ARAFURA AND TIMOR SEAS

Dr. Tonny WageyRegional Project Manager ATSEA

t.wagey@fisheries.ubc.ca

CTI-RBFKuala Lumpur, 10 October 2011

AArafura and rafura and TTimor imor SSeas eas EEcosystem Action Programcosystem Action Program

www.atsea-program.org

UNCLOS 1982 – ATS ObligationsArafura & 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

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

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.

SectorsSectors 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)

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.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 pollution5.Impacts of climate change

ACCESSIBILITYINFRASTRUCTUREREGULATIONHUMAN RESOURCE (availability, quality)SOCIAL AND ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS

Natural AssetsCoral ReefsMangrovesBeach ForestsPelagic FisheriesClear water / high visibilityHigh BiodiversityLow Population DensityLow Sedimentation (few rivers)

Marine TouringDive Tourism (live aboard)ResortsFishing chartersWhale watching / other marine mammalsBird watchingSailing

Photo courtesy of Dr. Daniel Alongi

Mangrove in Papua

Photo courtesy of Prof. Hermien SoselisaFishing in Tanimbar

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