Coral Triangle States Advance Commitment to Marine

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 000322 SIPDIS EAP/RPP FOR AWYCKOFF, WBEHN, SGARRET EAP/MTS/MLS FOR DESKOFFS OES FOR CDAWSON, KMILTON, EROSE, NFITE USAID/EGAT FOR BBEST, CBARBER; ANA FOR JWILSON, MMELNYK COMMERCE FOR NOAA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV EAID AORC EFIS KGHG IN TH SUBJECT: Coral Triangle States Advance Commitment to Marine Biodiversity Ref: A) Manila 0248; (B) 08 State 103448; (C) 08 Jakarta 03355; (D) 08 Kuala Lumpur 0736; (E) 08 Jakarta 1990; (F) 08 Kuala Lumpur 0869; (G) 08 Kuala Lumpur 0668; (H) 07 State 83478 BANGKOK 00000322 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. SUMMARY: Officials from the six nations of the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI) made steady progress towards a comprehensive coastal and marine management framework at the fourth meeting of the CTI Coordination Committee in Manado, Indonesia from January 28-30, 2009. Delegates agreed on an adjusted roadmap leading up to the CTI Summit that will be held on May 15, 2009 in conjunction with the World Oceans Conference in Manado. Delegates reviewed progress of the Working Groups on Coordination Mechanisms, Finance and Monitoring and Evaluation after the second Senior Officials Meeting in Manila (Ref A). The third Senior Officials and Ministerial meeting will be in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea from March 9-11, 2009. Goals for the March Ministerial meeting include endorsement of the CTI Regional Plan of Action reaffirming commitment by the six states to conserve the Earth's greatest marine biodiversity zone while effectively managing fisheries, food security, and poverty reduction. END SUMMARY. The Coral Triangle Initiative -------------- ¶2. The "Coral Triangle" includes the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, and Papua New Guinea. The 5.7 million square km area of ocean and islands has the highest marine biodiversity on earth. It provides livelihood for 120 million people and food for many more. The area is threatened by over- and destructive fishing, land- and sea-based pollution, and climate change (Ref B). The CTI has made steady progress since Indonesian President Yudhoyono first proposed this multilateral partnership in August 2007 to preserve the area's resources, manage at-risk fisheries, and ensure regional food security. The CTI builds upon over a decade of U.S.-investment in coastal resource management, fisheries and marine-protected area work in the region, programs such as the USAID Sulu-Sulawesi Seas Marine Ecoregion Program, USAID bilateral programs in Indonesia and the Philippines, and State-funded marine and coastal programs in the South Pacific. U.S. Support to the Coral Triangle Initiative -------------- ¶3. The USG initially announced intended CTI support of $4.3 million during the first CTI Senior Officials Meeting, held in Bali in December 2007 (Ref B). In recognition of the CTI's potential, USG pledges have grown and now approach $40 million. In addition to those pledges, other USG programs support the CTI, including USAID bilateral coastal-marine management programs in Indonesia and the Philippines. Post's International Visitor and Science Fellows Programs have both focused on the CTI. National Science Foundation and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists support CTI-related research involving U.S. universities. ¶4. USG support has helped to leverage other financing. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will administer a four-year, $63 million Global Environment Facility grant that includes projects from UN agencies. A "Program Integrator" is supporting and helping to coordinate the programs and activities of USG CTI partners and other multilateral and bilateral donors to the CTI. Prior to the Manado meeting, USAID hosted the third CTI Development Partners meeting. The ADB will host the fourth Partners meeting in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea and the government of Australia will host the fifth Partners meeting after the CTI Summit in May. The USG, ADB, Australian Government, NGO partners, and international organizations continue to harmonize approaches to CTI support and development of a partnership plan to build capacity. CTI Coordination Committee Meeting Outcomes -------------- ¶5. At the fourth Coordination Committee Meeting (CCC4),delegates reviewed annexes to the draft CTI Regional Plan of Action (RPoA) addressing Coordination Mechanisms, Financial Resources and Monitoring/Evaluation after presentations by the working group for each annex. They approved an adjusted roadmap to the third Senior Officials Meeting (SOM3) and Ministerial meeting March 9-11 and the CTI Summit on May 15. BANGKOK 00000322 002.2 OF 003 ¶6. Workshops are planned prior to SOM3 in order to finalize the annexes. The CTI Regional Secretariat (currently hosted by the Government of Indonesia) announced that the National Organizing Committee of the World Oceans Conference will handle the diplomatic, security, and logistics issues for the CTI Summit. The Secretariat, with approval of the CT6 countries, will handle the Summit content. The CTI Coordination Committee reviewed a draft Summit Leaders Declaration. The Declaration will include endorsement of the Port Moresby Draft of the CTI Regional Plan of Action, a call for support from donor partners and the mobilization of resources, expression of thanks to existing donor partners, and instructions for implementation of the Regional Action Plan. The CTI Secretariat plans to distribute documents to Foreign Ministries and CTI focal point ministries by February 16. Permanent Secretariat -------------- ¶7. Both the Indonesian and the Philippine governments offered to host the permanent Regional Secretariat, which the Secretariat Committee recommended be created within the next two years. The Indonesian Minister for Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Mr. Freddy Numberi reiterated the GOI's strong support for the CTI. Note: There is no indication yet as to the choice for the Secretariat or when that decision will be made. End Note. Immediate Challenges -------------- ¶8. The six CTI countries have yet to complete National Plans of Action (NPoAs) and delegates agreed that the NPoAs should be finalized by all six countries as soon as possible. The Committee also agreed that a list of concrete national actions by each country should be prepared by SOM3 as an annex to the RPoA. The plans will be carried out by National Coordination Committees (NCCs) in each country and include concrete activities designed to implement the Regional Plan of Action (RPoA) based on specific country contexts and needs. Countries were reminded that USG funding is available to support preparation of the national action planning process in each country. Next Steps and Calendar -------------- ¶9. The CTI Roadmap presented a calendar of activities, including: LATE FEBRUARY 2009 - Special Ministerial and Summit planning meeting proposed by Indonesia to advance preparations for the Ministerial and Summit, in Jakarta. Separately Indonesia will convene, with USAID support, a workshop to finalize the Coordination annex to the RPOA. Venue to be determined. MARCH 9-11, 2009 - Third CTI Senior Officials Meeting (SOM3) and Ministerial meeting in Port Moresby to endorse the Regional Plan of Action and CTI Summit Declaration. The ADB will host the fourth CTI Development Partners Meeting March 12. Ambassador Rowe plans to host a reception for CTI delegates and partners in Port Moresby. MAY 8, 2009 - Summit Planning Meeting in Manado, Indonesia MAY 12-14, 2009 - World Oceans Conference (WOC) in Manado, including Fifth Senior Officials Meeting (May 11-12),WOC exhibitions (starting May 12),CTI Partners Meeting (May 12),scientific symposia (May 12-13),Global Oceans Policy Day (May 13),Ministerial Meeting of WOC on adoption of Manado Ocean Declaration (May 14). MAY 15, 2009 - The CTI Inaugural Summit (following the World Oceans Conference) will adopt the Regional Plan of Action and announce at least one concrete initiative of each country. MAY 16, 2009 - CTI Stakeholders' Forum from across the region and the world to share the results of the Summit, raise awareness of the Coral Triangle Initiative, and advance a dialogue on ways stakeholders could contribute to the CTI and coordinate activities. REFERENCES AND POINTS OF CONTACT -------------- ¶10. (U) Washington POCs -- State: Christine Dawson and Kelly Milton, BANGKOK 00000322 003.2 OF 003 OES/ENRC and Ariel Wyckoff, EAP/RSP; USAID: Barbara Best, EGAT/NRM/W, John Wilson ME/TS and Charles Barber EGAT/ESP/MPS. Regional POCs: USAID - Winston Bowman, RDMA Bangkok; State - Howell Howard, Regional ESTHoff. USAID has a full time Regional Environment Specialist serving as Cognizant Technical Officer for the NGO Consortium Grant and the Program Integrator: Rene Acosta, racosta@usaid.gov. CTI secretariat website: http://www.cti-secretariat.net/. Map of the coral triangle: http://conserveonline.org/workspaces/tnccoral triangle/. COMMENT: -------------- ¶11. Coming this far with a difficult international management agreement for scarce resources has been a massive effort by CT6 officials as well as USAID, State, the NGOs, the Asian Development Bank/Global Environmental Fund, the German and Australian governments and others. The positive atmosphere among the Senior CT6 officials at SOM2 (Ref A) was palpable and a good harbinger for the future. USG support and funds appear to be paying off, but the CT6 and its supporters still have much work to do. The broad partnership of governments, expert NGOs and international institutions such as the ADB/GEF and UN is making USG funds a force multiplier. ¶12. Challenges remain, such as the national plans that will be critical for management, and the policy debates that still exist in some CT6 nations. Ultimately the CTI could achieve a broader goal of bringing more Western pacific nations into regional fisheries management organizations and common schemes for improving food security and addressing climate change impacts. END COMMENT. ¶13. This is a joint State-USAID Cable. JOHN