Star Project Indonesia
Project Leader
The Stegostoma tigrinum Augmentation and Recovery Project (StAR Project) is a global effort to restore populations of the endangered Indo-Pacific leopard shark in regions where the species has disappeared or dramatically declined due to overfishing and habitat degradation.
Restoring Leopard Sharks in Raja Ampat
The Stegostoma tigrinum Augmentation and Recovery (StAR) Project Indonesia is a multi-national collaborative initiative focused on re-establishing a healthy, genetically diverse, and self-sustaining population of Indo-Pacific leopard sharks in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. Beyond its core mission, the project brings additional benefits: boosting tourism by introducing another charismatic megafauna species, training a new generation of Indonesian shark experts, developing a robust conservation translocation protocol for endangered egg-laying sharks, and significantly raising public awareness of shark conservation both in Indonesia and globally.
PROJECT LEADER
Nesha Ichida
Nesha Ichida is an Indonesian marine conservation scientist with a primary focus in elasmobranch research, reef fish taxonomy, marine protected areas (MPA) and community-led conservation initiatives in Eastern Indonesia. She is the Program Director of a local NGO (Thrive Conservation) and spends the majority of her time managing the StAR Project, a multi-national collaborative initiative aiming to restore Indo-Pacific leopard shark populations through translocation of egg cases bred at accredited aquariums worldwide, and for which she also sits as Co-Chair of the Steering Committee. She also manages another holistic conservation project focusing on creating island-level resiliency through MPA management, marine megafauna research, and local community outreach and livelihood development in Rote, the southernmost island of Indonesia. In addition to those, Nesha dedicates her time as a mentor to young local conservationists in her field and as a reef fish taxonomist protégé, uncovering new species and new talents in her own home country.
World’s first
The StAR Project is the world’s first endangered shark species conservation translocation project using eggs from an ex situ population and the first project launched under the ReShark initiative.
As one of ReShark’s main implementing partners, Thrive Conservation plays a vital role across multiple aspects of the initiative, including egg shipment, nursery management, post-release monitoring, local outreach, internship programs, international communications, and fundraising.
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