Noviar “Yani” Andayani
Director of WCS Indonesia Program

Sangeeta Mangubhai,
Director of WCS Fiji Program

WWhile working on my master’s degree in Sweden back in 1988, I often went out into the woods to bird watch or just simply enjoy the beautiful landscapes. It was during those two-and-a-half years that my interest in nature and wildlife conservation grew. And when I came home to Indonesia, I had a greater appreciation for my country’s rich biodiversity, where I did not have to walk for hours into the forest just to spot one species of bird. However, I also then learned that with this incredible richness comes tough challenges to preserving the country’s biodiversity in the midst of our growing population and economy.

My first post-degree conservation project was on the Javan gibbon, a forest-dwelling, critically endangered primate that lives only in the western part of the Indonesian island of Java. I used DNA-based methodologies to develop a robust conservation strategy for the species. But I soon learned that effective conservation goes beyond science and requires a multi-dimensional approach. I wanted to be part of a national and global movement to save biodiversity, and I believed that WCS, with its strong tradition of science and field-based approaches, could lead that movement. I joined the WCS Indonesia Program in late 2003.

Today, as the director of the program, my work mainly focuses on improving national policies on wildlife conservation, overseeing our field projects, and continuing to build strong relationships with all government agencies and ministries. Although Indonesia has a relatively comprehensive policy framework, wildlife and nature conservation still suffers from low commitment and inconsistent regulations. As a result, laws to protect wildlife and their habitats are often weakly enforced. Through our work on the ground, we are developing good practices to convince the government and general public to improve wildlife-related policies and invest more in conservation.

Much of this work involves our Wildlife Crimes Unit (WCU), which combats illegal wildlife trafficking throughout Indonesia by gathering intelligence, facilitating vital information sharing, and helping strengthen law enforcement. The WCU’s strength lies in its skilled and dedicated informant network, which gathers solid and reliable information to build strong legal cases against poachers and traffickers of tigers, elephants, and other key protected species. This is how we have grown the successful prosecution rate to around 80 percent at the national level, compared to only 5 percent where we are not involved. This is dangerous work, though, and as the primary responsible party for all WCS activities in Indonesia, securing the safety of our staff is a personal priority for me. Thankfully, the national police force has become a key and strategic partner for WCU. I remember when I first presented WCU’s handbook on species identification for legal processes to the Chief of Police of the Special District of Jakarta, General Tito Karnavian. He has been recently promoted to be the Chief of National Police, so I am hopeful that with his and the government’s continued support, we can more successfully combat wildlife trafficking in Indonesia and also at the global level.

In a country where many people still see hunting, poaching, and the domestication of endangered species as tolerable behaviors, the WCS Indonesia Program and its WCU send a strong message these practices are unacceptable and will result in prosecution. The progress we have made over the last several years shows that the consistent enforcement of strong laws can truly save vulnerable wildlife. I am optimistic that wildlife conservation will eventually be supported by all Indonesians, because they truly believe that those species are part of Indonesia’s natural heritage, so we won’t need to argue why a tiger is worth so much more than money.

Noviar Andayani