TropicalCoast 4th new indd

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July 2008

Moving Forward 

By 2012, key players and stakeholders 

hope that an alliance of partners will 

have implemented a sustainable 

seascape strategy through eff ective 

conservation interventions designed 

for a range of marine biodiversity in the 

Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape. 

The 2007 Seascape Congress 

concluded that future Sulu-Sulawesi 

Seascape eff orts should continue to 

focus on strengthening a network 

of organizations and protected 

areas including the tri-national 

governance mechanism, motivating 

action through communication, 

law enforcement, integrating 

conservation with livelihood and 

economic development, developing 

sustainable fi nancing mechanisms 

including through user fees, a range 

of donors, and oil-and-gas corporate 

social responsibility programmes, 

accelerating transboundary fi sheries 

and species conservation eff orts 

(dugongs, cetaceans, whale sharks) 

and monitoring and evaluation in 

Verde Island Passage, Cagayan Ridge, 

Balabac Strait and the Tri-National Sea 

Turtle Corridor and potentially the Sulu 

Archipelago and/or the Davao–North 

Sulawesi corridor.

Donors and funding institutions 

have expressed interest to support 

the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral 

Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security. 

These institutions, among others, 

include the Asian Development Bank 

(ADB), Global Environment Facility 

(GEF), the World Wide Fund for Nature 

(WWF), Conservation International, 

The Nature Conservancy (TNC), U.S. 

Agency for International  Development 

(USAID), and the Australian Agency for 

International Development (AusAID). 

Proactive and Positive 

Despite the current threats to coastal 

and marine recourses, the Sulu-Sulawesi 

Box 1. Executive Order 578.

Executive Order 578 Establishing the National Policy on Biological Diversity, 

Prescribing its implementation throughout the country, particularly in 

the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecosystem and the Verde Island Passage Marine 

Corridor. 

-   Prescribes the policy of the state on biological diversity

-   Directs concerned government agencies and local government 

units to integrate and mainstream the protection, conservation and 

sustainable use of biological diversity into their policies, regulations, 

programs and processes and to actively collaborate with private 

sector and civil society in biodiversity conservation

-   Prescribes the development of regulations for the establishment of 

critical habitats within key biodiversity areas and guidelines for their 

management

-   Prescribes the integration of biodiversity impact assessments in 

the Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Risk 

Assessment processes

-   Instructs the Presidential Commission for the Integrated 

Conservation and Development for the Sulu-Celebes Seas to update 

the SSME conservation plan, create a Task Force to prepare a plan 

for and to ensure protection, conservation and sustainable use of 

biodiversity in the Verde Island Passage, and develop management 

strategies for other SSME biodiversity corridors

-   Prescribes the inclusion of budget to support the policy in General 

Appropriations proposals to Congress and obliges members 

departments of the Presidential Commission and Task Force to share 

financial and technical resources

Seas off er opportunities to achieve 

conservation, development and 

sustainability goals.

Through joint actions and partnership 

engagements at the ecoregional level 

with complementary initiatives at the 

national levels, biodiversity in the Sulu-

Sulawesi Seas can be comprehensively 

managed. Short- and long-term actions 

could be planned and implemented 

in a more systematic and coherent 

manner. Due to the large coverage 

of the marine ecosystem, fi nancial 

resources and technical assistance could 

be sourced from many stakeholders at 

various levels. Economic, educational, 

and recreational initiatives could be 

engaged in by local communities who 

stand to benefi t from conservation 

initiatives for their sustenance and 

livelihoods. 

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61

Tropical Coasts

Table 1. Proposed subprojects of the Coral Triangle Initiative.  

Subproject and Partner 

Agency 

Participating Countries

Funding 

Requirements 

(in US$ Million)

Coastal and marine resources 

management in the Coral 

Triangle of the Pacifi c (ADB)

Federated States of 

Micronesia, Fiji, Palau, 

Papua New Guinea, 

Solomon Islands, Timor-

Leste, Vanuatu

$25.85

Coastal and marine resources 

management in the Coral 

Triangle: Southeast Asia (ADB)

Indonesia, Malaysia 

(expected), Philippines

$88.39

Sulu-Celebes Sea Large 

Marine Ecosystem and 

Adjacent Area Sustainable 

Fisheries Management Project 

(UNDP)

Indonesia, Malaysia, 

Philippines

$6.82

Arafura and Timor Seas 

Ecosystem Action Program

Indonesia, Timor-Leste

$8.42

West Pacifi c-East Asia Oceanic 

Fisheries Management Project 

(UNDP)

Indonesia, Philippines, 

Vietnam

$3.34

International Waters Learning 

Exchange and Resource 

Network or IW:LEARN (ADB 

with UNDP)

Global

$2.72

Strategies for Fisheries Bycatch 

Management (FAO)

Cambodia, Indonesia, 

Malaysia, Philippines, 

Vietnam

$10.26

Adapting to Climate Change 

in the Coral Triangle Project 

(ADB, UNDP)

Federated States of 

Micronesia, Fiji, Palau, 

Papua New Guinea,  

Solomon Islands, Timor-

Leste, Vanuatu, Indonesia, 

Malaysia, Philippines

$40.00

Coral Reef Rehabilitation and 

Management Programme III 

(The World Bank, ADB)

Indonesia (with possible 

regional extension)

$124.00

Integrated Natural Resources 

Management Project (ADB)

Philippines

$105.80

Agusan River Integrated Basin 

Management Project (ADB)

Philippines

$55.80

Total

$471.40

Through partnerships among various 

stakeholders, diff erent forms and levels 

of support, and with the commitment 

of local communities, successful 

biodiversity conservation is happening.

In the next fi ve years (2008-2013), 

partners and stakeholders in the 

ecoregion will fi rmly consolidate the 

Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape as a political 

management regime, recognized and 

supported by stakeholders, including 

governments, nongovernmental 

organizations, and private sector 

businesses. 

There are new opportunities emerging 

in the corridors and across the 

Seascape. There are practical prospects 

for consolidating MPA networks with 

large no-take zones. MPA management 

plans and management teams will have 

to be developed with full consideration 

of the social and economic implications 

of MPA establishment. Stakeholders and 

local government units are encouraged 

to commit additional resources to 

support and strengthen communication 

and enforcement initiatives. The 

former will generate public support 

for the MPAs while the latter will aim 

to strengthen enforcement from 

detection, to arrest, prosecution, and 

conviction (CI, 2008).

Vision for 2008-2013

Over the course of the next three years, 

partners and stakeholders in Verde 

Island Passage, Cagayan Ridge, and the 

Sea Turtle Corridors hope to consolidate 

MPA networks with corresponding 

No Take Zones, formal management 

plans, and designated MPA boards 

and management teams (Box 3). 

Targeted outreach will be conducted 

and enforcement strengthened to 

increase compliance with MPA and 

fi sheries regulations and laws.  Means of 

compensating fi shers aff ected by the new 

No Take Zones will be identifi ed, possibly 

through ecotourism development and 

a shift to fi shing of small pelagic fi shes 

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