A. Species
Scientific name: Crocodylus novaeguineae
Common name(s): New Guinea crocodile, Irian freshwater crocodile
Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Least Concern
B. Location of use
Geographic location(s):
- Papua
Country/Region: Indonesia / Tanah Papua
C. Scale of assessment
Scale of assessment: Sub-national / Sub-region / Sub-State
Name/Details of location: Tanah Papua / Papua and West Papua
D. Timescale of use
Start Year: 2013
End Year: 2017
E. Information about the use
How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Type of use: Extractive
Practice of use: Hunting and/or Trapping of live terrestrial and aerial animals
Lethal or non-lethal: Lethal and Non-Lethal
Does this use involve take/extraction of: The whole entire organism
Purpose(s) of end use: Keeping/companionship/display, Decorative and aesthetic and Adults hunted from wild for skins, hatchlings taken live and sent to ranching farms.
Motivation of use: Income generation from trade (individual/household/community) and Largescale commercial exploitation for trade
Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law
F. Information about the Users
Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Local people and National external
G. Information about the sustainability of use
Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: BBKSDA (Balai Besar Konservasi Sumber Daya Alam / Natural Resources Conservation Center) reports.
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: The study explains that there is actually a deficiency of systematic monitoring data for wild crocodile populations in Tanah Papua; however, various annual reports by the BBKSDA (Balai Besar Konservasi Sumber Daya Alam / Natural Resources Conservation Center) have concluded that harvesting crocodiles under current quotas in Tanah Papua is sustainable, and is not causing population decline
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: The study explains that the utilization of crocodile skins by local artisans, and in trade, it vital to the local economy and community traditions. Harvest quotas are set by the Tanah Papua Management Authority, and quotas have been set lower to try to encourage ranching (wild caught - raised in captivity) and captive breeding crocodiles (born and raised in captivity) to enhance the sustainability of the crocodile skin industry, however, wild-caught crocodiles still predominate. Ultimately, this industry 'could be' more sustainable - the support from the study on current sustainability is not entirely convincing. Clearly though this use supports a substantial local economy, so provided it is (ultimately) sustainable, this practice could continue, economically.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: This use supports many local artisans and traditional livelihoods, so provided it is (ultimately) sustainable, this practice could continue, socially, although markets for animal skin products may decline in the future.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: No ill-effects are mentioned.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: No, sustainability not determined
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Animal health and welfare is not considered explicitly in this study; however, the captive ranching conditions described are very unnatural and would implicitly not be good for crocodile welfare.
Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species
Regulating the utilization of crocodile should take into account potential impacts on the livelihoods of the poor hunting communities whose livelihoods depend on crocodile hunting activity (Resolution Conf. 8.3). The Management Authority has sought to regulate crocodile exploitation while seeking not to criminalize a rage sector of society. The low proportion of exported crocodile skins reported by this study that arose from ranching or captive breeding, vs the large proportion of wild-caught crocodiles, indicates that the government needs to better incentivize ranching activities.
Record source
Information about the record source: scientific_pub
Date of publication/issue/production: 2020-01-01T00:00:00+0000
Source Reference(s):
Date of record entry: 2022-12-19