Yapeka

YAPEKA works to establish community-based conservation efforts across Indonesia, concentrating on building community awareness and developing education programmes to help communities sustainably manage their natural resources, with a particular focus on rural areas in or around key biodiversity sites, such as marine protected areas (MPAs) and national parks. In North Sulawesi they work to raise awareness on the importance of seagrass in preserving the health and sustainability of the region’s coastal ecosystems, and introduced dugongs as a flagship species for community-based conservation efforts. An example of the success of their LLMAs is the Bulutui community in North Sulawesi decided to close one of their traditional octopus fishing locations in order to manage their resources more effectively. Now octopus may only be caught in this area once every three months during a seven-day fishing period.