CTI-CFF Regional Secretariat's working visit to Australia to foster collaboration in the region

The Executive Director of Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security, Widi A. Pratikto Ph.D. together with Dr. Muhammad Lukman, Senior Manager of Technical Programs of CTI-CFF, paid a courtesy visit to the Australian Government in Canberra; James Cook University (JCU) and Townsville-based institutions to seek potential cooperations for CTI-CFF, between 6-11 November 2017.

The first visit was for a series of meetings with Professor Chris Cocklin, Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor of JCU, Townsville Australia between 6-8 November 2017. The meeting was intended to follow-up with previous discussions on potential collaborations and support to CTI-CFF; as well as discussions on CTI-CFF University Partnership for a joint-proposal between JCU and University of Queensland.

“JCU was very pleased to have signed the MoU with the CTI-CFF as a basis underpinning our collaboration on this most important international initiative supporting the sustainable management of coral reefs throughout the Coral Triangle region and look forward to our fullest participation in further supporting capability development amongst the Coral Triangle nations,” said Prof. Chris Cocklin,.

Apart from meetings with Prof. Cocklin and JCU Board executive, the CTI-CFF had the opportunity to visit the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences (AIMS) to discussed with Dr. Paul Hardistry, the CEO; WorldFish Colleagues and met with Dr. David Mills, WorldFish’s Director of Timor Leste and Dr. Philippa Cohen, WorldFish’s research leader for small-scale fisheries primarily on the Solomon Island projects; the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies with prof. Dr. Alana Grech, Dr. Rebecca Weeks, Dr. Georgina Gurney, and Mrs. Jennifer Lappin; and finally working visit to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) met with Mr. Ben Palmer, GBRMPA’s International Business Manager. The meetings were purely on information exchanges between the institutions and CTI-CFF to initiate more cooperation between them.

The visit continued on to Canberra, Australia from 8-11 November 2017 to follow up discussions with Dr. Andrew Edge, Director of Environment Unit and his assistant Director, Ms. Heidi at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT); Ms. Nicole Coombe at Department of Environment and Energy (DoEE) and Ms. Kate Duggan at Griffin NMR, an evaluator institution assigned by the Australian Government to review Australia’s support towards nature research management. The meeting was aimed at implementing cooperation and the continuation of support between CTI-CFF and the Australian Government. Both DFAT and DOEE welcomed the initiative to bring forward emerging issues such as marine debris and plans for potential support in the near future.

“I had the pleasure to have had productive discussions on the way forward for continued support from the Australian Government for CTI-CFF – a country that has been instrumental towards its support in the early days of the CTI-CFF Regional Secretariat establishment to ensure that it was able to perform its function. On the other hand, the discussion also focused on critical issues such as the preparation for the review of the Regional Plan of Action and the upcoming 13th Senior Officials’ Meeting from 27-30 November 2017 in Manila, Philippines”, said Widi A. Pratikto, Executive Director of CTI-CFF.

Finally, the Executive Director met with His Excellency Y. Kristiarto S. Legowo, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Australia and Indonesian Student Association in Australia where the group discussed on the future of CTI-CFF and implementation challenges in the region.

Written by Kirana Agustina