A new Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI), centered around high-level political commitments and proactive implementation by governments of the Coral Triangle area, and supported and carried forward by private sector, international agency and civil society (NGO) partners, could provide a major contribution toward safeguarding the region’s marine and coastal biological resources for the sustainable growth and prosperity of current and future generations.
In August 2007, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia wrote to seven other leaders proposing a new Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security (CTI). Responding positively, the leaders formally endorsed the CTI in the APEC Leaders Declaration on Climate Change, Energy Security and Clean Development in early September. The CTI was again formally endorsed in November by Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) and ASEAN. Prime Minister Somare of Papua New Guinea expressed his support for the CTI in his keynote address to the South Pacific Regional Environment Program’s (SPREP) regional meeting in October. Thus the stage was set for Senior Officials to meet and agree upon a way forward for the CTI.
The six governments met in a first formal CTI Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) in Bali on 6-7 December 2007, where they agreed on:
- A common understanding of the value of the CT’s marine and coastal biological resources;
- A provisional set of nine Guiding Principles;
- A framework for a “CTI Plan of Action” to be developed during 2008 and adopted at the highest political level.
This meeting was followed by a consultation event attended by Senior Officials from Australia, the United States, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and several non-governmental organizations (NGO). Each of the invited guests endorsed the outcomes and made offers of support to the process moving forward.
Following the meeting, representatives from all participating organizations met with President Yudhoyono to report on the outcomes of the CTI Senior Officials Meeting. The President thanked all the CT six governments for their commitment, and the other governments and external partners for their support to conserve marine resources.
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