The Government of Timor-Leste has established two marine protected areas (MPAs) as part of ongoing efforts to safeguard the country’s marine resources.

Letters of agreement for the Atauro and Batugade MPAs have been finalized, with the Atauro MPA formally established, according to a visiting team from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Three CTI-CFF countries took significant steps this month toward ratification of the Agreement establishing the permanent CTI-CFF Regional Secretariat.

Bolstered by an emerging regional identity, the CTI-CFF member countries are making tangible progress toward long-term coastal and marine management goals, as well as the policy and management practices needed to halt and reverse destructive trends that have led to—and threaten further—fisheries and marine habitat collapse in the Coral Triangle.

Noting a largely unmet need for integrated guidelines for practitioners who wish to design marine reserves that simultaneously address objectives on fisheries, biodiversity, and climate change, a paper published in a recent issue of the journal Coastal Management (external link) presents a set of ecological considerations and guidelines for multi-objective marine reserve network design.

The total area of coral reef habitats in the Coral Triangle that are legally protected has reached nearly 8,000 square kilometers—just shy of the CTI-CFF target for 2020—but only a small fraction of these reef areas is truly effectively managed, according to a recent special edition of the journal Coastal Management (external link).

In response to priorities identified in their National Plan of Action (NPOA) for CTI-CFF, the Arnavon Islands community in Solomon Islands has taken the lead in collecting data on sea level rise to monitor changes in beach movement that affect nesting sea turtles, Henry Kaniki, Project Coordinator for the Arnavon Community Marine Conservation Area (ACMCA), reported in the Solomon Star News (external link).

A team from the University of Queensland (UQ) Catlin Seaview Survey visited the Philippines in March to assess the state of coral reefs across large stretches of the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park.

The Catlin Seaview Survey, a major project of UQ’s Global Change Institute, is a pioneering scientific expedition revealing the impacts of environmental change on the world’s coral reefs. The researchers used a specialized high-resolution panoramic camera system mounted on an underwater scooter to survey extensive reef areas within the park.

(March 26, 2014) CTI-CFF Partners are rolling out plans for a region-wide campaign to celebrate Coral Triangle Day (CT Day) in just over two months.

First held on June 9, 2012, CT Day was officially recognized by CTI-CFF at their 4th Ministerial Meeting in Putrajaya, Malaysia, in November 2012. This recognition helped raise the profile of CT Day as a regional event. As a result, on June 9, 2013, CTI-CFF Partners recorded remarkable participation, with more than 30,000 people involved in over 60 activities across the region.

CTI-CFFCoordination Mechanisms Working Group (CMWG) Meeting, April 22, 2014, Bali, Indonesia

For further details about this activity contact Ms. Lydia Napitupulu at cti.cmwg@gmail.com

2nd CTI-CFF Appointments Committee Meeting, March 27, Jakarta Indonesia

For more details about this activity, please contact Dr. Hendra Siry, Secretary for Coordination and External Affairs, CTI-CFF Interim Regional Secretariat. Email: hendrasiry@gmail.com