Gradients of marine biodiversity and linkages with eDNA across the Wallacea Region

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Indonesia is highly dependent on marine resources and as such, the maintenance of marine ecosystem services is crucial for the country. This project will directly facilitate the maintenance and sustainability of Indonesian fisheries by a) assessing biodiversity differentials between areas with different threats; b) benchmarking sustainable fisheries on coral reefs and c) developing a novel monitoring approach.

1.Who will benefit from this work?
Within Indonesia marine management agencies who will benefit include:KKP (Kementerian Kelautan dan Perikanan - Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries of Indonesia) and LIPI (Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia - Indonesian Institute of Sciences), Indonesian Academy of Science (AIPI), University Forum for Marine Science and Fisheries, Local Marine Affair and Fisheries and Department of Provincial Governments in the Wallacea Region. There are a number of NGOS working with our research team within Wallacea and across Indonesia who will be direct beneficiaries. These include: The Coral Triangle Center, The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Sustainable Ecosystems Advanced (SEA) Project, and RARE.Citizen Science Programmes will also benefit from our work. These include: Reef Check, CoralWatch and more specifically within Indonesia the Indonesian Coral Reef Foundation (TERANGI), and Nusa Dua Reef Foundation (NDRF) Considering broader global impact, the management and monitoring of marine biodiversity applies to governmental and non-governmental agencies. Within the UK these include: The Environment Agency (EA), Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), Natural England (NE), and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO).

2. How will these organisations benefit from our research?
Currently, management decisions and spatial plans in these areas are largely based on surrogates, lacking detailed information about how biodiversity patterns and relationships vary for different threat regimes. Our research will provide an avenue for these organisations to enhance their capacity and environmental management strategies. Research outcomes will enable more effective evaluation of the key stressors impacting ecological integrity and service provision and therefore which sites are priority for different interventions. Fundamentally we will test the use of eDNA for monitoring marine biodiversity, providing an opportunity for future cheap biodiversity assessments and possibly leading to commercial innovation to provide field sampling kits and services. More globally International organisations will be able to utilise research outcomes to refine their own assessment tools thereby further increasing the potential for commercial development of field sampling kits.

3.Mechanisms of Impact Delivery?
The Indonesia PI, Prof Jompa (JJ) is perfectly placed to facilitate the exchange of information between our research team and Indonesia authorities. The Project PI (DJS) and CO-PI (MB) are also well established within Indonesia and will assist JJ in delivering workshops and documentation that can best disseminate project findings and impacted orientated outcomes. The key dissemination tool however will be the final workshop (in the last 6 months of the project) which will be attended by Indonesian authorities, NGOS and other actors. The workshop will focus on best ways to utilise the data generated and the new assessment tools developed. Opportunities to further the impact of the research including possible commercialisation of sampling kits will also be discussed at this workshop. More global the PI and CO-I at UoE sit on numerous advisory boards that span the sector (which include EA, NE, CEFAS, DEFRA, MMO members) and will disseminate the research findings and contextualize for wider marine application.