60
July 2008
Moving Forward
By 2012, key players and stakeholders
hope that an alliance of partners will
have implemented a sustainable
seascape strategy through eff ective
conservation interventions designed
for a range of marine biodiversity in the
Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape.
The 2007 Seascape Congress
concluded that future Sulu-Sulawesi
Seascape eff orts should continue to
focus on strengthening a network
of organizations and protected
areas including the tri-national
governance mechanism, motivating
action through communication,
law enforcement, integrating
conservation with livelihood and
economic development, developing
sustainable fi nancing mechanisms
including through user fees, a range
of donors, and oil-and-gas corporate
social responsibility programmes,
accelerating transboundary fi sheries
and species conservation eff orts
(dugongs, cetaceans, whale sharks)
and monitoring and evaluation in
Verde Island Passage, Cagayan Ridge,
Balabac Strait and the Tri-National Sea
Turtle Corridor and potentially the Sulu
Archipelago and/or the Davao–North
Sulawesi corridor.
Donors and funding institutions
have expressed interest to support
the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral
Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security.
These institutions, among others,
include the Asian Development Bank
(ADB), Global Environment Facility
(GEF), the World Wide Fund for Nature
(WWF), Conservation International,
The Nature Conservancy (TNC), U.S.
Agency for International Development
(USAID), and the Australian Agency for
International Development (AusAID).
Proactive and Positive
Despite the current threats to coastal
and marine recourses, the Sulu-Sulawesi
Box 1. Executive Order 578.
Executive Order 578 Establishing the National Policy on Biological Diversity,
Prescribing its implementation throughout the country, particularly in
the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecosystem and the Verde Island Passage Marine
Corridor.
- Prescribes the policy of the state on biological diversity
- Directs concerned government agencies and local government
units to integrate and mainstream the protection, conservation and
sustainable use of biological diversity into their policies, regulations,
programs and processes and to actively collaborate with private
sector and civil society in biodiversity conservation
- Prescribes the development of regulations for the establishment of
critical habitats within key biodiversity areas and guidelines for their
management
- Prescribes the integration of biodiversity impact assessments in
the Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Risk
Assessment processes
- Instructs the Presidential Commission for the Integrated
Conservation and Development for the Sulu-Celebes Seas to update
the SSME conservation plan, create a Task Force to prepare a plan
for and to ensure protection, conservation and sustainable use of
biodiversity in the Verde Island Passage, and develop management
strategies for other SSME biodiversity corridors
- Prescribes the inclusion of budget to support the policy in General
Appropriations proposals to Congress and obliges members
departments of the Presidential Commission and Task Force to share
financial and technical resources
Seas off er opportunities to achieve
conservation, development and
sustainability goals.
Through joint actions and partnership
engagements at the ecoregional level
with complementary initiatives at the
national levels, biodiversity in the Sulu-
Sulawesi Seas can be comprehensively
managed. Short- and long-term actions
could be planned and implemented
in a more systematic and coherent
manner. Due to the large coverage
of the marine ecosystem, fi nancial
resources and technical assistance could
be sourced from many stakeholders at
various levels. Economic, educational,
and recreational initiatives could be
engaged in by local communities who
stand to benefi t from conservation
initiatives for their sustenance and
livelihoods.
61
Tropical Coasts
Table 1. Proposed subprojects of the Coral Triangle Initiative.
Subproject and Partner
Agency
Participating Countries
Funding
Requirements
(in US$ Million)
Coastal and marine resources
management in the Coral
Triangle of the Pacifi c (ADB)
Federated States of
Micronesia, Fiji, Palau,
Papua New Guinea,
Solomon Islands, Timor-
Leste, Vanuatu
$25.85
Coastal and marine resources
management in the Coral
Triangle: Southeast Asia (ADB)
Indonesia, Malaysia
(expected), Philippines
$88.39
Sulu-Celebes Sea Large
Marine Ecosystem and
Adjacent Area Sustainable
Fisheries Management Project
(UNDP)
Indonesia, Malaysia,
Philippines
$6.82
Arafura
and Timor Seas
Ecosystem Action Program
Indonesia, Timor-Leste
$8.42
West Pacifi c-East Asia Oceanic
Fisheries Management Project
(UNDP)
Indonesia, Philippines,
Vietnam
$3.34
International Waters Learning
Exchange and Resource
Network or IW:LEARN (ADB
with UNDP)
Global
$2.72
Strategies for Fisheries Bycatch
Management (FAO)
Cambodia, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Philippines,
Vietnam
$10.26
Adapting to Climate Change
in the Coral Triangle Project
(ADB, UNDP)
Federated States of
Micronesia, Fiji, Palau,
Papua New Guinea,
Solomon Islands, Timor-
Leste, Vanuatu, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Philippines
$40.00
Coral Reef Rehabilitation and
Management Programme III
(The World Bank, ADB)
Indonesia (with possible
regional extension)
$124.00
Integrated
Natural Resources
Management Project (ADB)
Philippines
$105.80
Agusan River Integrated Basin
Management Project (ADB)
Philippines
$55.80
Total
$471.40
Through partnerships among various
stakeholders, diff erent forms and levels
of support, and with the commitment
of local communities, successful
biodiversity conservation is happening.
In the next fi ve years (2008-2013),
partners and stakeholders in the
ecoregion will fi rmly consolidate the
Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape as a political
management regime, recognized and
supported by stakeholders, including
governments, nongovernmental
organizations, and private sector
businesses.
There are new opportunities emerging
in the corridors and across the
Seascape. There are practical prospects
for consolidating MPA networks with
large no-take zones. MPA management
plans and management teams will have
to be developed with full consideration
of the social and economic implications
of MPA establishment. Stakeholders and
local government units are encouraged
to commit additional resources to
support and strengthen communication
and enforcement initiatives. The
former will generate public support
for the MPAs while the latter will aim
to strengthen enforcement from
detection, to arrest, prosecution, and
conviction (CI, 2008).
Vision for 2008-2013
Over the course of the next three years,
partners and stakeholders in Verde
Island Passage, Cagayan Ridge, and the
Sea Turtle Corridors hope to consolidate
MPA networks with corresponding
No Take Zones, formal management
plans, and designated MPA boards
and management teams (Box 3).
Targeted outreach will be conducted
and enforcement strengthened to
increase compliance with MPA and
fi sheries regulations and laws. Means of
compensating fi shers aff ected by the new
No Take Zones will be identifi ed, possibly
through ecotourism development and
a shift to fi shing of small pelagic fi shes