Six Nations to Take First Steps on Coral Initiative

Fidelis E. Satriastanti & Arti Ekawati, Jakarta Globe 14 May 09;

Six member countries of the Coral Triangle Initiative of South Pacific nations on Thursday agreed to push ahead to create a secretariat and work out funding later in a bid to protect the region’s fast-diminishing coral reefs, said Freddy Numberi, Indonesia’s minister of maritime affairs and fisheries.

Officials of the six nations — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and the Solomon Islands — were expected to sign what was termed a CTI Leader’s Declaration on May 15.

The secretariat is in the very early stages. Only the United States has confirmed funding, allocating $40 million over five years. The body is seeking $70 million from the Global Environmental Fund, which addresses the funding of global environmental issues, particularly climate change adaptation and mitigation.

An estimated $300 million is believed to be available from various sources for the preservation of the six countries’ coral reefs.

Although no decision has been made on the location of the secretariat, Papua New Guinea has agreed that Indonesia would be a likely location although the Philippines is reportedly also vying for the site, which can be expected to generate one of the world’s top marine research centers.

“We’ve agreed to just use the word secretariat and not permanent secretariat,” said Freddy, who acted as chairman for the preparation meeting Thursday. “It will be discussed at the next meeting in June. But we’re not going to decide whether it’s a mobile or permanent secretariat.”

Financial mechanisms, he said, had not been discussed and would be taken up in June. “However, we’ve agreed that the mechanics will be adjusted according to each country’s action plan.”

Eko Rudianto, the director of ocean landscape at the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, said determining a permanent location for the organization would be complicated and involved more than site availability and government willingness.

“Many things should be considered, since it’s related to multilateral cooperation,” Eko said in an interview in Manado in North Sulawesi where the World Ocean Conference was held. “It won’t be as easy as building a branch office.”

“Funding is really about the … total area of marine conservation in one country, not the location of the secretariat,” Eko said. Nor, he said, would the secretariat’s location give the host country more clout as a decision-maker. “It’s only the place to manage the organization,” he said.

The Phillipines warns against political motives in selecting CTI office
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 15 May 09;

The Philippine delegation to the upcoming Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Summit has warned against political motives in choosing a country as the host for the permanent office of the Coral Triangle Secretariat.

Philippine Agriculture Minister Arthur C. Yap said the implementation of the much-lauded CTI program and its plan of action would depend mostly on the "quality" of the permanent secretariat.

"The choice of the CTI Secretariat has to be internationally and regionally agreed. We must remove any political debate in deciding the host of the permanent office," he said on the sidelines of the Global Ocean Policy Day on Wednesday.

"The *elected* country should be able to listen to opinions and voices from six member countries. No country can monopolize the agenda of the CTI."

Both the Philippines and Indonesia have submitted proposals to host the secretariat.

The final decision will be made at a summit Friday for leaders of the six coral triangle countries - Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Timor Leste and Indonesia.

"We've already offered to host a permanent office and we're very ready to support the CTI program," Yap said.

Senior officials from the six countries are debating crucial issues, including the location for the CTI Secretariat and financial matters, to be officially adopted by the summit.

The leaders will adopt a non-binding document of the CTI regional of plan of action as a guideline to conserve coastal and marine resources within the region. Indonesian Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi was upbeat that all points in the draft declaration, including that on the secretariat, would be agreed upon before the summit.

The CTI budget will come from the six member states and donor countries, including the US and Australia, and international agencies such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and USAID.

The CTI has already received pledges worth US$300 million, including $40 million from the US.

The ADB and GEF plan to raise a total of $25.5 million in funding for Southeast Asia and the Pacific to protect coral reefs, with Southeast Asia to receive $12.3 million.

The coral triangle is home to 76 percent of the world's coral species and 37 percent of its reef fish species, and straddles 75,000 square kilometer of the Indian and Pacific oceans.

Yap lauded the CTI for also discussing food security to eradicate poverty.

"The CTI is a very good step toward protecting marine biodiversity because coral reefs are the center of total marine biodiversity," he said.

"It emphasizes people, poverty eradication and also climate change."

He warned that lack of action to protect coral reefs would place the world and humanity in danger.

Nations launch plan to save 'Amazon of the seas'
Aubrey Belford Yahoo News 15 May 09;

MANADO, Indonesia (AFP) – Leaders from six nations have agreed to work jointly to save Southeast Asia's massive Coral Triangle, considered the world's richest underwater wilderness.

The leaders of East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and the Solomon Islands signed off on proposals to expand maritime sanctuaries and no-fishing zones during talks in Indonesia.

The Coral Triangle Initiative calls for stronger international cooperation to combat illegal fishing and environmental destruction in an area half the size of the United States and home to half the world's coral reefs.

"The Coral Triangle is a globally recognised treasure. It is unique, there is nothing like it on Earth," Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said of the region, which has been compared to the Amazon rainforest for its biodiversity.

Scientists say a combination of climate change, overfishing and pollution is destroying ecosystems in the Triangle, which is a vital source of food for millions of people and a nursery for maritime life from turtles to tuna.

Under the initiative, the littoral countries agreed to expand protected ocean reserves by millions of hectares (acres) and establish joint strategies for identifying key ecosystems and species for conservation.

The initiative calls for fishing to be banned from 20 percent of each major coastal habitat in the Triangle such as coral reefs, mangrove forests and seagrass areas, but set no specific time target.

It also sets targets ranging between 2012 and 2020 for the designation and establishment of "priority seascape" marine reserves and stronger legislation and planning to curb overfishing and protect threatened species.

The agreement also calls for the establishment within four years of a plan to help coastal and small island ecosystems adapt to consequences of climate change such as rising sea levels, warming waters and increases in acidity.

Indonesia -- a massive archipelago of 17,000 islands -- said it would set aside 20 million hectares (49.4 million acres) of maritime conservation parks by 2020, up from 13.4 million currently.

The overall plan however contained no solid combined target on the protected areas.

The agreement was praised by environmental groups as a rare example of high-level leaders backing an ambitious conservation plan.

Conservation International head Peter Seligmann said in a statement, "in 30 years of conservation work, I have never seen anything like this; six leaders signing a commitment to protect their marine resources for the wellbeing of their citizens and future generations."

A report by environmental group WWF this week said climate change could wipe out the Coral Triangle by century's end if nations do not commit to deep cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

The death of the reefs could leave more than 100 million people without livelihoods, triggering destabilising mass migrations to cities and neighbouring countries, it said.

A new round of international climate change talks to replace the Kyoto Protocol will take in the Danish capital Copenhagen in December.