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The endangered yellow-crested cockatoo, found only in Indonesia and East Timor, is one of several species of parrots that can be acquired illegally online in Indonesia (Image: Alamy)
Fidelis Satriastanti, Lusia Arumningtyas
December 5, 2023December 5, 2023
Pipes carved from elephant ivory, multicolored cockatoos, and an Australian lizard are just a few examples of wild animals and their illegal sale online in Indonesia. They were among 996 classified ads posted across 421 social media accounts, registered as part of an investigation conducted. through the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and the NGO Wildlife Conservation Society between April 2021 and March 2022.
Parrots were the most recorded living animal, with 20 other species documented in the study, while elephant ivory was the most recorded structural element, accounting for 56% of all listed listings.
“There are indications of an increase [in online wildlife trafficking] of Covid-19,” Krismanko Padang, one of the study’s authors, told China Dialogue.
In January 2023, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry stated in a report that in 2022 it discovered 638 social media accounts promoting protected wild animals. A total of 1,163 protected animals were submitted for sale on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, as well as primary e-commerce sites such as Tokopedia and Kaskus, the ministry said.
Padang says that platforms generally respond to reports of illegal wildlife trade online by immediately taking down the offending account.
“But this is not effective because if one account is closed down, they can just set up another 10 new accounts,” notes Dwi Adhiasto, an independent consultant and expert in wildlife trafficking based in Bogor, West Java. Instead, he says, stricter punishment that is written into the law is necessary to tackle online wildlife trafficking.
Indonesia’s House of Representatives is recently discussing a revision of the Law on the Conservation of Living Natural Resources and their Ecosystems. This law, which went into effect in 1990, prohibits the exploitation of wildlife and remains the legal basis for charging wildlife traffickers. , adding those that work online.
Between 2007 and 2008, the then Forestry Department (now known as the Ministry of Environment and Forestry) introduced a public consultation on the update of the 1990 Act. It resumed in 2016.
In 2017, lawmakers in the House of Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, or DPR) issued a bill amending the law for discussion with the government. Its goal is to enforce the law, improve conservation control and funding, and recognize indigenous peoples.
Based on a bill received through the China Dialogue in April, some of the adjustments proposed by lawmakers include:
In 2018, the government halted progress on the bill, saying a review was not mandatory and that the existing law was still relevant.
However, lawmakers continued the discussion and passed it as a “DPR initiative bill” in 2022. The debate is currently brewing in DPR Commission IV, which oversees issues such as environment and forestry, fisheries, peatlands, mangroves and agriculture. At the time of publication, discussions between legislators and applicable stakeholders, in addition to civil society teams and the Ministry of Environment, are ongoing.
Daniel Johan, a member of Commission IV from the National Awakening Party, says it is important to revise the law because of the severe threat that illegal wildlife trade and poaching pose to biodiversity and ecosystems. “Hopefully it [a revised law] can target the main actors, not only the low-level trader actors in the field,” Johan says.
Under current law, those guilty of illegal industry in Indonesia face a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of 100 million rupiah (US$6,426). Several conservation teams interviewed through China Dialogue say this is not strict enough.
“We can see that [the law] was passed in 1990 and, probably at that time, this amount of cash was significant,” says Adrianus Eryan, a researcher at the NGO Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL). “But that’s irrelevant in recent years, given the inflation, the demand and the price of those animals, which can cost a lot more than that. “Eryan adds that, in practice, the maximum sentence is about two years instead of five.
“Since 2005, ICEL has been encouraging. . . a review [of the law] and advocates not only imposing fines on offenders, but also a review of the policy as a whole,” he says. “It would be worthwhile if the perpetrators not only serve a sentence, but also pay for the recovery [veterinary remedy or rehabilitation] of those animals. The existing law doesn’t talk about recovery, and it’s not reasonable to feed the animals, take care of their medications, and take care of their releases. “
If passed, the revised law would impose a minimum sentence of two to five years in prison and a fine of between 600 million rupees ($40,189) and 2,000 million rupees ($134,013), in cases involving the illegal wildlife industry.
Section 21 of the 1990 Act prohibits the capture, injury, killing, possession, shipment and industry of any live animal, as well as the possession, shipment or industry of any dead animal.
Mr. Krismanko Padang suggested that article 21 should be amended to refer in particular to electronic commerce. “I think it would be smart to include the word ‘online’ in the review. For example, saying, “The animal industry through online media is prohibited. “
Padang explains that under the existing law, the government has to go to great lengths to track down the user merchant and prove that they own the illegal item. A revised law could allow electronic transactions to be used as evidence, he said. “If we could simply provide electronic evidence as evidence and pay cash for this transaction, compared to bringing in real animals, our task would be easier,” Padang says. “Once they post [on social media] and we can guarantee that those animals exist, we can enforce the law. “
Adhiasto points out that the existing requirement to have the actual animal as evidence restricts the government’s ability to enforce the law to those at the top of the ad network. “Officials will meet [vendors] at the user and bring in the animals. to the transaction. You can do it for the providers, but not for the organizer itself, the funders, or even the network administrators,” he explains.
“We need to have a deterrent effect on those perpetrators, because [right now] we see that a [perpetrator] can commit the same crime at least three times. This means there is no deterrent effect,” Padang said, adding that a minimum penalty deserves to be added to a revised edition of the law. It also points out that sanctions against e-commerce deserve to be severe, as such a practice carries the possibility of access to illegal cross-border industries, not only in Indonesia.
Eryan says that the conservation bill must be passed urgently to be able to effectively tackle online wildlife trading. “In terms of law enforcement, this [current] law is really weak. We cannot achieve anything if the foundation is not better.
“If they’re serious, it only takes a month [to pass the bill] because all the answers are there,” he said. “This has been going on for 33 years; There are many studies underway. It’s just a matter of political will.
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Fidelis Satriastanti
Fidelis Satriastanti is China Dialogue’s editor-in-chief for Southeast Asia. It is located in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Lusia Arumningtyas
Lusia Arumningtyas is a freelance journalist in Indonesia.
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