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ARAFURA AND TIMOR SEAS Dr. Tonny Wagey Regional Project Manager ATSEA CTI-RBF Kuala Lumpur, 10 October 2011

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Presentation on theme: "ARAFURA AND TIMOR SEAS Dr. Tonny Wagey Regional Project Manager ATSEA CTI-RBF Kuala Lumpur, 10 October 2011"— Presentation transcript:

1 ARAFURA AND TIMOR SEAS Dr. Tonny Wagey Regional Project Manager ATSEA t.wagey@fisheries.ubc.ca CTI-RBF Kuala Lumpur, 10 October 2011 www.atsea-program.org

2 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

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4 CORAL TRIANGLE INITIATIVE

5 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 Bio-physical Characteristics of ATS

6 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 km 2 with high diversity of plants, penaeids, fish, benthic invertebrates; important dugong and turtle habitats

7 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

8 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.

9 Sectors Sectors and livelihoods which impact on ATS environments and lead to environmental and resource degradation: Industrial, artisanal, subsistence and recreational fisheries= very diverse Shipping/ports and transport Marine tourism Other marine activities (aquaculture, coral and sand mining) Socio-economic Sectors  FISHERIES:INDUSTRIAL, ARTISANAL, SUBSISTENCE AND RECREATIONAL = VERY DIVERSE  AQUACULTURE  SHIPPING/PORTS AND TRANSPORT  OTHER MARINE ACTIVITIES (AQUACULTURE, CORAL AND SAND MINING)

10 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

11 Priority Environmental Concerns of ATS (Alongi et al., 2011) 1. Unsustainable fisheries and decline and loss of living coastal and marine resources 2. Decline and loss of biodiversity and key marine species 3. Modification, degradation and loss of coastal and marine habitats 4. Marine and land-based pollution 5. Impacts of climate change

12 ACCESSIBILITY INFRASTRUCTURE REGULATION HUMAN RESOURCE (availability, quality) SOCIAL AND ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS

13 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

14 Photo courtesy of Dr. Daniel Alongi Mangrove in Papua

15 Photo courtesy of Prof. Hermien Soselisa Fishing in Tanimbar

16 Migration routes and distribution of whales in the waters around Nusa Tenggara and Maluku (Source: Monk et al, 1997)

17 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


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