WCRC TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF CORAL REEFS by Fardah

      Jakarta, April 16, 2014 (Antara) - North Sulawesi is gearing up for  the World Coral Reef Conference (WCRC) which will be held in the provincial capital of Manado, May 14-17, 2014.

         The WCRC is as a follow up of the World Ocean Conference )WOC) and the Coral Triangle Initiatives (CTI) summit in 2009 that issued the Declaration of Manado aimed at protecting and preserving coral reefs.

         The upcoming conference is expected to help promote sustainable utilization and management of coral reefs in a number of countries, according to Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Agung Laksono on April 15, 2014, after chairing a ministerial coordination meeting on the implementation of the WCRC.

         "It will promote the preservation of beaches that have coral reefs, such as those in Indonesia and other member countries of the CTI, to protect coral reefs from being damaged," the minister said.   
     The coordination meeting was attended by, among others, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Cicip Sutardjo and Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Mari Elka Pangestu, the Cabinet Secretariat said on its official website.

          The WCRC will also promote coral reefs as a future economic aspect for the international community and help encourage the international community to respect coral reefs as future food resources.

           The main agenda of the WCRC will include a business forum, an exhibition, the blue carbon symposium, the Coral Triangle Initiative on coral reefs, and fisheries and food security conference.

          A ministerial meeting on CTI and the Arafura and Timor Seas Ecosystem Action (ATSEA) will also be organized on the sidelines of the conference.

         Among the various issues to be discussed in the meeting will be blue carbon, which helps to reduce the emissions of gases, including carbon dioxide.

         Around 1.5 thousand delegates are expected to participate in the WCRC, including representatives from Australia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Island, Japan, the United States, and Italy.

          The conference will cost around Rp20 billion derived from the State Budget (APBN) and the North Sulawesi Budget (APBD), according to Ronald Sorongan, the head of the North Sulawesi maritime affair and fishery office.

         "Rp15 billion will come from the central government's APBN and Rp5 billion from the North Sulawesi APBD. The implementation of the conference is expected to run smoothly," he noted.

         Secretary of the North Sulawesi maritime affair and fishery office Denie Rawis recently said the provincial administration was ready to organize the conference.

         The implementation of the conference will involve several offices, such as the tourism office, the maritime affairs and fisheries, the education office, the regional development planning office, and the police.

        President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and several other leaders of CTI member nations, such as Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and the Solomon Island are expected to attend the WCRC,        
   Yudhoyono will also inaugurate the secretariat building of CTI  in Kairagi, Manado, on the sidelines of the WCRC.

        North Sulawesi Governor Sinyo Harry Sarundajang earlier said by hosting the WCRC and the new Secretariat of CTI, Manado is expected to be an icon of coral reefs.

         The Coral Triangle Initiative was established under the initiative of Indonesian President Yudhoyono on the sidelines of the December 2007 Bali United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) talks.

        The Indonesian head of state was bestowed with the first-ever "Valuing Nature Award" for his leadership in establishing the multilateral CTI by the Nature Conservancy, World Resources Institute and WWF - three leading global environmental and conservation organizations.      
   The CTI programmes are primarily aimed at the protection and preservation of marine and coastal resources in six countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste. 
    Home to more than 76 percent of all known coral species, 53 percent of the world's coral reefs, and over 37 percent of coral reef fish species, the Coral Triangle is one of the world's most biologically diverse regions.

        As the initiator of CTI, Indonesia is one of the world's largest maritime countries with about 5.8 million square kilometers of marine territory. The country is the global center of marine biodiversity with the most diverse marine ecosystems in the world,  more than 500 species of coral, and at least 3,000 species of fish.        
     According to Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sharif C Sutardjo, the nation has developed a marine conservation area measuring 15.5 million hectares, close to its year 2020 target of 20 million hectares.

          The maritime affairs and fisheries ministry's Director General of maritime, coastal area and small island management, Sudirman Saad, recently claimed that the coral management in Indonesia has been improved thank to the Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management  Program.

         "The program has managed to improved the rehabilitation and management of coral reefs in Indonesia," he said recently.

         Coremap has also helped increase public awareness of the importance of coral reefs, and has encouraged people's participation in the coral preservation efforts, he claimed.

         The government has planned to integrate Coremap with the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) programs.

         An Indonesian NGO called Kiara (People's Coalition for Fishery Justice, however, criticized the plan to integrate Coremap-CTI programs.

         Kiara Secretary General Abdil Halim recently stated that the integrated Coremap-CTI project will increase Indonesia's debts.  The project will burden the nation financially because its funds worth US$47.38 million come from the World Bank, he pointed out.

         He also demanded the termination of Coremap because the program's accountability was lacking and the spending of its funds was inefficient with many irregularities.

          The NGO said the government should stop the loan project and, instead, should spend the state budget amounting to US$5.74 million (around Rp64.71 billion) allocated to co-finance the Coremap projects, to build at least 1.2 thousand houses for traditional fishermen. ***3***
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(T.F001/A/F. Assegaf/A. Abdussalam) 16-04-2014 22:39:48