Science and Policy: Interning at Conservation International Indonesia

At this time last year, I was a freshmen, rushing back to reschedule my flight to Bali because my academic advisor would not approve my courses for next semester without a face-to-face counseling session. Today, I am sitting at my desk in a small but spacious cubicle nestled away in the bourgeois neighbourhood of Kemang, South Jakarta, eagerly anticipating for what tomorrow's public consultation will bring. I am officially 3 days away from the end of my 2 month internship with Conservation International's Elasmobranch Program. At the beginning of the semester, I made it my goal to complete an internship over the course of semester break. I sent emails to a number of NGOs but only CI responded, so I immediately sent in my application without a second thought. I couldn't care less about where I would end up interning, all I cared about was not spending my semester break couped up at home watching rom-coms all day (as amazing as that sounds). I initially wanted to intern with their Bali Program but for some reason, I gravitated towards their elasmobranch department. It was undoubtedly unfamiliar territory and practically unheard of during my studies thus far, I didn't even know what elasmobranch was until I googled it prior to constructing my application. Despite my hesitance, I sent in my application anyway, hoping this could be a stepping stone into a much larger, more meaningful endeavor. I waited.. and waited.. and waited, but after  weeks of excessively refreshing my inbox,  still no email from Conservation International. I emailed them again, fearful my application got lost or labeled as junk mail. They said they received my application and were still waiting to hear back from my program manager. So I waited some more.

I was lying on the bed, one eye on my phone and the other on the TV, when I first got the call from their program manager. Don't screw this up, don't screw this up I swear to god if you screw this up. I mumbled to myself before finally gathering up enough courage to pick up the phone. The manager was very warm and friendly. She told me that I could intern with them in their office, or out on the field. Obviously, I wanted to be out on the field but she told me since I would only be interning for 2 months, office work would be more ideal. My face drooped slightly but I thought, whether it's office work or field work, it's experience nonetheless. I accepted the offer and she told me, in that case, I would be interning in their Jakarta office. I thanked her, said good afternoon and hung up the phone. With the lion king playing in the background, I jumped up and down and called my mom to tell her the good news, pretty much shouted the announcement to her actually. She was, of course, ecstatic upon finding out that I would be interning here in Jakarta and not some remote island sans cellular service.

I practiced riding the bus to work the next day with my uncle. I laid out all my clothes and picked out my shoes the night prior. When Monday finally rolled around, I got a message early in the morning from my supervisor telling me I didn't have to come in until 1 in the afternoon. My mom insisted to take me for my first day so I wouldn't have to take the bus. I arrived and my supervisor greeted me and introduced herself. Much like the program manager I spoke to on the phone, she was warm and friendly. She briefed me on what CI stands for, their projects, the elasmobranch department, and my future tasks at hand. After the briefing session, the rest of the department joined us and we were formally introduced. They were all friendly and seemed so comfortable with each other. After our introductions, my supervisor told me I could go home and to come back the next day at 9/10 AM. So I went home and slept early, knowing I would have to wake up unbearably early the next day.

CI's elasmobranch department works mainly to conserve animals within the elasmobranch subclass like whale sharks and manta rays. Both species are currently under full protection of the Indonesian government, meaning any form of buying or trading of the species are illegal and therefore punishable. In addition to collecting scientific data on these elusive species, CI as well as other NGOs across Indonesia are also currently working to push for laws, legislations and national action plans to provide a stronger, legal framework for sharks and rays conservation. Yesterday, for example, I tagged a long to a focus group discussion, facilitated by CI, in which they worked on a draft of a national action plan for whale sharks. The spotlight, right now, seems to be on whale sharks. A couple of weeks ago, I tagged a long to another discussion also working on drafting a form of law on the regulation of whale shark tourism. 

My internship ended up being very different to what I expected, in a good way of course. I thought I would be doing a lot of scientific-driven tasks but to my surprise, it was very much policy-driven. I didn't expect there to be so much writing involved! It was honestly a great chance for me to rediscover and improve my writing, something I've been neglecting ever since I started college. More importantly, my internship galvanized me into seeing the bigger picture in terms of conservation work; It's not just about the science. In my 2 years thus far being a marine science student, I never once thought of marrying science and policy together. I never understood the interdependency between the two super powers. Without policy, science is just data, cold hard math. Without science, policy is just a document with no solid argument. 

One of the major challenges conservationists face in Indonesia is the difficulty of applying the aforementioned policy and science to our local communities. Often times, our conservation work contradicts their believes, their cultures and their livelihood. In pushing for a sustainable world, sustainability itself must be promoted and applied as an economically viable option, for all stakeholders involved, especially the local community. When we're talking about conservation, we're not talking about saving nature at the expense of people. We're talking about collaborating with the people to save nature and that's something I strongly believe marine science students need to be taught more. I would never have had such a revelation had I not interned at Conservation International Indonesia.

Next semester, for my actual mandated internship as an academic requirement, I'm hoping to learn more about the science aspect of conservation at Marine Megafauna Foundation in Nusa Lembongan, Bali. I'm certainly hoping at the start of next year,  after I've completed my second internship, I'll have a much better, and certainly wider, understanding of what conservation really is and what it truly means to effectively build a sustainable, bluer future for the sake of future generations to come.