Posted on June, 06 2011

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Department of State (together the US CTI) are supporting the Coral Triangle nations with a 5-year program designed to transform the management of marine and coastal resources in the region through assistance to the Coral Triangle governments and stakeholders to implement the CTI Plan of Action.

Some of the regional initiatives that are being undertaken under this multi-partner programme, which is led and financed through the USAID Coral Triangle Support Partnership (CTSP) project, include:

• the development of a Coral Triangle Atlas – an online repository of spatial information (MPA location and size) with other technical information on the Coral Triangle
• the development of an Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management strategy
• training in climate change adaptation strategies
• a Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) Marketplace is also being developed that will provide a tool for “matching” CCA projects with potential implementers

About 70 people attended this meeting which included Catherine Plume and Luli Arroyo from the WWF Coral Triangle programme, and discussed progress to date and Year 4 planning. A workplan for Year 4 will be developed by the end of June and submitted to USAID for review and approval.

Participants at the Manila meeting also included representatives from each of the Coral Triangle countries as well as representatives from WWF, The Nature Conservancy, and Conservation International. Other participants included representatives from NOAA and Tetratech, as well as representatives from USAID missions in Timor-Leste, the Philippines, Indonesia and the Regional Development Mission for Asia (RDMA) located in Bangkok, and representatives from the CTI Secretariat, US Embassy in the Philippines, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Asia Development Bank (ADB).