21 Apr Building Local Capacity to Manage Marine Resources in Lease Islands

The proposed marine protected area (MPA) in Lease Island has been reserved by the local government of Maluku according to the Governor’s Decree No. 387 of 2016. The MPA is envisioned to fit multi-purpose needs of fisheries, marine tourism and marine sustainability that will enable food security. To help support the process of its establishment, CTC has began efforts to build local capacity to empower the islands’ communities to manage their own marine resources,

As part of its implementation of the USAID Sustainable Ecosystem Approach (SEA) Project, CTC conducted two batches a three-day intensive community training on principles of MPA in Saparua Island from April 16-21, 2018. The aim of this training was to provide knowledge on the steps to establish an MPA, increase local community awareness and encourage their involvement in MPA development.

The participants consisted of two representatives per village from a total of 27 villages from the Lease Islands. They learned multiple topics about marine biodiversity, marine protected areas, rules and regulations, zonation, marine ecotourism, and community participation.

Participants were highly interested in the topic and were actively involved in the discussion process. They were also eager to learn on how MPA benefits the local society and their roles in the establishment of MPA in the Lease Islands. Most of participants found this training was very important and considered themselves an agent to spread the knowledge about the importance of conservation area in their village.

Some of the participants said “Saya mendukung kegiatan konservasi yang dilakukan oleh bapak ibu sekalian…”, “Pengalaman yang saya ambil selama 3 hari ini, menjadi semangat bahwa kita harus menjaga laut sebab betapa pentingnya ini laut bukan saja untuk kita saat ini, tapi untuk anak cucu kita ke depan, generasi penerus bisa menikmati hasil laut. Saya berjanji saya akan menjaga lautan di Lease terkhusus di negeri Tuhaha”.

Which means they support the establishment of MPA in the Lease islands and are aware that the ocean is a very important resource that needs to be well managed for future generations.

Top right photo by Rili Djohani/CTC and training photos by Agustin Capriati/CTC