Wildlife Trade in East Nusa Tenggara Province based on Facebook Social Media Groups

Wildlife conservation is fundamental to mitigating extinction due to wildlife trade. Thus, various conservation policies have been used as a reference: IUCN, CITES, and Government Policy P.106/2018. This research aims to record Facebook-based wildlife trade, identify the traded wildlife conservation status, and estimate the economic value. Data was taken from when the group was formed until 1 July 2023 with various keywords. The results reveal that 107 species belonging to 53 families were recorded in 31 trading groups, comprising 82 species of the aves class, 17 species of the reptilia class, and 8 species of the mammalia class. Among the traded wildlife, based on P.106/2018, 80 species are unprotected, while 27 are protected. Based on the IUCN, most traded wildlife is categorized as LC, with 77 species. Some species are categorized as CR with 4 species, EN with 9 species, VU with 8 species, NT with 8 species and NE with one species. Referring to CITES, 73 species classified as non-appendices dominate the trading groups, followed by 24 species of Appendix II, 9 of Appendix I, and 1 of Appendix III. This study observed that over half (41.12%) of the traded species were encompassed inside at least one wildlife protection policy. The estimated economic value of all traded wildlife is approximately IDR317,125,000 (USD19,248.92). The prices of high-value species correlate positively with the level of protection those species receive under existing conservation policies. Governments and other conservation bodies must pay more attention to the growing Facebook-based wildlife trade, especially for protected and endangered species.