22 Oct US Ambassadors’ Visit to Banda Island

The Coral Triangle Center (CTC) were honored to accompany the US Ambassador and the staff of US Consulate General in Surabaya on a visit to the Banda Islands on October 22, 2017 to assess conservation activities.

The delegation was welcomed with a local custom ceremony, which included Cakalele and Sawat Dances and the ambassador was honored with the title “Orlima luar”, meaning an external advisor of local customs & traditions.

Mr. La Ode Junaidin, a CTC officer based in Banda, was in charge of accompanying the ambassador during his visit. Mr. Ode provided necessary support including information about key projects involving CTC, such as the establishment of the Ay and Rhun Marine Protected Areas (MPA) and the Banda MPA network.

They visited historical sites, the nutmeg plantation and the secretariat office of the conservation team who explained all the conservation work supported by CTC. They concluded with a question and answer session with the ambassador, the Ay conservation team and Ay Customary figures.

In the ambassadors final speech, he mentioned that he was very impressed with the community based conservation programs and very thankful with the traditional way of welcoming him. This visit demonstrates CTC’s commitment to build relationships within governments, non-government organizations and the community to ensure successful long term conservation in the Coral Triangle.

[photo credit – Yesika Indarini]