30 September 2013: The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has approved US$4.5 million for the regional Capturing Coral Reef and Related Ecosystem Services Project. Focused on Indonesia and the Philippines, the project aims to design models for valuing mangrove, sea grass and coral reef ecosystems services to inform policy and decision-making, in this biodiversity epicenter.
The project will be executed through the Global Change Institute of the University of Queensland. The World Bank is providing US$21.9 million in parallel co-financing through the Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program-Coral Triangle Initiative (COREMAP-CTI) in Indonesia, and the Rural Development Project in the Philippines.
Project activities are set to include the: quantification of value and market potential of coral reef and mangrove ecosystem services; the forging of community-led innovation in capturing and sustaining benefits from marine eco-system services and enhancing resilience in the face of climate change; and the promotion of behavioral change through outreach and dissemination of scientific information to decision-making.
The Coral Triangle comprises an area extending from the northern Philippines, to Malaysia in the west, Timor-Leste to the South, Eastern Indonesia and Papua New Guinea to the East, and trailing off to the Solomon Islands toward the Southeast.
Source: SIDS Policy & Practice
Photo credit: clownfish in anemone, Raja Ampat, Bird’s Head Seascape, Indonesia, Coral Triangle (http://worldwildlife.org/photos/clownfish–2)
