The rehabilitation of Indonesia’s coral reefs will receive more than US$62 million of additional funding from the Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program – Coral Triangle Initiative project.
Washington DC – infoZine – The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved US$47.38 million in financing for the project – the conclusion of a three-phase program which began in 1998. The Project is also supported by a US$10 million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and the Government of Indonesia has pledged US$5.74 million for the 5-year project.
Almost two-thirds of Indonesia’s coral reefs are considered threatened from overfishing, and almost half are considered threatened specifically from destructive fishing practices. Coral Triangle Initiative (COREMAP-CTI) aims to develop an integrated community-based approach to sustainable coastal resources planning and management – a blueprint that the Government of Indonesia may replicate across Indonesia.
“COREMAP-CTI builds on the achievements of previous projects COREMAP I and COREMAP II, which showed the benefits of community participation in coral reef ecosystems management,” says World Bank Country Director for Indonesia Rodrigo Chaves.
“The next challenge is to mainstream this approach into local government and village programs, so that coral reef protection becomes an integral part of development planning and improves the welfare of coastal communities,” adds Chaves.
COREMAP-CTI continues a 15-year partnership between the Government of Indonesia, the World Bank, and the GEF, and will pilot initiatives such as marine spatial planning, community rights-based fisheries, and an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management.
Some 210 village communities in select districts in five provinces – Sikka in East Nusa Tenggara; Selayar and Pangkep in South Sulawesi; Buton and Wakatobi in Southeast Sulawesi; Raja Ampat in West Papua; and Biak in Papua – will take part in COREMAP-CTI.
“This project is situated in the epicenter of marine biodiversity for the world. The coastal and ocean resources in the project area provide critical food, livelihoods, storm protection and tourism opportunities for millions of people in the region and even beyond,” said Gustavo Fonseca, Team Leader Natural Resources at the Global Environment Facility.
COREMAP II, which established an institutional framework that included supporting regulations, capacity building, and decentralized administration of coral reefs at the district level, involved 358 villages in Eastern Indonesia.
COREMAP II also helped establish in 2009 the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI): a partnership with Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Timor Leste, that set a 10-year plan to address the urgent threats facing the region’s marine resources.
COREMAP-CTI will also support 13 Marine Conservation Areas covering some 5.7 million hectares, as well as two Fisheries Management Zones.
The Government of Indonesia has also pledged, by the year 2020, to set aside 20 million hectares of marine space for Marine Conservation Area management; so far, 14 million hectares have been demarcated and 5.5 million hectares have been brought under management plans. The COREMAP-CTI project is the principal mechanism to meet this commitment.
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