In order to prepare the Timor-Leste National CTI Coordinating Committee (NCC) for the High Level Financial Round Table to be held in Manila on 3 May as an event during the ADB Annual Meeting, the ADB RETA will assist the government in developing its National Financial Strategy, which will include Sustainable Financing Modalities including Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES).To find out more about this event, follow this link.

Location: Manila, Philippines

The workshop aims to prepare the Regional SCTR and establish institutional mechanisms for its completion, sustained preparation, and utilization as a modality for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) for higher level objectives of the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI). For more information about the event, please follow this link.

The WorldFish Center and the ADB Knowledge Management (KM) for the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) project convened 26 participants to a workshop aimed at improving fish catch statistics collection in the Philippines, with a focus on subsistence fisheries. The workshop was held in Makati City on February 20-21, 2012.

Representatives from the CTI-CFF National Coordinating Committees (NCC) gathered on March 14-16, 2012 in Manila, Philippines, to participate in a workshop aimed at building capacity in integrating knowledge management (KM) at the organizational and network level, while also strengthening coordination among marine conservation projects in the Coral Triangle region.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Knowledge Management for the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Project organized a workshop from March 26 to April 2, 2012, in Dili, Timor-Leste, to build the capacity of government, non-government, and academic representatives in developing a financial strategy to implement activities under the country's CTI National Plan of Action (NPOA).

The financial strategy will include a status report on the level of funding available for NPOA implementation, as well as priority actions and the costs required to implement these on the ground.

The CTI-CFF Interim Regional Secretariat met with representatives from the Australian Government on March 7, 2012, in Jakarta to strengthen cooperation in promoting CTI-CFF goals. The Australian Government was represented by Travis Bover, Director for Marine Policy Development, Marine Division, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, while the CTI-CFF Interim Regional Secretariat was represented by its Executive Chairman Suseno Sukoyono.

On February 2, 2012, leading Hawaii-based seafood processing and distribution company Norpac Fisheries Export announced a partnership with Indonesian tuna fishing company PT Sari Segara Utama to explore the use of sustainable fishing methods. The partnership will expand both companies’ efforts to use circle hooks in tuna fishing to reduce unintended bycatch, specifically threatened species such as sea turtles.

USAID’s Coral Triangle Support Partnership completed a scoping study on March 15, 2012, that identified major scientific gaps that need to be addressed to establish and manage an effective Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF) marine protected area (MPA) system.