<
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/35m-debt-for-nature-deal-aims-to-protect-indonesias-coral-reefs/>
"JAKARTA — A milestone debt-for-nature agreement to conserve coral reefs in
Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelagic country, has drawn a mix of
optimism and skepticism from environmentalists. While welcoming the flush of
funding and attention to the country’s imperiled reef ecosystems, some warn
that to be successful, the agreement must reshape the way reef conservation is
practiced, in particular by enhancing monitoring of project outcomes.
“If we want to continue coral reef restoration and conservation projects over
the next nine years in the same way as before, then we will repeat the same
failures,” Parid Ridwanuddin, oceans lead at the Indonesian Forum for the
Environment, a prominent national pressure group known as Walhi, told
Mongabay
Indonesia.
The $35 million debt-for-nature swap between Indonesia and the U.S. aims to
conserve coral reefs in eastern Indonesia over the next nine years, with the
funding offset by canceled sovereign debt payable to the U.S. On Aug. 8 the
Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) formally announced the deal, although the
governments of Indonesia and the U.S. had sealed it in July. The GFCR, an
international public-private finance body, provided financial and technical
support for the debt swap, according to the announcement.
“This agreement helps reinforce the idea that a healthy ocean is in the global
interest and a shared responsibility,” said Victor Gustaaf Manoppo,
director-general of marine management at Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Affairs
and Fisheries.
Indonesian conservation organizations Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara (YKAN)
and Yayasan Konservasi Cakrawala Indonesia (YKCI), along with their respective
international affiliates, The Nature Conservancy and Conservation
International, will oversee fieldwork using grant funding established under the
swap.
The U.S. Tropical Forest and Coral Reef Conservation Act of 1998 enables low-
and middle-income countries to relieve their debt to the U.S. government by
directing funding of tropical forest and reef conservation.
The $35 million swap, the first such agreement covering coral reefs as well as
the first reached between the U.S. and Indonesia, will focus on reefs in the
Banda Seascape, the Bird’s Head Seascape, and in Lesser Sunda, all located in
the east of the archipelago in a biodiversity zone known as the Coral Triangle
that encompasses Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the
Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste.
Programs funded under the agreement will aim to strengthen marine protected
areas, upgrade natural resource management, and foster sustainable livelihoods
across Indonesia’s portion of the Coral Triangle, the GFCR said in a statement.
However, environmental groups say an important consequence of the debt swap
will ideally be more robust monitoring of the impact of reef conservation work
commissioned under the swap."
Via
Fix the News:
https://fixthenews.com/60-ready/
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
