Coral Triangle Initiative Research Articles

Preface

The development of aquatic resource science and management has grown rapidly in the last decade, both in the context of biology, ecology, and the management of the resources in them. Trends and scientific status of aquatic resources need to be well understood as a benchmark for scientific development and responding to future challenges. Thus, scientific forums are urgently needed to mutually discuss achievements and important issues in the science and management of aquatic resources.The Department of Aquatic Resources Management (ARM), Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences (FFMS), IPB University took the initiative to provide the needed discussion space by holding the 2nd International Symposium on Aquatic Sciences and Resources Management – Highland to Ocean, which is then abbreviated as 2nd ISASRM H2O 2022, which takes the general theme, namely Biology, Ecology and Resources Management. As the activity of the second international symposium on the sciences and management of aquatic resources in Indonesia, the sub-themes raised from the international symposium included: aquatic biology and ecology; aquatic environment, ecosystem, and conservation; aquatic endangered, protected, invasive alien and exotic species, miscellaneous; integrated inland waters and coastal management; fisheries management; social-ecological system framework for aquatic resources management; aquatic bioprospecting; and aquatic natural products. Sub-themes can accommodate all the scientific focus of science and management of aquatic resources from upstream to downstream and contribute to scientists, researchers, practitioners, and stakeholders, both direct beneficiaries of aquatic resources, managers of aquatic resources, and processors of aquatic resource products. In addition, this activity is also expected to assist the government in responding to the challenges of managing water resources in the future and realizing sustainable integrated management dan sustainable development goals.Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the Indonesian government still restricts travel, and meetings in large numbers, so the 2nd ISARM was held virtually using the Zoom platform organized at the Department of ARM, FFMS, IPB University, Bogor, Indonesia on August 23-24, 2022. Virtual conferences are able to increase wider reach. However, time differences are challenging, and discussion interactions are not optimal. Hopefully, we can meet directly at another international conference at IPB University, Bogor, Indonesia.The symposium was attended by 72 oral presenters and 14 poster presenters. Presenters come from at least seven countries: Indonesia, China, Philippines, Turkey, United Kingdom, Norway, and Australia. The total participants of this activity were 166 participants, both national and international. The 2nd ISARM also presented five speakers from various scientific fields, including the Management Program of Coral Reef in Indonesia by Dr. Sri Yanti, MPM from Fisheries and Marine Directory BAPPENAS, Republic of Indonesia; Coastal and Marine Resources Conservation and Management By Dr. Ruby Castrence-Gonzales from Mindanao State University Naawan, Philippines; Exploring Drug Repurposing for the Treatment of Aquatic Diseases by Prof. Dr. Mohd Shahir Shamsir Omar from UTHM Deputy Vice Chancellor, Malaysia; Coastal Watershed Ecological Processes, Modeling, and Management by Prof. Jinliang Huang from Xiamen University, China; and The Negative Impact of The Alien Freshwater Crayfish Invading Indonesia and Sustainable Fisheries Development of Native Crayfish in Indonesia by Dr. Tadashi Kawai from Immediately Past President of the International Association of Astacology Hokkaido Research Organization, Japan. The oral and poster presentations also discuss the issues and challenges for aquatic ecosystems, which are closely related to anthropogenic activities as driving factors. Everything is connected from the highlands to the ocean. Despite all the challenges, we, as scientists, still have a chance to do research towards the sustainable development of aquatic resources management. Moreover, make a better world.Many new ideas, insights, methodologies, and state-of-the-art science can be studied and adopted to improve our work in this important area further. There have been many interesting and useful presentations in plenary and interactive sessions. Many good experiences have been shared and lessons learned, including in the aspects of biology and ecology and managing resources from the highland to the ocean.We would like to take this opportunity to thank all partners, namely the Department of Aquatic Resources Management (ARM IPB University), Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences (FFMS IPB University), Center for Coastal and Marine Resources Studies (PKSPL IPB University), International Collaboration Office (ICO IPB University), Fisheries and Marine Directory BAPPENAS Republic of Indonesia, and Indonesia Climate Change Trust Fund (ICCTF) with the Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program – Coral Triangle Initiative (COREMAP-CTI), for financial support and collaboration. Also, we would like to thank all the speakers, reviewers, and the committee for organizing this event and ensuring it runs smoothly.List of Editorial team, Organizing Committees are available in the pdf.

Ocean Governance in the Coral Triangle: A Multi-Level Regulatory Governance Structure

The current mode of ocean governance in the biogeographically defined space of the Coral Triangle emerged due to the framing of marine degradation as a de-bounded risk with a transboundary nature. This framing justified the rescaling of the issue’s governance from the national to the regional. This article will explore how ocean governance in the form of the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security (CTI-CFF) is an example of a regional multi-level regulatory governance arrangement based on disaggregated, regulatory forms of statehood. These new kinds of regional regulatory governance are defined by the dominance of policy and technical expertise. As such, non-state actors work closely with national and supranational actors in the development, implementation, and regulatory functions of the CTI-CFF. The organizational structure of the CTI-CFF’s governance framework provides an example of how regional regulatory systems are networked into existing national government structures. The CTI-CFF’s Regional Plan of Action and corresponding mechanisms serve as a model for each member country’s National Plan of Action and domestic programs. These plans of action promote the transformation and rescaling of national governance to be consistent with regional standards of marine resource governance. To summarize, CTI-CFF is a multi-level governance structure constructed to strengthen regulatory regionalism.

SEGITIGA TERUMBU KARANG DUNIA (THE CORAL TRIANGLE): MANFAAT, MASALAH DAN UPAYA

The coral triangle is the epicenter of marine biodiversity in the world which located in the eastern part of Southeast Asia and the western part of the Pacific Ocean. Despite the benefit of this area, the coral triangle also faces unsustainable fishing practices called Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU). This paper is aiming to provide the benefit of the coral triangle, and the efforts to overcome the problem that occurs in this area. To analyze this paper, the authors applied a descriptive approach, and most of the data obtained through literature review. And the result shows that the coral triangle is very beneficial to the countries in this area. Furthermore, to protect these precious natural resources from IUU, the government in this area decided to work together to overcome through the establishment of a multilateral partnership The Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security (CTI)

Implementation of coral triangle initiative on coral reefs, fisheries, and food security (CTI-CFF) in Indonesia and Philippines

This study aims to discover and examine forms of implementation of the multilateral cooperation initiated by Indonesia in 2007 and agreed upon by five other nations located inside the Coral Triangle region in 2009 which was known as Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security (CTI-CFF) to safeguard the coral reefs and marine ecosystem inside the Coral Triangle region, to ensure sustainable fisheries practices and the achievement of food security in two of its members, Indonesia and Philippines. To achieve said objective, this study will exemplify the general situation in the Coral Triangle region, the circumstances being faced by Indonesia and Philippines in regard of their marine sector as a whole, and both legal proceedings and any supportive activities in relation to CTI-CFF that have been done in since its inception in 2009 by both nations. The result of this study indicates that the implementation of CTI-CFF inside the two countries was being based on a synthesis between recommendations inside CTI-CFF’s Regional Plan of Action (RPoA). The document serves as a policy and regulation blueprint in both countries, being used in the making of regulations and policies in regard to fisheries management, food security, and marine ecosystem conservation. The influence of RPoA is apparent in many regulations, policies, and activities inside both countries, in which some explicitly contain the very recommendations contained inside the RPoA document.

Study of coastline changes and land use change in marine protected area (Case study: Derawan Island, East Kalimantan Province)

Derawan Island is an island with an area of 45 ha, it categorized as a small island and part of Derawan Islands archipelago located in East Kalimantan province. It designated as a conservation area by the decision of Berau District Head No. 516 of 2013 concerning the Reservation of Coastal Conservation Areas and Small Islands. Derawan Island, also known as the National Tourism Destination (DPN) based on its coral reefs diversity that considered adjacent to the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI). The increase of Tourist visits to Derawan Islands since 2000, which affected land cover changes in Derawan Island coast such as for lodging, jetty and other infrastructure. Changes in land cover together with natural coastal processes causing abrasion in the west, and east sides, while accretion in the southeast side of the island. Land cover change especially built-up area from 2003 to 2018 is 6.25% per year. Observations and analyzes using DSAS (Digital Coastline Analysis System) conducted in 2003, 2011 and 2018 illustrates coastline change which shown by abrasion an accretion along Derawan Island. Abrasion trends increased from 2003, 2011 and 2018 with the highest abrasion rate up to 12.4 m / year, which occurred on the west side, while the highest accretion rate was 2.46 m / year on the southeast side. Based on several considerations and conditions, it is highly recommended that the coastal border for utilization in the islands is around 15 m.

ABRASION IN DERAWAN ISLAND (THE CAUSE AND THE PROPER SOLUTION)

As an archipelago state, Indonesia globally famous with marine mega biodiversity. This country contribute the largest area among 6 countries under the Coral Triangle initiative. The area contains almost 600 species of corals and 76% of total corals worldwide are found in the coral triangle. Moreover, 574 of coral species which 72% of total corals globally are located in Indonesia, and Raja Ampat as the largest marine biodiversity in Indonesia, followed by Derawan Island in the second place. Derawan Island is located in East Kalimantan Province. Despite having an extraordinary marine biodiversity, this island experienced several environment issues. One of them is Abrasion. In terms of methodology, this scientific paper adopt the concept of abrasion, and the type of the research is description explanation which explain the cause of abrasion in Derawan Island and the possible solution which will be implemented in Derawan Island authority. The data type is primer. The Author conducted field research and obtained the data by collecting it from relevant institution, observation and interview. As the result, the research shows that Derawan Island experienced massive abrasion in the east side of the island due to a big numberof residence developments in the South area of the island. As the consequences, the water current which carried sand from East and West side stuck in the South area of the island.

Growth rate and survivorship of Acropora sp. fragments that transplanted on the artificial substrate made from fly ash and bottom ash

The purpose of this research is to analyze the success the transplantation method using kerbstone media from blocks made of coal waste (fly ash and bottom ash) from Thermal Power Station (PLTU). The research was done from March to August 2018 in the waters of Paiton, Probolinggo, East Java, Indonesia. The method applied in this research a 7-block design with “H” formation for every module. The coral fragments of Acropora formosa, Acropora pulchra, Acropora intermedia, and Acropora gomezi was 10 cm in average size with 30 repetitions for each size. The average growth rate showed different values during five months of research since the transplantation was done. Acropora formosa had the highest growth rate of 1.958 cm/month. Acropora intermedia 1.730 cm/month, Acropora pulchra 0.958 cm/month, and 0.756 cm/month for Acropora gomezi. By using Kruskal Wallis test for data analysing, obtained a survival rate of over 80% for all types, with Acropora formosa as the highest (92.3%) and Acropora gomezi as the lowest (82.61%). Therefore, kerbstone is considered feasible as a growth media for the coral reef as an effort to support CTI (Coral Triangle Initiative) program in overcoming global warming as an innovation.

The role of coral triangle initiative on coral reefs, fisheries, and food securities in Indonesia’s environmental conservation

This study aims to assess the role of CTI-CFF in handling marine ecosystem problems that include coral reef conservation, fisheries, and food security in Indonesia. To achieve the objective, the research method used is a qualitative study using library research data collection techniques. The result of this study indicates that the role of CTI-CFF in environmental conservation in Indonesia can be divided into three aspects of CFF itself namely on coral reefs, fisheries and food security. A number of conservation efforts have been carried out with the implementation of national action plan and have significant impacts on the sustainability of society and the environment. On coral reefs issues, CTI-CFF runs particular programs namely CTI-COREMAP and Marine Protected Areas (MPA). On fisheries issues, CTI-CFF has a particular program called Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM). CTI-CFF in Indonesia plays an important role in implementing the strategic steps of the regional action plan which is later adopted into the national plan of actions. These plans are used as a parameter of the involvement of the CTI-CFF in efforts to save marine ecosystems in Indonesia.

Coral reefs and the slow emergence of institutional structures for a glocal land- and sea-based collective dilemma

Coral reefs are subject to multiple stressors. Global stressors include climate change and ocean acidification, while local stressors include overfishing and eutrophication. Some stressors stem from land-based activities, like intensive agriculture or sewage production, while others are sea-based, like fishing or diving. Processes that aim to tackle coral degradation are transpiring on different levels. These include the UNDP's Sustainable Development Goal 14, and the Coral Triangle Initiative, which foresees the installation of marine protected areas and conservation planning. This paper uses Evolutionary Governance Theory (EGT) to understand the current processes of changes in governance influencing coral reef health. EGT sees the change of governance as an evolutionary process. It emphasises that discourses play a crucial role in understanding governance evolution. Power, in particular power-knowledge in the Foucaultian sense, plays a crucial role as a driving factor. Governance does not change in a vacuum, but according to EGT is shaped by path, inter- and goal dependencies. Of late, the role of materiality - ecological and technological conditions - has been stressed as an important driver of governance change. The paper considers the main threats to corals identified in the literature and analyses how those factors mentioned by EGT help us to understand the observed governance changes. The case of coral reefs was chosen as it represents an example of extremely diverse processes of institutional changes. Therefore, it is well suited to learn if EGT helps in understanding governance changes observed in the marine sector.

Lessons from Philippines MPA Management: Social Ecological Interactions, Participation, and MPA Performance.

International interest in increasing marine protected area (MPA) coverage reflects broad recognition of the MPA as a key tool for marine ecosystems and fisheries management. Nevertheless, effective management remains a significant challenge. The present study contributes to enriching an understanding of best practices for MPA management through analysis of archived community survey data collected in the Philippines by the Learning Project (LP), a collaboration with United States Coral Triangle Initiative (USCTI), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and partners. We evaluate stakeholder participation and social ecological interactions among resource users in MPA programs in the Palawan, Occidental Mindoro, and Batangas provinces in the Philippines. Analysis indicates that a complex suite of social ecological factors, including demographics, conservation beliefs, and scientifically correct knowledge influence participation, which in turn is related to perceived MPA performance. Findings indicate positive feedbacks within the system that have potential to strengthen perceptions of MPA success. The results of this evaluation provide empirical reinforcement to current inquiries concerning the role of participation in influencing MPA performance.

4th International Seminar on Ocean and Coastal Engineering, Environmental and Natural Disaster Management (ISOCEEN)

PrefaceInternational Seminar on Ocean and Coastal Engineering, Environmental and Natural Disaster Management (ISOCEEN) is an annual internasional conference event held by cooperation among Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) especially Department of Ocean Engineering, Tohoku University, Japan, HZ University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands and The Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF). This forum was more focused on creating and expanding professional network to foster the relationship between the University, industry, business and communities across the country. The Organizing Committee worked many years for preparing of this seminar and their efforts resulted to full success. Based on the cooperation, there are some conference that we already held before, as follows :• Japan – Indonesia Workshop on Estuary and Climate Change (JIWECC), August 8th -10th Surabaya, Indonesia• The 1st International Seminar on Ocean and Coastal Engineering, Environmental and Natural Disaster Management (ISOCEEN), November 11, 2013,. Surabaya, Indonesia.• The 2nd International Seminar on Ocean and Coastal Engineering, Environmental and Natural Disaster Management (ISOCEEN), December 2, 2014, Surabaya, Indonesia.• The 3rd International Seminar on Ocean and Coastal Engineering, Environmental and Natural Disaster Management (ISOCEEN), December 10, 2015, Surabaya, Indonesia.• The 4th International Seminar on Ocean and Coastal Engineering, Environmental and Natural Disaster Management (ISOCEEN), December 13, 2016, Surabaya, Indonesia.ISOCEEN 2016 was aimed on providing a discussion, for exchanging of knowledge, researches and of recent solutions for many researchers and experts in the field of Ocean, Offshore, Coastal engineering, Environmental and Disaster Management. The results of discussions are presented in this book. We hope this book will be interesting and usefull for many engineers and scientists whose activity related with researches of ocean and development of coastal areas.List of Committees are available in this pdf.

Reconciling Multiple Societal Objectives in Cross-Scale Marine Governance: Solomon Islands’ Engagement in the Coral Triangle Initiative

ABSTRACTEnvironmental governance aims to reconcile an expanding set of societal objectives at ever-larger scales despite the challenges that remain in integrating conservation and development at smaller scales. We interrogate Solomon Islands’ engagement in the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security to contribute new insight on the scalar politics of multi-level marine governance. We show how regional objectives are re-interpreted and prioritized as they translate into national policy and practice. Our data suggest that enhanced coordination of finances and activities, integration of objectives in shared protocols and priority geographies, and a subtle shift in power relations between the state, donors, and implementation partners have resulted from processes of re-scaling. We discuss important procedural adjustments in cross-level and cross-scale governance across jurisdictional, institutional, and sectoral scales. We also reflect on the changing role of national governments in shifts toward large-scale, multi-national initiatives.

Occurrence and Distribution of Marsh Clam, <em>Polymesoda</em> spp. in Marudu Bay, Sabah, Malaysia

Marudu Bay is part of the Tun Mustapha Marine Park, the largest marine protected area within the Malaysian region of the Coral Triangle Initiative. The bay is known for its diversed fisheries resources including bivalves. Although some of these bivalve species are commercially important, their occurrence, distribution and stock status in the bay are not well documented. Hence, the current study was conducted to determine the occurrence, distribution and the stock status of marsh clam, Polymerasoda spp. in the mangrove swamp situated at the southernmost of the Marudu Bay. Samplings were carried out at the mangrove swamps which covered an area of 500 sequare meter per sampling site. Two marsh clams species, Polymesoda erosa and P. expansa were found to inhabit the sampling sites. In general, juvenile marsh clams were noticed to dominate the seaward mangrove swamp, whereas the high tidal regions were dominated by adults. The current study also suggested a link in the distribution and the morphometric measurements of the marsh clams with the sediment grain size.

Atoll Reef Geomorphology of Sagori Island, SE Sulawesi: A Reconnaissance Study

DOI: 10.17014/ijog.4.3.181-191The Sagori Atoll of the Kabaena Island, SE Sulawesi is one of Indonesia’s remote tropical reefs and such has received little attention from reef researchers. Non of early scientific expeditions reported either geomorphology or ecology of the Sagori Atoll in detail. This study is the first investigation of the reef geomorphology and associated habitats of Sagori Atoll within a biodiversity of “Coral reef Triangle Initiative - CTI” region, using data from satellite imagery and on ground observation. The Sagori Atoll environment consists of reef-island, atoll rim, and lagoon in which six habitats are associated, including: sand cay, coralgal pavement, sand sheet (intertidal and subtidal), sand-hardground striation, and outer atoll rim and lagoon (shallow and deep). The reef-island is built from sediments that are entirely calcareous, resting on a platform of lithified coral conglomerate. The atoll rim is dominated by coralgal pavement consisting mainly of both encrusting and living coralline algae. The lagoon which is a semi-enclosed pool and opens to the eastern side, consists of sand and scattered corals. The atoll formation is considered to be of nonvolcanic origin, but is rising from the depth of due to anticlinal island subsidence.

State Practices in Southeast Asia: Possible Collaboration amongst Claimants in the South China Sea Dispute

This article considers the prospects for cooperation between the claimants in the South China Sea dispute. A number of reasons are provided to explain why the likelihood of resolving the dispute over territorial sovereignty is slim. Nonetheless, such disagreements need not stand in the way of managing the South China Sea dispute. In this regard, inspiration is sought in other practices in Southeast Asia where joint activities are conducted in areas where not all maritime boundaries and sovereignty disputes have been settled. These practices are (1) the management of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, and (2) the Coral Triangle Initiative. The author suggests that China and the asean member states should gain first-hand information about these practices with a view to establishing comparable joint activities in the South China Sea.

Effects of nutrients and zooplankton on the phytoplankton community structure in Marudu Bay

Current study was carried out to provide a better understanding on spatial and temporal variations in the phytoplankton community structure in Marudu Bay, an important nursery ground for fishery resources within the Tun Mustapha Marine Park and Coral Triangle Initiative, and their relationship with environmental variables. Samplings were conducted monthly from April 2014 to April 2015 in Marudu Bay, Malaysia. Water samples were collected for nutrients analysis, zooplankton and phytoplankton counting. Moreover, the in situ environmental parameters were also examined. The field study showed a total of forty seven phytoplankton genera, representative of 33 families were identified. The nutrient concentrations in Marudu Bay was low (mesotrophic) throughout the year, where the phytoplankton community was often dominated by Chaetoceros spp. and Bacteriastrum spp. In general, increase in nitrate concentration triggered the bloom of centric diatom, Chaetoceros spp. and Bacteriastrum spp. in Marudu Bay. However, the bloom of these phytoplankton taxa did not occur in the presence of high ammonia concentration. In addition, high abundance of zooplankton also a limiting factor of the phytoplankton blooms particularly at end of southwest monsoon. High silica concentration promoted the growth of pennate diatoms, Proboscia spp. and Thallassionema spp., but the depletion of silica quickly terminated the bloom. Interestingly, our study showed that Chaetoceros spp., tolerated silica depletion condition, but the average cell size of this taxon reduced significantly. In summary, the phytoplankton community structure in mesotrophic environment is more sensitive to the changes in zooplankton abundance, nutrient concentration and its ratio than that in nutrient rich environments. This study also recommends that bivalve farming at industrial scale is not recommended in Marudu Bay because it potentially depletes the primary productivity hence jeopardizing the availability of live food for larvae of many natural fishery resources in the bay.

Extracting ideology from policy: Analysing the social construction of conservation priorities in the Coral Triangle region

This study presents an analysis of marine resource management activities designed to ameliorate concerns over fish stocks, food and livelihood insecurity in the coastal Asia Pacific region, with a specific focus on the area encompassed by the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF). Firstly, the study explores how the CTI-CFF framing of food insecurity as symptomatic of economic deficiencies at the household level reflects the broader neoliberal conservation agenda driving the CTI-CFF and serves to legitimate the latter as the natural authority for intervention. Secondly, the paper uses an example of local level fishery management to demonstrate how the logic of neoliberalism translates to regulations which fail to recognise social and political complexities confronting fishers, thereby exacerbating the precarity of food and livelihood security in these communities. Thirdly, the paper contrasts the Western scientific emphasis on maintaining food security through managing coral reef fisheries with evidence from Indonesia and the Philippines which demonstrates the much larger contribution from pelagic fisheries and aquaculture to food security. The paper concludes with a call for research and aid-funded interventions on fishery management, livelihoods and food security to better reflect the needs of coastal people in the Asia-Pacific region, rather than the values commonly espoused by Western scientists and conservationists.

The Landscape of Leadership in Environmental Governance: a Case Study from Solomon Islands

We bring new insights to environmental governance research from leadership studies where there is a growing recognition that leadership is a process that is enacted through a “web of interactions incorporating both people and objects” (Hawkins et al. 2015: 953). Leadership is broadly defined as a process of influence resulting in shared direction and commitment (following Bolden et al. 2012 and Haslam et al. 2011). To illustrate what a more nuanced understanding of leadership can look like we employ a deliberately provocative analytical perspective inspired by Actor Network Theory which recognises that societal outcomes are shaped by relations among humans and non-human, including discursive, actants (Latour 2005; Dwiartama and Rosin 2014 and see discussion for detailed examples). We report on an empirical study of Solomon Islands’ engagement with the multi-national, multi-objective Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI), an initiative that is labelled as potentially transformative. We aimed to understand how different actors perceive leadership for improved environmental governance in Solomon Islands in practice. First, we determine whether there are sources of leadership in addition to key individuals and organisations. We investigate the potential of organisations, policy and legislative instruments, and ideologies or discourses to enact leadership by influencing governance outcomes. Second, we establish how leadership varies across three different, potentially contested CTI goals – food security, biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation – that in combination are expected to contribute to improved environmental governance. Third, we determine whether leadership can also disrupt or stall progress towards improved environmental governance outcomes. This paper aims to open up a broader debate about leadership research in environmental sciences – the empirical approach and evidence are illustrative rather than definitive.

Marine and human habitat mapping for the Coral Triangle Initiative region of Sabah using Landsat and Google Earth imagery

The governments of the six Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands have expressed their commitment to protecting marine ecosystems and improving management systems. Achieving the above commitment requires detailed baseline information on the spatial distribution and extent of the marine resources, such as seagrass meadows, coral reef, mangrove forests and seaweed beds, as well as the ability to successfully interpret and understand these data. This study examined a combination of Landsat image enhancement technique and pixel-based regional growing tools to create a map of marine and human habitats with five classes-of-interest: seagrass, land, coral and coral rubble, subsurface sand/mud, land, and human habitats for twelve islands of eastern Sabah of East Malaysia (extending from 4° 42′ N, 118° 31ʹ E to 4° 12ʹ N, 118° 50ʹ E), located in the south-eastern boundary of Palawan/North Borneo Ecoregion (extending from 14° 31ʹ N, 116° 52ʹ E to 0° 0.04ʹ N, 122° 12ʹ E) of the CTI implementation area. Using this method, an overall accuracy of >75% was achieved for mapping of those class-of-interest types. The estimated seagrass areal coverage is 274 ha, of which 158 ha (58% of the total area) occurred in relatively shallow water areas. Using Google Earth data, seaweed culture sites with a total area of 7114ha were observed around 7 of the 12 islands. The mapping approach and the results of the study will be of immense benefit to natural resource management of the study area through enabling conservation agencies to prioritize seagrass, coral, seaweed or marine conservation sites and to document local threats to those habitats.

Ten things to get right for marine conservation planning in the Coral Triangle.

Systematic conservation planning increasingly underpins the conservation and management of marine and coastal ecosystems worldwide. Amongst other benefits, conservation planning provides transparency in decision-making, efficiency in the use of limited resources, the ability to minimise conflict between diverse objectives, and to guide strategic expansion of local actions to maximise their cumulative impact. The Coral Triangle has long been recognised as a global marine conservation priority, and has been the subject of huge investment in conservation during the last five years through the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security. Yet conservation planning has had relatively little influence in this region. To explore why this is the case, we identify and discuss 10 challenges that must be resolved if conservation planning is to effectively inform management actions in the Coral Triangle. These are: making conservation planning accessible; integrating with other planning processes; building local capacity for conservation planning; institutionalising conservation planning within governments; integrating plans across governance levels; planning across governance boundaries; planning for multiple tools and objectives; understanding limitations of data; developing better measures of progress and effectiveness; and making a long term commitment. Most important is a conceptual shift from conservation planning undertaken as a project, to planning undertaken as a process, with dedicated financial and human resources committed to long-term engagement.