RDMA Helps Coordinate Six-Nation Coral Triangle Initiative to Protect Species and Improve Livelihoods

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Bangkok, Thailand – USAID’s Regional Development Mission for Asia hosted a meeting in Bangkok to organize the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI), a multinational effort to improve the management of marine and coastal resources in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste, and the Solomon Islands.

The region, known as the Coral Triangle or "Amazon of the Seas" for its biodiversity, is home to half the world’s coral reefs, 3,000 species of fish, and the greatest extent of mangrove forests in the world. Its marine and coastal resources support120 million people, but are threatened by over-fishing, blast and cyanide fishing, global warming,  and sedimentation and other forms of pollution from poor agricultural practices and deforestation.

The RDMA meeting was hosted with the USAID Missions in Jakarta and Manila, the Department of State and other USG agencies in collaboration with CTI donors and development partners. These included the Asian Development Bank, the Global Environment Facility, the U.N. Development Programme, the U.N. Environment Programme, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Bank, the Government of Australia, and ARD, Inc., which will coordinate U.S. support and reporting through an integrated results framework.

In the coming months, the six CTI countries, together with the CTI Secretariat and its technical support groups, will prepare national and regional plans of action to:

• Designate and manage "priority seascapes";
• Apply an "ecosystem approach" to the management of fisheries and other marine resources;
• Establish and manage marine protected areas;
• Apply measures to strengthen resilience and adapt to climate change;
• Strengthen procedures to improve the status of threatened species.

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