Conservation of Sulawesis Endangered Mascot - the Maleo - through Conservation Incentive Agreements

the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) established the Maleo Conservation Project in northern Sulawesi in 2001. Initially, the project focused on the protection of the nesting grounds, recruiting local rangers and maleo hunters as nest guardians. Similar approaches have been used for marine turtles (Ferraro 2007) and breeding waterbirds (Clements et al. 2007; Clements et al. 2009). Recruitment of hunters as nest protectors does, however, rely on being able to make annual payments, which is unsustainable given the nature of conservation funding. Consequently in 2007, WCS began to explore a new model, whereby the nesting sites and surrounding land was purchased by an Indonesian partner and managed in a sustainable manner in order to protect the birds and to generate revenue to pay for management costs. Locally managed privately-owned protected areas are commonplace in developed nations, but have rarely been attempted in Southeast Asia. The model has proved highly popular with local people because it ensures livelihoods in addition to protecting the maleo