Catching up with PROGRES (Sulawesi)
© PROGRES
One year after announcing them as our newest partner, it’s time to check in with PROGRES (Sulawesi Regional Ecological Conservation Initiative), a conservation NGO in Sulawesi, Indonesia.
A little backstory
Led by two Sulawesi native women, Sheherazade and Asnim A. Lanusi, PROGRES fuses science with the power of locally-led conservation action to ensure the success and sustainability of their work.
Working with the Asian Species Action Partnership in the Lake Poso region of Sulawesi, considered to be one of the most important ecosystems for freshwater fish conservation in the world. PROGRES’ Fish Programme is focussed on the search for three Critically Endangered fish that are endemic to the lake.
- Duck-billed buntingi (Adrianichthys kruyti)
- Rosen’s buntingi (A. roseni)
- Poso bungu (Mugilogobius amadi)
The sharp decline of each species has been thought to be a result of tectonic activities in the region in 1983, alongside the damage by invasive species through parasites and diseases (Parenti and Soeroto 2004).
© PROGRES
Meet Chilo and Felix
A key part of PROGRES’ work is engaging with young people in the local community to be conservation champions and lead the conservation initiatives.
Chilo and Felix work with PROGRES in Sulawesi and have been integral to the search for the duck-billed buntingi, one of our Top 10 Most Wanted Lost Fishes.
Chilo: “Konservasi adalah memberi kehidupan, kesempatan berwawasan, memberi kesadaran ada yang hampir hilang, untuk itu konservasi harus cepat dilakukan sebelum semuanya terlambat.”
Chilo: “Conservation is about nurturing life, an opportunity to learn, raising awareness that something is almost gone, for that conservation must be done quickly before it’s all too late.”
Felix: “Konservasi bagi saya adalah merawat lingkungan hari ini untuk kehidupan besok yang lebih baik.”
Felix: “Conservation for me is caring for today’s nature for a better life tomorrow.”
PROGRES are working in collaboration with fishermen around Lake Poso too, surveying 21 villages and one city to understand local livelihood, the dependence on Lake Poso and the importance of the fishes to local communities beyond their economic value.
Three fishermen, Om Pedi, Papa Jems, and Ngkai Iki, actively joined PROGRES’ survey activity, alongside 11 local youth. These fishermen and young people have become messengers explaining what the program was about to other parts of the communities.
© PROGRES
What have PROGRES been up to?
Extensive surveys have been conducted every month to look for the ASAP targeted fish species. In total, 18 surveys were conducted in water areas in front of Bancea, Leboni, and mainly Peura, Dulumai, and Tolambo villages.
