Background
Coral reefs provide invaluable support to human livelihoods around the globe. One of the commodities from coral reefs is ornamental corals, where corals are harvested and traded as aquarium species. This is problematic since corals are the building blocks of coral reefs. Coral harvesting for ornamental purposes has been going on in Indonesia since the 70s, and become one of the biggest exporters of ornamental corals since.
The quota system issued by the Indonesia Institute of Sciences (LIPI) since 1996 become the main management system to ensure the sustainability of the trade. Out of 590 coral species in Indonesia, only 81 species are being traded, where each species’ export quota is divided to 11 provinces only. Along with the improvement of research and the willingness to reduce wild coral dependency, coral propagation techniques were developed. At first, only high growth small polyp corals were cultured, now, 51 species of corals can be cultured. International coral trade is regulated using CITES, where corals are listed in Appendix II. Permit is only given if the commodities fulfill the traceability, legality, and sustainability criteria. Due to the system in place, Indonesia’s coral trade governance has been given an A Grade by CITES since 2004.
On the other hand, concern on the sustainability of the trade still arise. In 1999, the European Union ban the import of 7 species of ornamental corals from Indonesia. Globally trade suspensions were also in place for 10 coral species taken from the wild according to the UNEP-WCMC CITES trade database and Species+. One of the main concerns is difficulty in distinguishing between cultured and wild corals, where it is the most important for CITES reporting. Since CITES also requires that corals traded can be traced back to their source, identification will be done along the trade supply chain.
Therefore, there is a need to develop a set of tools to support identification wild and cultured corals that can be implemented by stakeholders along the supply chain. Cefas were awarded project funding from Defra to develop practical tools for CITES implementing officials to differentiate between cultured and wild-collected corals, together with Yayasan TERANGI and Yayasan LINI as the Indonesia’s counterpart. For the first step of the project, Yayasan TERANGI will arrange a series of focus group discussions for all stakeholders related to coral trade in the UK and Indonesia, and to gather input and suggestions on how the tools will be made and used.
Objectives
The objective of the workshop includes:
- Map stakeholder involvement in the coral trade supply chain from Indonesia to the UK.
- Assess the need of each stakeholder to be integrated in the tool’s development process.
- Enhance collaboration between stakeholders of coral trade in both countries.
Outputs
- Stakeholder map for coral trade in Indonesia and the UK.
- Need assessment document for tool’s development.
- Lesson learned on the use of tools to support coral trade.
- Workshop documentation.
Time and Place
Day and Date : Tuesday (January 11th, 2022) : Introduction
Wednesday (January 12th, 2022): CITES Implementation and Enforcement
Tuesday (January 18th, 2022): Mariculture
Wednesday (January 19th, 2022): Industry.
Time : 14:00 – 17:00 GMT+7
Place : Online via Zoom.
Participants
The four days workshop was attended by 93 participants from Indonesia and the United Kingdom, representing government and universities, business and associations, and civil society. The list of the institution is as follows:
Government and universities
1. Pusat Riset Oseanografi – Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional (PRO BRIN - Research Center for Oceanography – Agency for National Research and Innovation)
2. Direktorat Konservasi Keanekaragaman Hayati Spesies dan Genetik, Direktorat Jenderal Konservasi Sumber Daya Alam dan Ekosistem, Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan (Directorate of Conservation of Biodiversity Species and Genetics, Directorate General of the Conservation of Natural Resources and Ecosystem – Ministry of Environment and Forestry)
3. Badan Karantina Ikan, Pengendalian Mutu Dan Keamanan Hasil Perikanan – Kementerian Kelautan dan Perikanan (Fish Quarantine, Quality Control, and Biosafety – Ministry of Marine and Fisheries Affairs)
4. Direktorat Konservasi dan Keanekaragaman Hayati Laut, Direktorat Jenderal Perencanaan Ruang Laut – Kementerian Kelautan dan Perikanan (Directorate of Spatial and Species Conservation, Directorate General of Marine Spatial Planning – Ministry of Marine and Fisheries Affairs)
5. Badan/Loka Pengelolaan Sumberdaya Pesisir dan Laut, Direktorat Jenderal Perencanaan Ruang Laut – Kementerian Kelautan dan Perikanan (Office of Marine Resources Management, Directorate General of Marine Spatial Planning – Ministry of Marine and Fisheries Affairs)
6. Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB - Bogor agricultural university)
7. Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs - DEFRA
8. Border Force
9. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee - JNCC
Business and associations
1. The Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association - OATA
2. Asosiasi Koral Kerang dan Ikan Hias Indonesia – AKKII (Associatioon for Ornamental Corals, Clams, and Fish of Indonesia)
3. Kelompok Pembudidaya Karang Hias Nusantara – KPKHN (National Ornamental Coral Breeder Association)
4. CV. Cahaya Baru
5. Blue Star Aquatic
6. Perkumpulan Nelayan Ikan Hias dan Tanaman Hias – Pernitas (Association of Ornamental Fishers)
Civil society
1. Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science - Cefas
2. Yayasan LINI
3. Yayasan TERANGI
4. Yayasan KEHATI
5. Indonesia Coral Reefs Working Group - ICRWG