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Arafura and Timor Seas Ecosystem Action Program
ARAFURA AND TIMOR SEAS
Dr. Tonny Wagey
Regional Project Manager ATSEA
[email protected]
CTI-RBF
Kuala Lumpur, 10 October 2011
www.atsea-program.org
UNCLOS 1982 – ATS Obligations
 Arafura & Timor Seas (ATS) - shared by Indonesia,
Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea (PNG) & Australia.
 Under Article 122 of the 1982 United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), ATS is
defined as a ‘semi-enclosed seas’.
 UNCLOS (Article 123), countries bordering enclosed &
semi-enclosed seas to cooperate in resource
management; protection of the marine environment;
& marine scientific research
CORAL TRIANGLE INITIATIVE
Bio-physical Characteristics of ATS
 Crucial link between Pacific and Indian Seas, part of
the Coral Triangle
 El Nino-Southern Oscillation and the Indian Warm
Pool exist in these seas
 Greatly influence world’s climate and ocean circulation
 Ecosystems important for Indonesia, Timor Leste,
Papua New Guinea and Australia
 Important shipping routes and non-living resources,
such as oil and gas, minerals
 Key coastal habitats: Mangrove Forests, Seagrass
Meadows, Coral reefs, Supratidal Flats
 ATS contains 25% of world’s mangroves and 90%
of mangrove tree species; highly productive and
huge forests = tropical rainforests in size and
splendour
 Seagrass beds = nearly 20,000 km2 with high
diversity of plants, penaeids, fish, benthic
invertebrates; important dugong and turtle
habitats
Socio-economic Characteristics
• There are approximately 4.1 million people
living in the Arafura Timor Sea region
•
•
•
•
Indonesia - 2.8 million people
Timor - Leste - 1 million people
Australia - 310,000 people
PNG - 46,000 people
Poverty
• Over 30 % of Indonesians are considered ‘poor’ based
on the national classification system.
• Maluku Tenggara Barat the proportion of poor people in
2007 was estimated to be 46 percent
• Timor Leste – approx 42% of 1.1. million population are
below national poverty line (USD$1.25 per day)
• PNG estimated 54% in South Fly District are poor
• Australia has a good social safety net program and has
low proportion of poor people. However vast differences
in indigenous and non-indigenous
• Whilst poverty is high among Aboriginal communities,
the poverty is relative rather than absolute compared
with the other three ATS region countries.
Socio-economic
Sectors
Sectors
Sectors and livelihoods which impact on ATS
FISHERIES:INDUSTRIAL, ARTISANAL,
environments
and
lead
to
environmental
and
SUBSISTENCE AND RECREATIONAL =
resource
degradation:
VERY DIVERSE
• Industrial, artisanal, subsistence and
AQUACULTURE
recreational fisheries= very diverse
• Shipping/ports and transport
SHIPPING/PORTS AND TRANSPORT
• Marine tourism
•OTHER
Other marine
activities
(aquaculture, coral and
MARINE
ACTIVITIES
sand
mining)
(AQUACULTURE, CORAL AND SAND
MINING)
Other sectors
• Onshore mining (gold, nickel, manganese)
• Offshore petroleum and gas exploration
and production
• Agriculture, forestry (logging) and coastal
development
• Management, conservation and marine
tourism are also key sectors but minimal
impacts
Priority Environmental Concerns of ATS
(Alongi et al., 2011)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Unsustainable fisheries and decline and loss of living
coastal and marine resources
Decline and loss of biodiversity and key marine
species
Modification, degradation and loss of coastal and
marine habitats
Marine and land-based pollution
Impacts of climate change
ACCESSIBILITY
INFRASTRUCTURE
REGULATION
HUMAN RESOURCE (availability, quality)
SOCIAL AND ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS
Natural Assets
Coral Reefs
Mangroves
Beach Forests
Pelagic Fisheries
Clear water / high visibility
High Biodiversity
Low Population Density
Low Sedimentation (few rivers)
Marine Touring
Dive Tourism (live aboard)
Resorts
Fishing charters
Whale watching / other marine mammals
Bird watching
Sailing
Mangrove in Papua
Photo courtesy of Dr. Daniel Alongi
Fishing in Tanimbar
Photo courtesy of Prof. Hermien Soselisa
Migration routes and distribution of whales
in the waters around Nusa Tenggara and
Maluku
(Source: Monk et al, 1997)
Distribution of Dugong in Eastern Indonesia
(Marsh et. al 2002)
Photo: Hutomo Malikusworo, 2011
Dugong protection and its habitat in Aru island which has very large area of
seagrass, considered to be the most important Dugong habitat in Indonesia