Shark Conservation 101: What Are ISRAs?

Sharks and rays are vital to marine ecosystems, but their populations are dwindling rapidly. Conservation efforts face challenges due to the lack of detailed data on their critical habitats, but in a bid to map these areas, a groundbreaking atlas has been created, drawing from the collaborative efforts of divers, fishers, and scientists. We explore more about Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs) - regions identified as critical for the conservation of shark and ray species based on scientific criteria. Helping us do that are scientists Serena Adam (Marine Conservation Officer, WWF-Malaysia, member of the IUCN) and Assoc. Prof. Dr Amy Then (Senior Lecturer, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Malaya), and also environmental journalist and co-founder of Macaranga, Wong Siew Lyn, who just released an article on this, titled: Divers, Fishers and Scientists Map Sharks and Rays to Save Them. The article also has an accompanying interactive map of Malaysia’s new 10 Important Shark and Ray Areas.