World soon to watch ocean conference in Manado

Fardah, Antara 25 Apr 09;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Manado, a pleasant city with a population of over 417,000, will be in the international spotlight during the upcoming World Ocean Conference(WOC) and Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Summit to be held May 11-15, 2009.

About 2,900 participants from 121 countries are expected to take part in the WOC, the CTI Summit, and associated events. They will stay among other things in 18 star-rated hotels and 24 non-star hotels.

"The central government has met all its commitments to securing infrastructure, roads, bridges, electricity, clean water, land and sea transport and increase flight frequencies," North Sulawesi Governor Sarundajang said last Wednesday (April 22), after meeting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to report preparations for the WOC and CTI Summit to be held in the North Sulawesi capital of Manado.

The WOC on May 11-14 which aims to build a commitment for sustainable management of marine resources will be themed "Climate Change Impacts on Oceans and The Role of Oceans in Climate Change".

An Indonesian professor of oceanography from Diponegoro University in Semarang, Central Java, told The Jakarta Post daily that Indonesia 75 percent of whose national territory consists of water hoped the conference would produce something tangible to assist its 17,480 islands in countering the impact of global warming.

During the WOC, ministers, senior officials, and oceanographers from all over the world will discuss the complex relationship between the oceans and climate change.

One the one hand, the oceans play a major role in determining the world`s climate system and are believed to function as a carbon sink. On the other hand, the increasing rate of global climate change in recent times is threatening marine life and the livelihood of the people. particularly those living in coastal areas.

"Combined, the Earth`s land and ocean sinks absorb about half of all carbon dioxide emissions from human activities," Dr Paul Fraser, a climatologist from Australia, said in an article published by Science Daily in 2007.

Meanwhile, Dr Anthony Richardson, from the University of Queensland, told Science Daily in 2008 that "marine ecosystems are undoubtedly under-resourced, overlooked and under threat and our collective knowledge of impacts on marine life is a mere drop in the ocean."

Coral Triangle
On May 15, six countries grouped in CT-6 (Coral Triangle-6) will hold the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Summit also in Manado. Australia and the United States will attend the Summit as observers.

Leaders of the CT-6 member countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor Leste) are expected to issue a Regional Action Plan.

The Regional Action Plan would consist of five points, respectively on seascapes, the implementation of ecosystem-based fishery management, protected marine areas, adaption to climate change, and cutting the number of endangered marine species on the list of the International Union For the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Indonesian Marine and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi said a press statement recently.

The coral reefs are known as the Amazon of the Seas because of their rich biodiversity. The coral reef triangle that covers the six countries is 75,000 square kilometers wide and has 500 coral reef species and more than 3,000 fish species.

The coral reefs in the area are also a source of livelihood for 120 population, and a place of tuna mating and a source of regional economy with money in circulation reaching US$2.3 billion a year.

Manado will also host an International Symposium on Ocean Science, Technology and Policy, on May 12-14, a Global Ocean Policy Day on May 13, and an International Ocean Science, Technology and Industry Exhibition, May 11-15, coinciding with the WOC.

The symposium will discuss topics on Sustainable Marine Tourism, Small Island Development, Coral Reef Management, and Fisheries Assessment and Management
Some other side events will also include North Sulawesi Cultural Week, Indo Aqua 2009, and Marine Scout Jamboree, using the Landing Platform Dock Vessel of the Indonesian Navy.

During their sailing journey from Jakarta to Manado, the scouts from the country`s 33 provinces will organize various activities on board the vessel, including lectures on marine topics, various exercises and drills, and cultural performances.

A "Sail Bunaken" fleet review is also scheduled to be held in North Sulawesi waters May 12-20, 2009. A total of 18 foreign warships from several countries and 30 Indonesian warships have confirmed participation in the event, the North Sulawesi Naval Base (Lantamal-VIII) commander, Commodore Willem Rampangiley, said in Manado recently.

The United States will send three warships and one aircraft carrier to take part in the fleet review in North Sulawesi waters. Apart from the fleet review, the event`s
organizing committee will also hold a yacht rally from Darwin (Australia) to Manado, a fly pass, a city long march and provide social services.

UNEP Support
The United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) has expressed its support to the Indonesian initiative to host WOC, and is ready to cooperate with Indonesia to promote the outcome of WOC 2009 and the Manado Ocean Declaration (MOD) into the UN System and to present the outcome to the Conference of the Parties (COP) 15 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen, December 2009.

During the opening of the 25th Season of the UNEP Governing Council Meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, February 16, 2009, UNEP Executive Director Dr Achim Steiner said that WOC 2009 was expected to put high awareness on Ocean and Climate Change into the UNEP activities and this will bring oceans into the picture of UNEP`s future programs.

The draft of a road map is being discussed between UNEP and Indonesia to bring the WOC 2009 result into the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, next December, in which an `Ocean Day will be organized by UNEP in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The WOC also received support from UNESCO (United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization) which will also send its representative in the conference in Manado.

Responses of NGOs
A number of international NGOs such as WWF, TNC, CI, GEF, ADB, and Worldfish, are also expected to participate in the WOC.

Several Indonesian NGOs have voiced their views on the upcoming ocean and climate change conference.

Apart from focusing on the relationship between oceans and climate change, the NGOs hoped that the conference would also discuss overfishing and poaching.

The government should protect Indonesia`s traditional fishermen and seas from poaching and exploitation by advanced countries, M Riza Damanik, secretary general of KIARA (People`s Coalition for Fishery Justice) said in a rally in front of the Japanese embassy in Jakarta, last Wednesday (April 22), to observe the Earth Day.

KIARA joined an environmental NGO coalition which included the Committee of the Indonesian National Fishermen Organization (KPNNI), The Mining Advocacy Network (JATAM), The Indonesian Environmental Forum (WALHI), The Study Center of Marine Development and Maritime Civilization (PK2PM) and the Anti Debt Coalition (KAU), in the rally.

The NGOs said traditional fishermen and people living in coastal areas were prone to the impacts of climate change due to human-induced environmental damage, and over exploitation and poaching of natural resources.

"Today`s ecological crisis leading to climate change, is more due to natural resource overexploitation by advanced states such as Japan, the United States, and Australia, which have ignored sustainable development principles," Riza Damanik said.

Overexploitation by advanced countries would continue if the Indonesian government failed to carry out its diplomatic mission to save the oceans and traditional fishermen at the upcoming WOC Manado, he said.

Indonesia`s marine wealth has been poached by 10 countries, namely Thailand, the Philippines, Taiwan, South Korea, Panama, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia, and
Myanmar, he said.

"Around 30-50 percent of the total national fish catchment are traded in global markets illegally every year. Moreover, 90 percent of the national shrimp catchment are not intended to meet domestic consumption," he said.

Marine and Fishery Minister Freddy Numberi earlier said that Indonesia lost around Rp30 trillion annually due to fish poaching activities.

Manado which offers a variety of natural panoramas with beaches, hills, volcanic mountains and scenic plateaus, could hopefully inspire oceanographic and climate scientists as well as government officials to produce significant and useful formulations at the conference, summit and symposium to save Planet Earth.

Beautiful and biodiversity-rich Bunaken Marine Park, which is just about 10 km from Menado and is being recommended as a World Natural Heritage Site by UNESCO, will surely be able to give the participants a concrete example of a marine treasure which must be protected.*(*)