Despite a precipitous decline in global populations of sharks and rays over the past fifty years due to overfishing, and increasing concerns over the conservation status of manta and devil rays worldwide, manta ray populations in Raja Ampat in the Papuan Bird’s Head Seascape of Indonesia are seemingly thriving. Reef manta rays (Mobula alfredi) in particular are abundant and have higher rates of pregnancy than have been recorded elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific, and have demonstrated a significant population increase over the past decade of monitoring. Here we document two decades’ of conservation efforts in the Bird’s Head Seascape (BHS) which, when considered in their entirety, represent an organically-developed, holistic approach to manta ray conservation that has demonstrated compelling evidence of success despite ongoing challenges. We provide detailed insights on the adaptive, continuously evolving approach used for manta ray conservation in the BHS in order that this approach might inform similar efforts towards elasmobranch conservation in other areas of the developing tropics.

尽管在过去 50 年中，由于过度捕捞，全球鲨鱼和鳐鱼种群数量急剧下降，而且人们对全球蝠鲼和魔鬼鳐的保护状况日益担忧，但印度尼西亚巴布亚鸟头海景中四王群岛的蝠鲼种群似乎正在减少。熙。珊瑚礁蝠鲼 ( Mobula alfredi) 特别是数量丰富，怀孕率高于印度-太平洋其他地方的记录，并且在过去十年的监测中显示出显着的人口增长。在这里，我们记录了 20 年来在鸟头海景 (BHS) 中所做的保护工作，从整体上看，这些工作代表了一种有机发展的、整体的蝠鲼保护方法，尽管存在持续的挑战，但它已经证明了成功的令人信服的证据。我们提供了关于在 BHS 中用于保护蝠鲼的适应性、不断发展的方法的详细见解，以便这种方法可以为在发展中热带地区的其他地区进行类似的弹性鳃保护工作提供信息。