Marine and fisheries experts discuss shared threats to the Indonesian Seas Large Marine Ecosystem (ISLME) as part of the Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) development process. The TDA uses drivers, pressures, states, impacts, and responses (DPSIR) framework and the finalized TDA will be the basis for the Strategic Action Plan (SAP) formulation, detailing planning and implementation of concrete activities to restore coastal and marine fish stocks, biodiversity and protect livelihoods in the fisheries sector.

Ensuring ISLME’s sustainability is a pressing priority. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF) of the Republic of Indonesia and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste jointly launched in 2018 a fisheries project called “Enabling Transboundary Cooperation for Sustainable Management of the Indonesian Seas”, also known as the ISLME project. The four-year project, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), aims to strengthen regional cooperation and assists Indonesia and Timor-Leste to further promote sustainable, evidence-based fisheries management with strong stakeholder engagement.

The ISLME is an area of global importance. Situated at the confluence of the Pacific and Indian oceans, the ISLME region encompasses an area of 2.16 million km² and includes the territorial waters of Indonesia (98 percent) and Timor-Leste (2 percent). The ISLME is known for its mega marine biodiversity. It is part of the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) with 2,500 species of marine fish, 500 species of reef corals, 13 species of sea grasses, 47 species of mangroves, 10,82% of the world’s coral reefs and 0.76% of the world’s seamounts (Sea Around Us, 2007). It has high fisheries productivity contributing over 1 percent of the total global production and is key for global climate regulation with the warm waters of the ISLME act as a ‘heat engine’ of global atmospheric circulation with complex ocean-atmospheric dynamics. The ISLME is also among the world’s most geologically complex and tectonically active regions with at least 80 percent of the 76 active volcanoes in Indonesia is located in the ISLME (Tomascik et al., 1997).

The TDA includes the causal chain analysis (CCA) to identify direct and indirect drivers that lead to the loss of ecosystem, goods and services; and analysis into governance, institutions, stakeholders, laws and policies. The CCA and the leverage points of the TDA have been identified by the national scientific advisory group (NSAG) and in close collaboration with stakeholders in Indonesia and Timor-Leste.

“This workshop aims to review the ISLME TDA document with the latest data and policy background, to revalidate and update the issues, the CCA and the leverage points, involving MMAF, the NSAG members and the other national experts,” explained ISLME Regional Coordinator Mr. Muralidharan Chavakat Manghat. The review will focus on the five Primary Environmental Concerns are namely (1.) Unsustainable Fisheries & Aquaculture, (2.) Degradation and Loss of Marine Habitats, (3.) Marine & Land-Based Pollution, (4.) Decline of Biodiversity & Key Species and (5.) Impacts of Climate Change.

On behalf of the ISLME National Project Coordinator Mr. Ridwan Mulyana, Mr. Aris Budiarto from MMAF Directorate of Fish Resources Management, presented the Indonesian context of TDA and expressed hopes that the participants can provide technical expertise to review the existing TDA document and to give inputs for the SAP development before the ISLME project ends in January 2023.

Fery Sutiyawan of Directorate of Fish Resources Management said that Indonesia will set up a consortium of national fisheries experts for TDA finalization to ensure sound knowledge and expertise on ISLME and facilitated by the Regional Secretariat. The consortium will work together with Timor-Leste for the shared transboundary.