KERSTIN FORSBERG, PERU:
PROTECT GIANT MANTA RAYS
With their sevenmetre wingspans, giant manta rays are a sight to behold as they glide through the water and Lima-based conservation biologist Kerstin Forsberg is determined to protect them having discovered the extent of their vulnerability. Living on plankton, giant mantas are classified as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with an “elevated risk of extinction”. Thousands are caught each year across the world to satisfy a lucrative market for their dried gills, which are used in traditional medicine. In Peru, fishermen reported taking up to dozens of mantas in a season, putting the species under severe pressure, especially as they are slow to reproduce. Giant mantas take from seven to 10 years to reach maturity and produce just one pup every two to seven years.
In 2015, an extremely large manta weighing 900kg was caught, and became a local media sensation. “It was talked about as a monster,” recalls Forsberg. “People had no idea of how vulnerable giant mantas are.” Building upon this front-page news, Forsberg’s continued lobbying led to a government ban on giant manta captures a few months later.
Through her NGO, Planeta Océano, Forsberg has been leading a project to change the way Peruvian communities perceive mantas ‒ not just in terms of their ecological importance, but their potential value as high-profile tourist attractions that will make them worth a great deal more alive to Peru’s many coastal fishing communities.
Working from an office in Lima, the 2016 Rolex Awards Laureate travels to Tumbes, a two-hour flight, once every two months, staying for a week to monitor and implement conservation activities. Her fundamental aim is to launch sustainable, locally operated manta tourism that will be commercially valuable, and encourage fishermen and tourists to become citizen scientists who will collect reliable data about giant manta distribution.
The conservation project has so far involved three groups of fishermen collaborating with reports on giant manta sightings for Forsberg’s team; and, so far, dozens of tourists have gone out with fishermen on pilot manta-spotting expeditions. In addition, an educational outreach programme, organised with Planeta Océano’s Marine Educators Network, is explaining giant manta conservation in more than 50 schools in northern Peru.
“It’s about empowering local people to lead change, and we expect thousands of children and youth to now receive information about giant mantas from us,” says Forsberg about her work engaging coastal communities. “It’s about approaching people, and listening to people. It has to be about what will work best for them. Solutions need to be developed together.”