Standing waist-deep in cerulean water, onlookers watched Lydia glide away from the beach, her fins outlining her shape against the white sand beneath the surface. As one of six Indo-Pacific leopard sharks reintroduced into Indonesia’s Raja Ampat archipelago this year, Lydia is the embodiment of a long-held dream of Misool Foundation, one of WCN’s new Conservation Partners. In partnership with the Indonesian government and ReShark, Misool Foundation is helping this long-absent native shark return to one of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems.
Two decades ago, sharks were scarce in Raja Ampat’s reefs due to relentless shark finning and industrial fishing. Many species, including leopard sharks, became locally extinct. Misool Foundation was created to reverse this devastation. They established Misool Marine Reserve, a 300,000-acre conservation area—roughly the size of Las Vegas—for over 1,600 fish species and 75% of the world’s known coral species, patrolled daily by local rangers. Where a former shark finning camp once stood, they built Misool Resort, which generates tourism revenue to fund their holistic conservation programs. Since 2005, Misool Foundation’s efforts have increased overall fish abundance by 248% and shark abundance by 190% within the Reserve, a staggering impact for the long-term recovery of the world’s richest reefs. Becoming a WCN Partner helped Misool Foundation access new funding for their incredible work. In 2024, they restored nearly 19,000 sq. feet of coral reefs and their rangers completed over 1,350 patrols to protect black-tip sharks, manta rays, sea turtles, and many other marine species.
The Reserve’s security and success as a shark sanctuary led to its selection as a nursery site for ReShark—an international collective dedicated to rewilding endangered sharks—who partnered with Misool Foundation for their project. ReShark provides leopard shark eggs to Misool Foundation, who hatch and raise the shark pups in their on-site nurseries until the juveniles are large enough for release. To show Misool Resort guests what their patronage supports, Misool Foundation and ReShark invited them to witness Lydia’s release this year. For these tourists, taking part in a conservation milestone was the chance of a lifetime. This project will reintroduce 500 leopard sharks to Raja Ampat over the next 5-10 years, creating a self-sustaining population to act as a blueprint for future shark species reintroductions. Misool Foundation has worked to recover Raja Ampat’s sharks and other marine life for decades, and watching Lydia disappear into deeper water, it is clear that their dream is being realized.