Ugandan courtrooms A Congolese parrot trafficker was sentenced to seven years in prison.

 For trafficking African grey parrots, a Congolese national was sentenced to seven years in prison.

In April, he was apprehended in western Uganda by a joint operation of the police, army, and Uganda Wildlife Authority.

Conservationists applauded the man's arrest and swift prosecution as sending a message that wildlife trafficking will be taken seriously by authorities.

Conservationists, on the other hand, warn that gaps in legislation in Uganda and the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo continue to facilitate the illegal wildlife trade.

Bob Mbaya Kabongo was sentenced to seven years in prison on May 12 by a judge in Uganda's specialized court for wildlife crimes for smuggling 122 African grey parrots into the country from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Conservation organizations, as well as the Uganda Wildlife Authority, have applauded his arrest and prompt prosecution and sentencing.

Mbaya was apprehended with the African greys (Psittacus erithacus) on April 14 in Kisoro District, western Uganda. The Congolese national was apprehended as part of a joint operation by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), the army, and the police.

Mbaya pleaded guilty in court to illegally importing wildlife into Uganda and unlawful possession of protected species in violation of Uganda's wildlife act.

Chief Magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu read out his sentence, saying that "a custodial sentence will send a message to other foreigners that Uganda is not a hub of abusing Wildlife creatures."

"I think what is important is that the law has taken its course, and we have seen justice being dispensed by the judicial officers," said Bashir Hangi, UWA's communications manager. Of course, we hope for harsher penalties in the future, but for now, we thank and applaud them."

Some of the African grey parrots seized in Kisoro District, Uganda. Image courtesy UWEC.

Conservation organizations from outside Uganda applauded Mbaya's successful prosecution.

"It is a stern warning to any would-be trafficker that if you think you're going to set fire to your house because you're going to run to a neighbor's house, the same thing awaits you," said Adams Cassinga, founder and CEO of ConservCongo, an NGO that works to protect biodiversity in the DRC, who claims that up to 90% of wildlife products illegally traded in Uganda originated across the border. Mbaya's arrest and conviction, he said, sent a strong message to wildlife traffickers.

"There is nowhere for them to hide any longer." We'll look for them, and if they jump [out of] one trap, they'll fall into the next, until wildlife trafficking becomes a thing of the past."

Rowan Martin, the World Parrot Trust's Africa Conservation Programme director based in London, agreed. "A sentence of this length establishes a significant precedent and should serve as a strong deterrent."

He stated that several steps must be taken to better protect threatened species from illegal trafficking, beginning with strengthening legislation in several countries where wild African grey parrots can still be legally trapped. This is the case in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, though exporting parrots is prohibited.

"Second," Martin added, "enforcement agencies and judiciaries must focus on dismantling trade networks, with efforts directed at the exporters and importers who make the lion's share of the trade profits."

According to Edith Kabesiime, campaign manager for the NGO World Animal Protection, the intercepted birds could still end up in people's homes because Ugandan regulations still allow people to keep African grey parrots and other species as pets.

"While we applaud this court decision, we must recognize that it only addresses the symptoms." We must address the demand side of the parrot trade by making owning wild animals as pets illegal and socially unacceptable."

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Due to a lack of funds, Indonesia has canceled fisheries infrastructure projects in the Maluku region.

 A minister announced last month that Indonesia does not have the funds to build the National Fish Bank or a new Ambon port, two infrastructure projects promised by the national government in the Maluku province.

Sakti Wahyu Trenggono, Indonesia's fisheries minister, announced in April that the National Fish Bank in Maluku province, as well as a new port in Ambon, the provincial capital, would not be funded in the 2022 national budget. When President Joko Widodo announced the two national infrastructure projects during a visit to the eastern Indonesian province in March 2021, they created quite a stir.

The National Fish Bank would have been an integrated fisheries center or port with international and domestic container terminals, a liquefied natural gas terminal, a power plant with a kilometer-long pier, as well as fish auction and processing buildings.

The central government has promised and then abandoned the National Fish Bank project for the second time in ten years. The project was first proposed during the administration of Widodo's predecessor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The outcry from the province two time zones away from the nation's capital was shrill this time.

"It is unfair to say there is no money," Saadiah Uluputty, a Maluku member of parliament, said in a video sent to Mongabay. "There can't be an explanation. This [project] is connected to the president's promises made during his visit to Maluku. Declaring suddenly that there is no money is a public lie."

Abdullah Tuasikal, another Maluku MP, expressed dissatisfaction with Jakarta's announcement that the National Fish Bank would be replaced by a quota and size-based catch fishery policy in Maluku's waters.

"How can a quota be purchased by a small-scale fisherman with no capital?" Ruslan Tawari, a professor of fisheries at Pattimura University in Ambon, agreed.

Indonesia's 11 fisheries management areas would be subdivided into four areas with set quotas or total tonnage of fish that could be caught by small-scale fishers, commercial fishers, and hobby fishers under the quota-based program launched in February. The fisheries ministry's fish resources assessment commission, known as Komnas Kajiskan, determines quotas every two years. According to Ruslan of Pattimura University, "the quota system, unlike the National Fish Bank project, will not develop Maluku as a fisheries hub."

Ruslan also stated that politicians chose between the two programs. "The National Fish Bank debate should not be limited to politicians alone, but should include civilians as well." "All humans can think, but we are bad at working together," he said.

Amrullah Usemahu, general secretary of the Society of Indonesian Fishers (MPN), a non-governmental organization, and regional head of the Indonesian Fisheries Students Association (HIMAPIKANI), also spoke out on the matter.

"The project's progress has been up and down under the leadership of four fishery ministers," Amrullah said, referring to the National Fish Bank being proposed as a national strategic program for the first time in 2010. He went on to say that the project would have benefited eastern Indonesia by "reviving existing fishing ports throughout the Maluku region, [improving] logistics, routes, and the development of fishery supply chains exported directly from Maluku."

The central government originally intended Ambon as a location for port and general fishing industry infrastructure development. The projects were canceled in mid-March after an initial site feasibility study revealed that the chosen site in Waai still had abandoned mines from World War II in its waters, according to the coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investment. An active underwater volcano was also discovered during the feasibility study.

According to Amrullah, there is no reason why the National Fish Bank and promised updated port cannot take the form of a port expansion. "In fact, the central government could develop [the existing] Ambon or Tual ports or upgrade Dobo port," he said. He added that the eastern Indonesian regions of Maluku, Papua, and East Nusa Tenggara lacked type A ports, which house fleets that fish right up to the edge of Indonesia's exclusive economic zone. According to other news reports, the existing urban development around these older ports would limit the size of any potential expansion.

According to Amrullah, the national infrastructure project stalled when the port expansion was linked to the National Fish Bank fishery development area. "The infrastructure initiative should prioritize fishery development," he said. "We can't talk about fishery exports [and thus ports] if there aren't any fish."

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Small-island fishermen file a petition The Indonesian president has decided to put an end to coastal dredging.

Fishers on a small island off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, have called for an end to coastal dredging, which they claim has decimated their daily catch.

Sand dredging along Rupat Island's north coast occurred from September to December of last year, but was halted due to fisherman protests.

The fishermen have petitioned Indonesia's president and energy minister to revoke the dredging company's permit, and their request is supported by an environmental group's discovery of high rates of shoal erosion in the area.

According to activists, the government has issued 1,400 dredging permits throughout Indonesia as of November 2021, covering an area of nearly 3 million hectares (7.4 million acres) and affecting approximately 35,000 fishers.

PEKANBARU, INDONESIA – Fishers in Indonesia's Riau province have petitioned President Joko Widodo to halt offshore dredging operations, which they claim endanger their livelihoods and the marine ecosystem.

The letter, which was sent to Widodo and the energy minister in April, requests that PT Logomas Utama's permit be revoked. The company is currently permitted to dredge sand along 5,030 hectares (12,430 acres) of the northern coast of Rupat Island, off the coast of Sumatra's Riau province. The petition comes in the wake of a government initiative to review thousands of palm oil and mining permits and revoke those deemed to be exploiting natural resources too slowly.

"We're not accusing them carelessly here," Akhun, a member of the Adesta Seagull Fisher Group, said at a press conference on April 18. "Before the sand mining began, our catch was sufficient to cover household expenses." It has dropped dramatically since the dredging began."

He went on to say that the dredging had put "our families in jeopardy," with "nothing" to bring home to their wives and children. "Pay attention to us," Akhun said. "Please assist us, small fishers."

Fishers on Rupat Island off the coast of Sumatra say dredging has decimated their daily catch. Image by Suryadi/Mongabay Indonesia.

The fishermen accuse Logomas, which began operating in the region in 2021, of destroying their fishing grounds, resulting in a drop in daily catches from 10-20 kilograms (22-44 pounds) to 1-2 kilograms (2.2-4.4 pounds) today. Environmentalists have also expressed concern about the dredging, claiming that it violates a 2007 law governing the management of coastal areas and small islands.

Preliminary findings from an investigation conducted by the Riau chapter of Walhi, Indonesia's largest environmental NGO, back up the fishers' claims about the dredging's effects. They indicate a high rate of shoal erosion around Rupat Island.

"This has run counter to the push for tourism development on Rupat Island and the surrounding small islands," said Even Sembiring, executive director of Walhi Riau, in a press release. "The tourism destination has suffered as a result of sand mining activities."

Logomas obtained its concession in 1999, but did not begin mining for several years, owing in part to a moratorium imposed by the governor of Riau from 1998 to 2003. According to Walhi, the company obtained a permit renewal in 2017 without having updated its environmental impact assessment.

The company finally began dredging in September 2021, prompting protests from Rupat fishermen. According to Walhi, it ceased operations on December 24 and does not appear to have resumed since then.

"Our hope is that the president and the minister immediately revoke Logomas's permit so that fishers, shrimp, and others can feel safe," said Eriyanto, the head of the Grouper Fisheries Group from Suka Damai village on Rupat Island.

Coastal dredging to mine sand for construction purposes is common around many of Indonesia's remote and often uninhabited islands.

"It's part of a larger damage or crisis in coastal areas and small islands that is affecting fishers' livelihoods," said Parid Ridwanuddin, Walhi's coastal and marine campaign manager.

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