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Women in communities of Selayar participate in sea cucumber cultivation training. Credit - CSERM UNAS.

Increasing the capacity of women in the cultivation and processing of sea cucumbers for sustainable economic development of tropical coastal communities

Seagrass beds in shallow waters are critical ecosystems and important fisheries, particularly for wild collection of invertebrates using simple tools or bare hands, known as ‘gleaning.’ Gleaning is a common activity across Sulawesi, Indonesia, including the Selayar Islands Regency. It provides an important supplementary source of income and sustenance. Women are typically the main practitioners of gleaning, providing the daily needs of their families by collecting sea cucumbers, sea urchins, molluscs, fish, seaweed, and seagrass while men often fish further out to sea. A healthy seagrass ecosystem provides a wide range of species for collection, but overexploitation can pose risks to the long-term health of seagrass ecosystems.

In order to better manage seagrass beds and their biodiversity, sea cucumber cultivation of Holothuria scabra (sandfish) utilises the natural habitat of this species as a productive method of habitat conservation, providing income for local communities while ensuring seagrass beds’ ecological integrity. Sea cucumbers often comprise the largest biomass in seagrass beds, and can be considered seagrass ecosystem engineers. Their burrowing, feeding, and locomotion help promote seagrass growth by aerating sediment and encouraging nutrient cycling, with larger sea cucumber populations correlated to enhanced seagrass growth and vitality (Arnull et al., 2021). This generates a positive feedback loop for local communities, with increased sea cucumber production supporting other economic activities, including coastal fish stocks.

Sandfish cultivation carried out in Selayar Islands is aimed at high female involvement. In addition to gleaning, many coastal women manage the household, take care of the children, and generate supplementary income from small home enterprises. Many coastal women depend on male income, which is mainly from fishing. This makes women more vulnerable in increasingly uncertain economic conditions. With sandfish cultivation activities, coastal women in Selayar can increase their capacity and capability in maintaining family resilience through additional income, as well as contributing to improving the health of coastal ecosystems, especially seagrass beds.

In the sustainable sandfish farming programme in Selayar Islands, female participants receive training covering knowledge and skills of sandfish farming, especially in the growth stage where sandfish are raised in sea pens until they reach harvestable size. Sea pen nets should be cleaned regularly to ensure that water flows in and out of the sea pen smoothly, bringing nutrients needed by sandfish so that sea cucumbers can grow well. These women are involved in maintaining the cleanliness of the sea pens and monitoring the growth of sea cucumbers, harvesting, and post-harvest processing. Female participants take part in sea cucumber processing training which aims to ensure that the sea cucumbers produced meet export quality. By providing these training programmes, the development of a locally sustainable sea cucumber aquaculture in seagrass habitats centred on female economic empowerment will provide a stable, high-value supplementary income to the coastal communities.

For the economic sustainability of sandfish cultivation, a cooperative was established with the majority of management and membership consisting of coastal women. The cooperative manages and develops existing sea pens in locations spread across the coast of Selayar Islands during the project, with a view of further expansion across new sites. The establishment of a local cooperative will assist the involved communities with site management, facilitate profit-sharing among different households, and increase overall community resilience to potential disruptions. Management best practices and regulations of sandfish cultivation will be developed based on input and experience during the project. The scaling of activities is expected to develop sustainably, and also to promote women's inclusion, increasing economic and ecological benefits throughout Indonesia’s coastal area.

Written by Qurratu Ainin and Christopher Kelly. For more information on this Darwin Initiative Main project 30-025, led by CSERM - Center for Sustainable Energy and Resources Management, please click here.