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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 000322 
 
SIPDIS 
 
EAP/RPP FOR AWYCKOFF, WBEHN, SGARRET 
EAP/MTS/MLS FOR DESKOFFS 
OES FOR CDAWSON, KMILTON, EROSE, NFITE 
USAID/EGAT FOR BBEST, CBARBER; ANA FOR JWILSON, MMELNYK 
COMMERCE FOR NOAA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV EAID AORC EFIS KGHG IN TH
SUBJECT: Coral Triangle States Advance Commitment to Marine 
Biodiversity 
 
Ref: A) Manila 0248; (B) 08 State 103448; (C) 08 Jakarta 03355; (D) 
08 Kuala Lumpur 0736; (E) 08 Jakarta 1990; (F) 08 Kuala Lumpur 0869; 
(G) 08 Kuala Lumpur 0668; (H) 07 State 83478 
 
BANGKOK 00000322  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: Officials from the six nations of the Coral Triangle 
Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI) made 
steady progress towards a comprehensive coastal and marine 
management framework at the fourth meeting of the CTI Coordination 
Committee in Manado, Indonesia from January 28-30, 2009.  Delegates 
agreed on an adjusted roadmap leading up to the CTI Summit that will 
be held on May 15, 2009 in conjunction with the World Oceans 
Conference in Manado.  Delegates reviewed progress of the Working 
Groups on Coordination Mechanisms, Finance and Monitoring and 
Evaluation after the second Senior Officials Meeting in Manila (Ref 
A).  The third Senior Officials and Ministerial meeting will be in 
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea from March 9-11, 2009.  Goals for the 
March Ministerial meeting include endorsement of the CTI Regional 
Plan of Action reaffirming commitment by the six states to conserve 
the Earth's greatest marine biodiversity zone while effectively 
managing fisheries, food security, and poverty reduction. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
The Coral Triangle Initiative 
----------------------------- 
¶2. The "Coral Triangle" includes the Philippines, Malaysia, 
Indonesia, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, and Papua New Guinea.  The 
5.7 million square km area of ocean and islands has the highest 
marine biodiversity on earth.  It provides livelihood for 120 
million people and food for many more.  The area is threatened by 
over- and destructive fishing, land- and sea-based pollution, and 
climate change (Ref B).  The CTI has made steady progress since 
Indonesian President Yudhoyono first proposed this multilateral 
partnership in August 2007 to preserve the area's resources, manage 
at-risk fisheries, and ensure regional food security.  The CTI 
builds upon over a decade of U.S.-investment in coastal resource 
management, fisheries and marine-protected area work in the region, 
programs such as the USAID Sulu-Sulawesi Seas Marine Ecoregion 
Program, USAID bilateral programs in Indonesia and the Philippines, 
and State-funded marine and coastal programs in the South Pacific. 
 
U.S. Support to the Coral Triangle Initiative 
--------------------------------------------- 
¶3. The USG initially announced intended CTI support of $4.3 million 
during the first CTI Senior Officials Meeting, held in Bali in 
December 2007 (Ref B).  In recognition of the CTI's potential, USG 
pledges have grown and now approach $40 million.  In addition to 
those pledges, other USG programs support the CTI, including USAID 
bilateral coastal-marine management programs in Indonesia and the 
Philippines.  Post's International Visitor and Science Fellows 
Programs have both focused on the CTI.  National Science Foundation 
and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists 
support CTI-related research involving U.S. universities. 
 
¶4. USG support has helped to leverage other financing.  The Asian 
Development Bank (ADB) will administer a four-year, $63 million 
Global Environment Facility grant that includes projects from UN 
agencies.  A "Program Integrator" is supporting and helping to 
coordinate the programs and activities of USG CTI partners and other 
multilateral and bilateral donors to the CTI.  Prior to the Manado 
meeting, USAID hosted the third CTI Development Partners meeting. 
The ADB will host the fourth Partners meeting in Port Moresby, Papua 
New Guinea and the government of Australia will host the fifth 
Partners meeting after the CTI Summit in May.  The USG, ADB, 
Australian Government, NGO partners, and international organizations 
continue to harmonize approaches to CTI support and development of a 
partnership plan to build capacity. 
 
CTI Coordination Committee Meeting Outcomes 
------------------------------------------- 
¶5. At the fourth Coordination Committee Meeting (CCC4), delegates 
reviewed annexes to the draft CTI Regional Plan of Action (RPoA) 
addressing Coordination Mechanisms, Financial Resources and 
Monitoring/Evaluation after presentations by the working group for 
each annex.  They approved an adjusted roadmap to the third Senior 
Officials Meeting (SOM3) and Ministerial meeting March 9-11 and the 
CTI Summit on May 15. 
 
 
BANGKOK 00000322  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶6. Workshops are planned prior to SOM3 in order to finalize the 
annexes.  The CTI Regional Secretariat (currently hosted by the 
Government of Indonesia) announced that the National Organizing 
Committee of the World Oceans Conference will handle the diplomatic, 
security, and logistics issues for the CTI Summit.  The Secretariat, 
with approval of the CT6 countries, will handle the Summit content. 
The CTI Coordination Committee reviewed a draft Summit Leaders 
Declaration.  The Declaration will include endorsement of the Port 
Moresby Draft of the CTI Regional Plan of Action, a call for support 
from donor partners and the mobilization of resources, expression of 
thanks to existing donor partners, and instructions for 
implementation of the Regional Action Plan.  The CTI Secretariat 
plans to distribute documents to Foreign Ministries and CTI focal 
point ministries by February 16. 
 
Permanent Secretariat 
--------------------- 
¶7. Both the Indonesian and the Philippine governments offered to 
host the permanent Regional Secretariat, which the Secretariat 
Committee recommended be created within the next two years.  The 
Indonesian Minister for Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Mr. Freddy 
Numberi reiterated the GOI's strong support for the CTI.  Note: 
There is no indication yet as to the choice for the Secretariat or 
when that decision will be made.  End Note. 
 
 
 
Immediate Challenges 
-------------------- 
¶8. The six CTI countries have yet to complete National Plans of 
Action (NPoAs) and delegates agreed that the NPoAs should be 
finalized by all six countries as soon as possible.  The Committee 
also agreed that a list of concrete national actions by each country 
should be prepared by SOM3 as an annex to the RPoA.  The plans will 
be carried out by National Coordination Committees (NCCs) in each 
country and include concrete activities designed to implement the 
Regional Plan of Action (RPoA) based on specific country contexts 
and needs.  Countries were reminded that USG funding is available to 
support preparation of the national action planning process in each 
country. 
 
Next Steps and Calendar 
----------------------- 
¶9.  The CTI Roadmap presented a calendar of activities, including: 
 
LATE FEBRUARY 2009 - Special Ministerial and Summit planning meeting 
proposed by Indonesia to advance preparations for the Ministerial 
and Summit, in Jakarta. Separately Indonesia will convene, with 
USAID support, a workshop to finalize the Coordination annex to the 
RPOA. Venue to be determined. 
 
MARCH 9-11, 2009 - Third CTI Senior Officials Meeting (SOM3) and 
Ministerial meeting in Port Moresby to endorse the Regional Plan of 
Action and CTI Summit Declaration. The ADB will host the fourth CTI 
Development Partners Meeting March 12.  Ambassador Rowe plans to 
host a reception for CTI delegates and partners in Port Moresby. 
 
MAY 8, 2009 - Summit Planning Meeting in Manado, Indonesia 
 
MAY 12-14, 2009 - World Oceans Conference (WOC) in Manado, including 
Fifth Senior Officials Meeting (May 11-12), WOC exhibitions 
(starting May 12), CTI Partners Meeting (May 12), scientific 
symposia (May 12-13), Global Oceans Policy Day (May 13), Ministerial 
Meeting of WOC on adoption of Manado Ocean Declaration (May 14). 
 
MAY 15, 2009 - The CTI Inaugural Summit (following the World Oceans 
Conference) will adopt the Regional Plan of Action and announce at 
least one concrete initiative of each country. 
 
MAY 16, 2009 - CTI Stakeholders' Forum from across the region and 
the world to share the results of the Summit, raise awareness of the 
Coral Triangle Initiative, and advance a dialogue on ways 
stakeholders could contribute to the CTI and coordinate activities. 
 
REFERENCES AND POINTS OF CONTACT 
-------------------------------- 
¶10. (U) Washington POCs -- State: Christine Dawson and Kelly Milton, 
 
BANGKOK 00000322  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
OES/ENRC and Ariel Wyckoff, EAP/RSP; USAID: Barbara Best, 
EGAT/NRM/W, John Wilson ME/TS and Charles Barber EGAT/ESP/MPS. 
Regional POCs: USAID - Winston Bowman, RDMA Bangkok; State - Howell 
Howard, Regional ESTHoff.  USAID has a full time Regional 
Environment Specialist serving as Cognizant Technical Officer for 
the NGO Consortium Grant and the Program Integrator: Rene Acosta, 
racosta@usaid.gov.  CTI secretariat website: 
http://www.cti-secretariat.net/. Map of the coral triangle: 
http://conserveonline.org/workspaces/tnccoral triangle/. 
 
COMMENT: 
------- 
¶11. Coming this far with a difficult international management 
agreement for scarce resources has been a massive effort by CT6 
officials as well as USAID, State, the NGOs, the Asian Development 
Bank/Global Environmental Fund, the German and Australian 
governments and others.  The positive atmosphere among the Senior 
CT6 officials at SOM2 (Ref A) was palpable and a good harbinger for 
the future.  USG support and funds appear to be paying off, but the 
CT6 and its supporters still have much work to do.  The broad 
partnership of governments, expert NGOs and international 
institutions such as the ADB/GEF and UN is making USG funds a force 
multiplier. 
 
¶12. Challenges remain, such as the national plans that will be 
critical for management, and the policy debates that still exist in 
some CT6 nations.  Ultimately the CTI could achieve a broader goal 
of bringing more Western pacific nations into regional fisheries 
management organizations and common schemes for improving food 
security and addressing climate change impacts.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶13. This is a joint State-USAID Cable. 
 
JOHN