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  Jakarta Post 17 Sep 07
Saving marine resources through Coral Triangle Initiative
An interview about the CTI

The Nature Conservancy 10 Sep 07
Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Endorsed by APEC Summit
21 world leaders endorse proposal for new effort to safeguard the rich marine resources of the Indo-Pacific region

Jakarta Post 17 Sep 07
Triangle drive on coral reefs and food security
Abdul Halim and Sheldon Cohen, Jakarta

During the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Sydney over the past weekend, 21 world leaders endorsed a new proposal to safeguard the rich marine resources of the Indo-Pacific region for future generations.

The Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security aims to bring together six governments in a multilateral partnership to conserve the extraordinary marine life in the region.

The proposal was endorsed in the APEC Leaders' Declaration on Climate Change, Energy Security and Clean Development, after being initially put forward by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia.

The importance of the marine resources within the Coral Triangle in meeting human needs, and the threats to these resources, provide the rationale for this initiative.

With its rich supply of fish and other marine life, the Coral Triangle directly sustains the lives of more than 120 million people living within this six-country area, and benefits millions more worldwide, who depend on seafood as a major source of protein, income and livelihood.

In addition to fisheries benefits, healthy coral reefs and their associated marine ecosystems in the area also provide an engine of tourism-based economic growth.

These marine ecosystems also play an important role in protecting coastal communities from damage by tropical storms and tsunamis, reducing future reconstruction costs and the need for international reconstruction aid.

And using one method applied by the World Resources Institute, the total economic value of just the coral reefs and associated natural habitats of the Coral Triangle is estimated to be US$2.3 billion per year -- the value of the tuna and other fisheries would be much higher.

The Coral Triangle covers all or parts of the exclusive economic zones of Indonesia (Central and Eastern), Timor Leste, the Philippines, Malaysia (part of Borneo), Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

Defined by areas containing 500 or more species of coral, the Coral Triangle is the epicenter of marine life abundance and diversity on the planet. It has more than 600 coral species in some areas (more than 75 percent of all known coral species), 53 percent of the world's coral reefs, 3,000 fish species and the greatest extent of mangrove forests of any region in the world.

As such, it sometimes is referred to as the "Amazon of the Seas".

The Coral Triangle sits at a crossroads of rapidly expanding populations and economic growth. Growing demand from both international and local markets for this wealth of marine resources presents particular challenges for achieving sustainable management.

It is therefore not surprising that the area's marine life -- and the many goods and services it provides -- are at risk, threatened by a range of factors, such as: over-fishing, unsustainable fishing methods, land-based sources of pollution and climate change.

Sustainable management of these marine resources is also confounded by its geography.

Unlike ecosystems located within the exclusive economic zone and management purview of a single country, this area involves the waters of multiple countries; effective management requires multinational collaboration.

This new Coral Triangle Initiative could address these threats and ensure long-term benefits from the marine biological resources of the region.

Climate change is also a key issue to consider under the CTI.

As part of a comprehensive approach to climate change, the future impacts of climate change on our marine and coastal natural resources must be addressed, in addition to significant reductions in emissions.

Adaptation actions that can help to sustain these marine biological resources -- such as creating networks of marine reserves effectively designed to be resilient to climate change -- could be a central element of the CTI and essential to the human communities who depend on these resources.

Reefs in the Coral Triangle, especially in the Indonesia portion, have proven to be the most resilient in the world to coral bleaching caused by sea temperature rise.

This is due to a variety of conditions unique to Indonesia, such as deep (cold) water upwellings and the so-called Indonesia "throughflow" of water connecting the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

In short, even under worse-case climate change scenarios, many reef systems in Indonesia -- if properly protected from other unsustainable threats -- will survive.

The proposal for the six governments of the region to join together to address these issues under a new Coral Triangle Initiative, and the recent endorsement of this CTI at the APEC summit, should be strongly applauded.

Now comes the hard work; to translate this general proposal into specific and meaningful actions.

To do this, in the months ahead, these "CT6" governments in the Coral Triangle region will discuss and hopefully agree on concrete, quantitative targets and timetables. These commitments would have the greatest impact if they were adopted at the highest political level, by heads of state -- perhaps at a Coral Triangle summit meeting sometime in 2008. Such high-level commitments would likely stimulate significant international funding support by donor governments, multilateral agencies and others.

Prior to a possible summit next year, the upcoming UN COP-13 meeting on climate change in Bali (in December) offers an important opportunity for ministers or other high-level officials of these six governments to advance the CTI.

And during the COP-13 meeting, visits could be arranged to nearby Komodo National Park, which is located within the Coral Triangle, to show policy-makers first-hand some of the real-world issues that need to be considered when discussing actions under the CTI.

An innovative public-private partnership supports the management of the park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Effective management in the park since 1996 showed that dynamite fishing has been abated by 90 percent and hard coral cover has increased by 60 percent from 1996 to 2002.

What would meaningful commitments under a CTI actually look like? What types of targets and timetables could be adopted by governments?

Some topics worth considering include: (i) extent and effective management of networks of marine protected areas, (ii) an "ecosystem approach" to fisheries management, (iii) sustainable funding for marine and coastal resources management, and (iv) better industry practices.

Organizations like The Nature Conservancy and WWF stand ready to assist Indonesia and the other "CT6" governments in implementing such commitments.

Abdul Halim and Sheldon Cohen work for The Nature Conservancy, respectively as deputy program manager for the Coral Triangle Center and senior policy coordinator for the Coral Triangle. They can be contacted at ahalim@tnc.org and scohen@tnc.org.

Jakarta Post 17 Sep 07
Saving marine resources through Coral Triangle Initiative

The Indonesian government has invited six Asia-Pacific countries to take part in a joint effort to preserve marine and biological resources through the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security in the Coral Triangle Area located in the Asia-Pacific region.

The initiative was proposed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during the recent APEC meeting in Australia.

Country director of The Nature Conservancy's Indonesia Program, Rili Djohani, talked with The Jakarta Post's Desy Nurhayati about the issue.

Question:What is the Coral Triangle Initiative?

Answer:The Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) was initiated by The Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry in an effort to safeguard the biological resources of marine and coastal areas. Indonesia has the richest coral in the world, both in its quantity and diversity, especially in the seas in the central and eastern areas of the country.

The area, called the Coral Triangle, is adjacent to the Philippines, Malaysia (Sabah), East Timor, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Through the CTI, we are encouraging the government to preserve the abundant marine resources by establishing multilateral partnerships with the other countries.

We are very pleased that our President has his own vision concerning environmental problems and has addressed the issue during the APEC meeting. Hopefully, his proposal will be a good start for engaging the countries so as to cooperate in safeguarding the area.

How big are the biological resources in the Coral Triangle area?

The Coral Triangle area stretches from the central part of Indonesia to the Solomon Islands, and up from the Indian Ocean across the Philippines to the Pacific Ocean. Scientists have conducted many studies and identified the area as the epicenter of marine diversity on the planet.

It is home to more than 600 coral species, or 75 percent of all known coral species, and around 3,000 fish species. Most of them are endemic. The triangular-shaped region also serves as the spawning and juvenile growth site for various kinds of fish.

Aside from its biodiversity, the area also supports the livelihoods of over 120 million people living along the coastlines of the six countries, and benefits billions more worldwide.

The marine resources also contribute to the nature-based tourism industry in the region. Tourists from around the world visit the area to enjoy the beauty within the ocean that they could never find at other sites.

Coral species in the area have survived for millions of years. Even today, they are resilient to the effects of mass coral bleaching and global warming, thanks to the ocean currents that bring cold water around the area, thus protecting the coral from damaging effects.

Corals are critically important for the well-being of other populations as they are the lungs of the ocean.

But the species are now threatened by overfishing, destructive fishing and coastal development. Therefore, it is our responsibility to save the area, not only environmentally, but also economically. It would be a shame if we lost these resources, especially the coral.

They are very diverse, resilient and populous. Once they're destroyed, we will likely never get them back.

What constraints do you see in preserving our marine resources?

We lack human resources trained in marine conservation. The government once had a maritime training center for civil servants, NGOs and the public, but it was closed in 1992.

Another constraint is that there are so many threats against our oceans, including overfishing and destructive fishing. Our species are at risk from such threats.

In recent years, the central government and local administrations, NGOs and communities have taken action to protect the marine ecosystem. And the number of protected species has increased over the last several years, but we need to have better management and enforcement.

Indeed, the government has conducted training in forestry and fishery protection. But there has been no training in marine conservation. We hope that the government will reestablish the training center so as to produce more trained personnel.

What do you think about our country's efforts so far to safeguard marine areas and their resources?

We see that the government has been paying attention to this issue and has done much to preserve our marine biological resources. Cooperation between the central government and the local administrations has improved. Local people have also played an important role in preserving marine areas.

However, policy and enforcement needs to be improved. Marine law enforcers should have better knowledge about biological resources, especially protected species.

In 2000, The Nature Conservancy established the Coral Triangle Center, which is based in Bali. The center is aimed at addressing threats to the world's most diverse oceans, and works to establish protected marine areas.

Our approaches are on-site conservation, technical support such as training, and policy formulation. We have managed to establish marine conservation areas at Komodo Island in East Nusa Tenggara, Wakatobi in Southeast Sulawesi, Raja Ampat in West Papua and Derawan in East Kalimantan.

We need the government to give us support so that we can establish more conservation areas to protect more species.

What are your expectations now that the government has proposed the initiative?

The government's action to reach out to neighboring countries during the APEC meeting has been a good political sign. We need those countries to establish joint forces for better management and enforcement in the Coral Triangle area.

We expect that the government will immediately take pro-active measures, not merely make political commitments.

We will meet with the other stakeholders to discuss a work program as a follow-up to the CTI and to provide us with a clear framework about what we can do under the scheme. We also need to find out how committed the other five countries are to the initiative.

Hopefully, we can present the implementation plan to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali in December to draw the attention of the international community.

It is hoped that the CTI will not only attract the political commitment of the countries involved, but also attract international funding from government institutions, NGOs and the private sector.

We are optimistic that the CTI program will be successful.

In the short term, it will help restore the Coral Triangle area, parts of which have been degraded by human action, while in the long term it will preserve the biological resources, especially coral and fish, for future generations.

The Nature Conservancy 10 Sep 07
Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Endorsed by APEC Summit
21 world leaders endorse proposal for new effort to safeguard the rich marine resources of the Indo-Pacific region

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — September 10, 2007 — At yesterday’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, 21 world leaders endorsed a new proposal to safeguard the rich marine resources of the Indo-Pacific region for future generations.

The Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) on Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security aims to bring together six governments in a multilateral partnership to conserve the extraordinary marine life in the region.

The proposal was endorsed in the Sydney APEC Leaders’ Declaration on Climate Change, Energy Security and Clean Development. U.S. President George W. Bush welcomed this Initiative during the Summit.

The Coral Triangle (CT) covers all or parts of the exclusive economic zones of Indonesia (Central and Eastern), East Timor, the Philippines, Malaysia (part of Borneo), Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

Defined by areas containing 500 or more species of coral, the Coral Triangle, sometimes referred to as the “Amazon of the Seas”, is the epicenter of marine life abundance and diversity on the planet. It has more than 600 coral species in some areas (more than 75% of all known coral species), 53% of the world’s coral reefs, 3,000 fish species, and the greatest extent of mangrove forests of any region in the world.

According to scientists, these marine biological resources are at risk, threatened by a range of factors, such as over-fishing, destructive fishing practices, pollution and climate change.

This new initiative would address these threats and ensure long-term benefits from the marine biological resources of the region.

Rebecca Patton, Chief Conservation Strategies Officer with The Nature Conservancy, and WWF US’s Chief Conservation Officer, Ginette Hemley, praised the endorsement of this new initiative. “The Coral Triangle Initiative is an incredible step forward for conservation. The protection of these coral reefs and the life they support will help our planet cope with a changing climate and ensure the livelihoods for well over 100 million people,” noted Patton.

“The initiative shown by the APEC economies is to be applauded,” Hemley added.

The biological resources of the Coral Triangle directly sustain the lives of over 120 million people living within this area, and benefit millions more worldwide. Primary human benefits include:
* Livelihoods, income, and food security -- particularly for populations living along coastlines within the region
* Total annual value of coral reefs, mangroves & associated natural habitats within the CT are estimated at US $2.3 billion
* Tuna spawning & nursery grounds support a multi-billion tuna industry, and provide for millions of consumers worldwide
* Healthy marine resources contribute to a growing nature-based tourism industry in the region
* Healthy reefs systems and mangroves protect coastal communities from storms and tsunamis, reducing future reconstruction costs and the need for international aid

Possible linkages between the CTI and climate change were highlighted during the APEC Summit.

As part of a comprehensive approach to climate change, the future impacts of climate change on our marine and coastal natural resources must be addressed in addition to significant reductions in emissions.

Adaptation actions that can help to protect and sustain these resources, such as creating networks of marine reserves that are effectively designed for resilience to climate change, would be a central element of the CTI and essential to the human communities who depend on these resources.
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