MOU Signing Between CTI-CFF Regional Secretariat and GIZ
The Secretariat Regional of Coral Triangle Initiative on Corals, Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security (CTI-CFF) formalize the collaborations with Germany to work together in managing Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape in 3 CTI-CFF member countries i.e. Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, which marked by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing, today. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH implementing the German contribution of the programme.
The Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape program, which refers to Regional Plan of Action/RPOA of CTI-CFF will mainly focus on Marine Protected Area(MPA), Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) Planning until mid 2018.
CTI-CFF will integrate Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape program with existing and future programs that will be run together with other partners i.e. SPREP (Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme), SEAFDEC (The Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center), and USAID RDMA (United States Agency for International Development Regional Development Mission Asia) for Oceans and Fisheries Partnership program.
The Executive Director of Regional Secretariat CTI-CFF, Widi A. Pratikto, said: “The program activities run in Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape will be focus on giving implications of prosperity to the people, both in life quality and environment conservation.”
Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape program is a continuation of Sulu Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion (SSME), which launched in 2012 that had ended last February. The Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape programme is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. The Regional Secretariat of CTI-CFF will manage the program with National Coordinating Committees (NCC) including the Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, relevant organizations and departments/governmental institutions in the respective countries.
The Sulu–Sulawesi Seascape, as the apex of the Coral Triangle, is a vast body of ocean spanning an area of nearly one million square kilometers and straddles three countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. It is a region inhabited by 35 million people and considered the center of the center of marine biodiversity. It is where the highest number of colorful reef and marine fishes, various sizes of corals and shells, myriad shapes of algae, and protective mangrove forests are found.
