In Indonesia, lizard-hunting feeds families – and China's traditional medicine industry - CNA

HARVEST QUOTAS SET

Also known as the common or Asian house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus), or rumah cicak Asia in Bahasa Indonesia, the lizards are believed to still be abundant, according to a herpetologist and hunters CNA interviewed.

The house lizard is not the only gecko species used for traditional medicine, and the Indonesian government has set quotas for various species.

This year, the catch quota for Asian house geckos is about 2.5 million. The catch quota for the flat-tailed house gecko (Hemidactylus platyurus) is also about 2.5 million, while that for the four-clawed gecko (Gehyra mutilata) is about 2 million.

They can be caught as pets or for consumption, said Dr Satyawan Pudyatmoko, director general of natural resources and ecosystem conservation at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. 

The three species are allowed to be hunted in the provinces of West Java, Central Java, East Java and Yogyakarta as they have been deemed potential regions of export, said Dr Satyawan. 

He said there are more than five export permit holders who work with small enterprises and hunters in villages. 

“The people in villages help with catching, collecting, sorting (the lizards) according to the size, drying and, finally, packing,” said Dr Satyawan. 

“These activities can be a main or additional source of income.”

The environment ministry did not provide information on export quotas and actual export volumes. 

In the past, actual exports have been found to exceed quotas for certain species such as the Tokay gecko.

From 2013 to 2019, over 79.5 million Tokay geckos were exported by Indonesia based on the Ministry of Trade’s data, vastly exceeding harvest quotas at the time, according to a report last year by Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry.

In addition, only about 1.7 million legal export permits were reported by the environment ministry from 2013 to 2019. 

The disparity was because exporters were not required to obtain a permit from the environment ministry at the time. In 2019, the Tokay gecko was added to Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora for controls to be placed on its trade.

China is a major importer of Tokay geckos, which are thought to be effective in suppressing asthma, relieving coughing and treating diabetes and other ailments.

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2024-06-07 22:00:00Z
CBMifGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9pbmRvbmVzaWEtaG91c2UtbGl6YXJkcy1nZWNrb3MtZXhwb3J0LWNoaW5hLXdpbGRsaWZlLXRyYWRlLXRyYWRpdGlvbmFsLW1lZGljaW5lLTQzODg1ODbSAQA