rare has partnered with local organizations across 20 coastal regions in Indonesia to establish and strengthen fish recovery zones. The Fish Forever partners will expand upon Rare’s work to build the capacity of local communities to further add exclusive access areas as a means of improving sustainable fisheries management.