CTI COUNTRIES RENEW TALKS ON WORLD LARGEST CORAL REEFS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, May 17 (ANTARA) - Local authorities of six countries grouped in the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) began four days of talks at Wakatobi, Southeast Sulawesi province on Monday evening, on how to preserve the world largest coral reef resources which sustain the lives of over 120 million coastal people in Indonesia, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, the Philippines and the Solomon Islands.          "I hope through this meeting we will be able to agree on the formation of an association of district heads and mayors of coastal areas in six CTI countries," Wakatobi District Head Hugua said when he opened the meeting.          The meeting, which will discuss a wide range of coral reef related issues such as food security, global climate change, energy scarcity and environment, is expected to formulate concrete steps as it is being attended by authorities directly in charge in the fields.          Kety who represented the US CTI SP program director said the meeting of district heads and mayors from six CTI countries was more important and strategic than the meeting of ministers who only spoke of theory and rhetoric to conserve the environment.          "District heads and mayors have the authority to save the environment so the meeting is very important and strategic to conserve natural resources in a sustainable way," she said.          The district heads and mayors gathered to follow up a series of similar meetings held after the establishment of the CTI in mid 2007 which is intended as a forum for discussing efforts to safeguard the world's largest coral reef resources in the triangular sea waters.          The triangular coral zone is an expanse of ocean covering 2.3 million square miles (5.7 million km2). This area, sometimes referred to as the "Amazon of the Seas", is the epicenter of marine life abundance and diversity on the planet.          In some areas, it has more than 600 coral species (more than 75 percent of all known coral species), 53 percent of the world's coral reefs, 3,000 fish species, and the greatest extent of mangrove forests of any region in the world.          In addition, the coral triangle serves as the spawning and juvenile growth areas for what is the largest tuna fishery in the world, serving as a source of income and food for people living in the coastal areas.          Therefore, the meeting of the district heads and mayors who are the immediate authorities is expected to build a commitment to the preservation and usage of marine resources as environmentally friendly and sustainable food materials.          Hugua said recently that it was therefore urgent for the meeting to discuss efforts of maintaining resilience of food coming from the sea, and wisdom in the management of marine and fishery resources besides global warming issues and weather anomalies.          In this context, Hugua said, district heads and mayors as the decision makers of local level in the six countries will promote a commitment on how to maintain and make use of the marine resources as food stuff on a sustainable basis and environmentally friendly.          "Coral reefs living in the sea may produce oxygen to prevent global warming on the earth. Therefore their conservation is constantly maintained wisely in using various potentials in the sea," he said.          Coral reefs function as natural ramparts by reducing high-wave energy of typhoon and storm from their structures, protecting coastal beaches by providing sands that are by-products of eroded coral skeletons. Thus, coral reefs help prevent sediments from washing up and damaging the shoreline.         Hugua said it was in that regard coral reef was vitally importance for human lives and needed to be protected. His experience during a diving in the Philippines had inspired to him to called for a meeting  to discuss further efforts for preserving marine resources.         In his opening address on Monday evening,  Hugua said he initiated the CTI meeting after being inspired by his experience while diving the Carlos P Garcia waters, Bahol province, the Philippines where coral reef destruction had reached an alarming level.        The Coral Triangle Initiative, which was launched by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and five other country leaders in mid-2007, covers the exclusive economic zones of six countries: Indonesia, Timor Leste, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. It is the epicenter of marine life abundance and diversity on the planet. Its biological resources sustain the lives of over 120 million people.          As part of a concrete step in its efforts with other five CTI countries in preserving the marine resources, Indonesia has set itself the target of creating up to 20 million hectares of conservation area by 2020.          According to Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad, right now Indonesia has 13 million hectares of conservation area. As part of the efforts, the minister late last year inaugurated a marine conservation area in Nusa Penida, Bali, in a move to protect marine and coastal life as well as to encourage sustainable marine tourism.          The results of a survey made by the TNC Indonesia Marine Program show the Nusa Penida waters has 1,419 hectares of coral reefs and 230 hectares of mangrove consisting of 13 kinds.          Fadel said the creation of conservation areas in Nusa Penida and the rest of the country was a concrete step taken by the government to implement the CTI launched by Indonesia, along with the Philippines, Malaysia, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands.***4*** (T.A014/A/H-NG/O001  ) 17-05-2011 13:05:1