Transboundary Marine Conservation in the

Coral Triangle:

Towards Integrated Ocean Management of the Ombai Strait, the Indo-Pacific

migratory corridor between Indonesia and Timor Leste.

Benjamin KahnAPEX EnvironmentalCoral Triangle Oceanic Cetacean ProgramIUCN Species Survival Commission - Cetacean Specialist GroupIUCN World Commission on Protected AreasKahn.Benjamin@gmail.com

The Coral Triangle - Overview1. The CT includes the coasts, reefs and open seas of

six countries: Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia (Sabah), Papua New

Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Timor Leste. 

2. These waters are regarded by experts as the world's richest marine environment and account for 30 % of the world's reefs,

76 % of global reef building coral species and

more than 35 % of coral reef fish.  

3. Endangered, threatened and/or protected (ETP) Marine Megafauna in the CT includes: 6 species of marine turtles,

Several species of large elasmobrachs: whale sharks, mantas

the dugong and

over 30 species of dolphins and whales - including Bryde’s, sperm, humpback, beaked and blue whales.

4. Over 120 million people directly dependent on CT marine resources.

The vast majority of CT waters are over 200m in depth. Over 85% of the CT’s delineated surface area can be considered deep-sea…

  CT totalCT <200m

(coastal/shelf)CT >200m

(incl. near shore yet deep-sea)Reference

         

area (ha)

549,223,129 81,868,214 467,354,915http://ctatlas.reefbase.org/

% 100 14.9 85.1  

Green and Mous 2008

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The Coral Triangle’s deep-sea waters

BeachBeach Deep sea trenchDeep sea trench

(0 - 8300 m – ‘Planet Deep’, Solomon Sea, PNG)(0 - 8300 m – ‘Planet Deep’, Solomon Sea, PNG)

25 nm25 nm

BeachBeach Abyssal plainAbyssal plain5 nm5 nm

(0 - >4000 m Savu Sea, Banda Sea)(0 - >4000 m Savu Sea, Banda Sea)

Coastal-oceanic habitat proximity within the Coral Triangle

Coastal-oceanic habitat proximity within the Coral Triangle

Increasingly under-represented habitats within Marine Protected Area Networks. (proximity = opportunity)

Increasingly under-represented habitats within Marine Protected Area Networks. (proximity = opportunity)

Ombai Strait

Large-scale characteristics:

•Indonesian Through Flow (ITF)•Tropical oceanic exchange (unique)•Monsoons - strong seasonal influences. • Complex bathymetry, extreme seafloor features. This results a highly dynamic system with diverse coastal oceanic and deep-sea habitats:

•Coral reefs and mangroves•Seasonal upwellings•Persistent Pelagic Habitats (PPHs – tropical tuna)• Critical Habitats for wide ranging endangered,

threatened or protected “ETP” species such as the• Lesser Sunda migratory corridors

The Indonesian Seas – A unique location at the nexus

of two tropical oceans

Habitat diversity and proximity ‘near-shore yet deep-sea’

1.Opportunities:• Easy access for research on Endangered, Threatened and

Protected (ETP) spp, field training, site-based conservation and tourism activities.

2.Threats: • Oceanic species as by-catch in coastal fisheries, habitat

degradation from coastal development and pollution, near-shore extractive industries.

Foraging sperm whales off Manado Tua – Bunaken NP

The narrow yet deep inter-island passages of the Savu Sea (eastern Indonesia and Timor Leste) function as vital migration corridors for endangered species including the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus).

Coastal and oceanic habitats overlap: MPA opportunity:The Indo-Pacific migratory bottlenecks of the Coral Triangle

Photo: Anneke Augustinus

Coastal and oceanic habitat overlap:Trapped blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus; n=5)

in a shallow reef lagoon along a mangrove coast line

21-27 October 2014

1 blue whale died overnight on 23 Oct; 4 blue whales rescued in the following days

using an Underwater Noise Barrier technique; Kahn in prep)

1. Transboundary waters between Indonesia and Timor Leste: the Ombai and Wetar Straits migratory corridors.

2. The total area = 89,245.0 sq km.

3. Nested within the Lesser Sunda Seascape, which has been designated as high priority by the Coral Triangle Initiative (Goal 1).

4. Covers eastern-most part of this high priority CT Seascape and includes

• exceptional bio-diverse coastal and oceanic ecosystems of regional importance and

• high connectivity.

Ombai Strait Transboundary Corridor

Overview

OSTC: National jurisdictions with maritime mandates

Two countries Indonesia, Timor Leste

Two provinces NTT and Maluku, both in Indonesia)

12 districts (5 IND+ 7 TL) Maritime jurisdiction of Timor Leste district

governments are currently being finalised under legal reforms. Possible outcome expected in 2015.

4 Fisheries Management Areas (FMAs) FMA 573 (Java – Nusa Tengara) FMA 714 (Banda Sea) FMA 715 (Arafura Sea)

4 International Sealanes IMO vessel separation schemes and Archipelagic sealanes)

All within a CTI Priority Seascape

Ombai Strait Transboundary Corridor (OSTC)MSP Overview

Reefs at Risk

MSP in the Ombai Strait Transboundary Corridor 1/2

1. Maritime and ecoregional boundaries

1. Maritime usage International / Archipelagic Sealanes (ASL),

Fisheries Management Areas (FMA)

2. Marine Spatial Planning for conservation goals. Adopted by BAPPENAS National Development Planning Agency:

MPAs Existing Designated Proposed

Areas of Interest (AoI) Transboundary AoI Deep-sea AoI

MSP in the OSTC 2/2

OMST: Overview of MSPOverlap of offshore industries and EBSAs

• Large regional scope: CTI and SW Pacific incl. Fiji • (Kahn and Vance-Borland 2013)

• 1st study to quantify all areas of overlap and identify the hotspots• Shipping Lanes overlap with Migratory Corridors.

• Sections categorised according to estimated ship traffic (density)• Start to asses chronic and acute threats to EBSAs:

• Threats: • Direct strikes• Noise pollution• Marine pollution from

bilge and ballast waters (MARPOL)

• Exhaust emissions (sulphur loading -IMO)

• Accidental collisions at sea

• Accidental wreckage on coast (reefs)

• New port development – support infrastructure Kahn and Vance-Borland 2013

Why do we need to plan ahead? The need for Integrated Ocean Management

(IOM) and MPAs: Regional issues, local impacts

Fisheries: coastal and pelagic – several projects active

Maritime Transport – Regional shipping; AU-Asia “resource run” - 10-fold increase of ship

traffic Sea lanes overlaps with migratory corridors for blue and sperm whales

(Indonesia, Timor Leste, PNG). ASL overlap with Banda blue whale habitats

Port development – “Sea corridors” a national priority

 Extractive Industries and Energy sector:

“East and Deep” Oil and Gas Deep sea mining Coastal mining (Submarine Tailings)

Future activities and emerging usage of our CT Oceans…? Deep sea mining

(85.1% of the CT is deep-sea)

Ombai Strait Transboundary Corridor (OSTC)Overview – Conservation values

1. Region of dynamic oceanographic processes of global importance (major exit of IFT, heat conveyor belt, climate change adaption)

2. Reefs to (deep-sea) Ridges approach suitable: extreme and unique habitat diversity and proximity, and maritime cultural significance (traditional sperm whaling community)

3. Critical corridor of regional importance to multiple species groups – cetaceans, turtles, (whale)sharks, mantas, mola mola, tropical tuna.

4. Exceptional species diversity (n=18) and high abundance of oceanic cetaceans incl. 4 “great whale” species.

5. Important Persistent Pelagic Habitat (PPH – Part of the strongest seasonal upwellings in the NE Indian Ocean)

6. High degree of cold water mixing – reefs resilient to coral bleaching.

7. Important regional site for EBSA and KBA processes (and IMMA).

Ombai Strait Transboundary Corridor (OSTC)Overview – Opportunities

1. Indonesia and Timor Leste (and the CTI) will make a substantial contribution to their national Aichi Target 11 commitments Importantly, OSTC will include numerous oceanic and deep-sea habitat categories

that are still under-represented globally under Aichi Target 11. Joint progress towards the CTI’s Regional Plan of Action – Goal 5.

2. The 1st site-based yet transboundary management approach for the region.

3. Large-scale Marine Spatial Planning is in progress for the region. 1. National and ecoregional MSP initiatives.

2. OSTC is well positioned within a priority seascape of the CTI.

4. Integrated Ocean Management: Corals and Corridors. OSTC has high conservation values for both coastal and oceanic ecosystems with

a well-established transboundary management framework already in place (CTI).

5. OSTC will provide connectivity between national and regional MPA Networks1. Indonesia, Timor Leste, Australia (NW)

Ombai Strait Transboundary Corridor (OSTC)Overview – Challenges

1. Promote awareness amongst all stakeholders about the need and suitability of a transboundary management approach and opportunities for the OSTC.

2. Large-scale ecosystem-based management approach with limited institutional capacity in both countries.

3. Define the appropriate management framework: CTI (i.e. Goal 1 - priority seascapes and Goal 5 – endangered species) or a separate bilateral arrangement?

4. “Start-up”: Small initial investment in the OSTC development phase: Initial scoping meetings in each country. Consolidate all current studies on the ecological

and socio-economical profile of the OSTC Quantify total of increased % to Aichi Target 11, as

well as habitat-specific %’s – i.e. coral reef, corridor, seamounts.

In Summary,

The Ombai Strait Transboundary Corridor has a unique set of oceanographic, ecological and transboundary conservation values,

at a location that boosts coastal and deeps-sea habitat representativeness within the CTI RPOA and Aichi Target 11 as well as

MPA Network connectivity within the broader region.

In Summary,

The Ombai Strait Transboundary Corridor has a unique set of oceanographic, ecological and transboundary conservation values,

at a location that boosts coastal and deeps-sea habitat representativeness within the CTI RPOA and Aichi Target 11 as well as

MPA Network connectivity within the broader region.

Physeter macrocephalusPhyseter macrocephalus

Thank you for the opportunity to present at this meeting.Thank you for the opportunity to present at this meeting.

The Coral Triangle Oceanic Cetacean The Coral Triangle Oceanic Cetacean Program Program

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www.apex-environmental.com