Building Marine Protected Area Management Capacity in Timor-Leste

In an effort to strengthen marine protected area management in Timor-Leste, Coral Triangle Center, in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, conducted Training of Trainer (TOT) on Marine Protected Area (MPA) Fundamentals in Dili on January 23-27, 2017.

The MPA Fundamentals course is one of three curricula designed by CTC and NOAA for a regional training program for the six Coral Triangle countries.

The training covers marine ecology, biodiversity and watershed connections, stakeholder engagement, management planning, strategic management, building partnerships, monitoring and management effectiveness, coastal and marine spatial planning, and more.

Twenty-one prospective trainers from various institutions attended the training, including government ministries and universities. They are expected to conduct similar trainings in the future.

“This is a very good training. We need to learn all of the knowledge that the trainers gave related to MPA so we can implement it for MPA development in Timor-Leste,” said Mr. Celestino Da Cunha Barreto (Director of Fisheries) during the training opening.

Participants also visited Hera, northeast of Dili, to learn about marine resource utilization, MPA development, management, and community perceptions. They developed field trip scenarios useful for future trainings in Timor-Leste.

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