All Parties Support CTI Program

JAKARTA, Indonesia - The heads of state and government from six countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Island, and Timor Leste, officially signed a Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Leaders’ Declaration on Friday, May 15, 2009, in Manado. In addition to the Declaration, in the opening of the CTI Summit, all heads of state or government also agreed to formally launch a program on Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Securities and Adaptation to Climate Change (CTI-CFFC), and by acclamation stated to adopt a Regional Plan of Action (RPOA).

The RPOA has five main objectives, namely development of seascape with a priority to marine area; ecosystem-based fishery management; proclaiming and effective management of marine protected area and its networks; climate change adaptation, and preserving threatened species as well as improving their existence.

In the launching of CTI-CFFC, not only international institutions which have so far supported the CTI programs, but also several member countries of CTI have expressed their commitment to providing contribution for the implementation of RPOA and NPOA (National Plan of Actions), among other things: Indonesia with financial contribution amounting to US$5 million, PNG US$2 million, the Philippines US$5 million, and Malaysia US$1 million.

The commitment from the Coral Triangle member countries were not part of those provided by international institutions which have so far expressed their commitment, such as: the USA with committed funds amounting to US$41.6 million (US$1.6 million was presented in an agreement between the Indonesian Marine and Fishery Affairs Ministry - DKP, and NOAA of the USA, Global Environment Facilities (GEF) amounting US$63 million, and Australia amounting Aus$2 million which had earlier stated in an interactive dialog meeting with development partners.

The CTI Summit was the peak event of a series of activities organized coinciding with the World Ocean Conference, in Manado, May 11-15, 2009. The activities were started with a Technical Session on Climate Change with a result of identifying priorities for six countries on the climate change impacts and its adaptation efforts. On May 12-13, 2009, CTI Senior Official Meeting (SOM) was held to prepare the implementation of the CTI Summit.

Now, political support by every country has been given, the plan has been ready, an institution has been set up, funding support as well as technical assistance have been available. The facilities will boost the implementation of the plans which have been agreed upon well. In the CTI partnership dialogue meeting, all countries and international institutions as well as international and national NGOs fully supported the CTI program.

For further information, please contact: Dr. Soen’an H. Poernomo, M.Ed, Head of the Data, Statistic, and Information Center, the Marine and Fishery Affairs Ministry, Mobile Phone No.: +62-8161933911

Source: Indonesian Marine and Fishery Affairs Ministry

For further information, please contact Dr. Soen’an H. Poernomo, M.Ed, Head of the Data, Statistic, and Information Center, the Marine and Fishery Affairs Ministry, Mobile Phone No.: +62-8161933911