CTI-CFF Sets Roadmap for Seascapes Working Group

The CTI-CFF held its first Seascape Working Group Meeting in Sanur, Indonesia, on April 16-17, 2013, to develop a roadmap of activities and review existing seascape and other large-scale marine planning work underway in the Coral Triangle. During the meeting, working group members from Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste committed to move forward in implementing their respective programs in support of the CTI Regional Plan of Action Goal to ensure that priority seascapes are designated and effectively managed.

The working group members agreed to focus on capacity-building and sustainable financing efforts and to ensure that activities are well coordinated and reported in the next CTI-CFF Senior Officials Meeting later this year.

“We have finalized our working group terms of reference, including the work-plan, which reflect the strong commitment of the six CTI countries to work together on strengthening the Seascape Working Group,” said Dr. Subandono Diposaptono, the working group chair. “This will give direction on how we move forward to synergize our activities with the other CTI working groups.”

The working group meeting was hosted by the Indonesia CTI National Coordinating Committee (NCC) in collaboration with the Government of Australia, Conservation International, and the CTI-CFF Interim Regional Secretariat. The working group’s terms of reference also build on the CTI Seascapes Guidebook developed by CTI partner Conservation International, as well as technical work on Seascapes initiated by The Nature Conservancy and WWF.