Freshwater Fish Invasion as Deliberate Neglect: Unpacking Multispecies Colonialism in West Papua

Indonesian fisheries and agricultural specialists have driven multispecies colonialism in West Papua by introducing invasive freshwater species under the guise of development. Infrastructure projects like artificial canals inadvertently spread invasive fish and plants, displacing endemic species. Such actions align with settler colonial ideologies that view not only land as terra nullius, but also water as aqua nullius, where species living in both environments are invisible to the settlers. This technocratic approach can be described as a form of deliberate neglect—a mode of environmental violence that mirrors the broader history of state violence in Indonesia.