The Environment Ministry (KLH) is elaborating on a rapid action plan to save the Irrawaddy Dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris), which is currently critically endangered, with only around 60 dolphins remaining in the Mahakam River, East Kalimantan.

“The animal must be conserved, which requires strong and integrated cross-sector collaboration, involving the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry (KKP), the Transportation Ministry, the Public Works Ministry, local governments, and local communities,” said an official of KLH, Inge Retnowati, in Samarinda on Wednesday.

The rapid action plan focuses on concrete implementation in the field, such as regulating water transportation in the core habitat of the dolphin, especially in tributaries that serve as feeding and breeding areas.

Other solutions being pursued include preventive measures through modifications to fishing gear, habitat restoration, and law enforcement against illegal activities, such as fishing by poisoning or electrocution.

On the other hand, community empowerment programs through the development of sustainable ecotourism are being promoted as a solution to provide economic alternatives for residents in order to help preserve the dolphins.

"These conservation efforts are becoming increasingly urgent given the dolphins' slow reproductive rate, with a female only able to give birth to one calf every three to four years," Retnowati said.

The critical status is based on research data from the Rare Aquatic Species of Indonesia (RASI) Conservation Foundation, which shows that the endemic freshwater mammal population continues to face various serious threats to extinction.

RASI researcher Danielle Kreb detailed several major threats causing dolphin deaths, ranging from entanglement in fishing nets, collisions with pontoon boats, water pollution, including microplastics, to underwater noise that interferes with their sonar and communication.

With the disappearance of the baiji dolphin in the Yangtze River, the Irrawaddy Dolphin, known as the Mahakam dolphin, is now one of the rarest freshwater dolphins in the world, and its existence must be saved as an icon of Indonesia's pride and rich biodiversity.

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