The Coral Triangle is the most diverse and biologically complex marine ecosystem on the planet. It spans across Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste.  It is home to some of the world’s most diverse and beautiful coral reefs and provides habitat for more than 250 species of reef fish.

However, many of the marine animals in the Coral Triangle are threatened by human activities meaning that interventions are needed to maintain the balance of the Coral Triangle’s ecosystems so that they can continue to thrive.  Globally, according to the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), biodiversity has declined rapidly over the last 50 years, with severe implications for human health and well-being, societal resilience and sustainable development. Thus, addressing biodiversity loss requires ambitious domestic action by governments and non-state actors, which can be amplified by strong international cooperation.

According to the World Wildlife Fund’s Our Living Blue Planet report in 2014 – an updated study of marine mammals, birds, reptiles and fish – marine populations have declined by 49% between 1970 and 2012. These findings underscore the impact for people in the developing world who depend heavily on the ocean’s resources.

In this context, the CTC in collaboration with the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security  Regional Secretariat and The Nature Conservancy, aimed to shine the spotlight on innovations and actions being undertaken by women leaders across the Coral Triangle in sustaining marine resources through a series of virtual exchanges that highlight successful women-led initiatives in sustainable marine resource management.  Session 1 was held on October 3, 2022 and focused on Conservation in the Frontlines: Women Leaders Protecting the Coral Triangle’s Threatened Biodiversity and Endangered Species.

CTI-CFF Regional Secretariat Executive Director Dr. Mohd Kushairi Rajuddin opened the session and stressed the importance of biodiversity conservation in the Coral Triangle followed by CTC Executive Director Rili Djohani who introduced the CTI-CFF Women Leaders Forum, a regional peer-learning network to exchange ideas for women leaders in marine resource management.

The Nature Conservancy’s Global Reef Systems Lead, Dr. Elizabeth McLeod, talked about gender equality and social inclusion in marine conservation. She explored how this encourages respect for diverse peoples and perspectives,helps ensure that conservation actions are effective, supports equal distribution of benefits, and supports diverse participation in decision making and good governance.

Next up, Virginie Naigeon-Malek, the Global Head of Sustainability and Social Impact at Mary Kay’s global headquarters in Dallas, Texas, USA, talked about how providing private sector support to women conservationists in the Coral Triangle is one way they enact their aim to enrich women’s lives globally. Mary Kay sees this as critical to ensure the  success of conservation programs in the region by providing resources to women leaders in the field.

In the Coral Triangle region, women champions are leading the way in conservation on the frontlines. Madlyn Ero, a conservation practitioner at The Nature Conservancy Field office in the Solomon Islands, discussed how female rangers are saving leatherback sea turtles in her country. She noted that although conservation activities in the Solomon Islands have traditionally involved mostly men, the Kawaki Women’s Network in the Arnavon Islands have proven that women can be deeply involved in biodiversity conservation in the field, too. The Kawaki women have led community outreach activities to educate local communities about leatherback sea turtles, participated in training about the species, and have gone out themselves to monitor sea turtle nesting sites at night. The women help monitor the population and nesting areas of the turtles in the Arnavon and with their success have also grown to include 15 women members this year.

In the Philippines, Erina Molina from the University of the Philippines Diliman shared her work as a conservation research specialist for the Haribon Foundation, an environmental NGO in the Philippines working on biodiversity conservation. Erina’s involvement included a project that aimed to use fisher’s knowledge to help identify locally extinct reef fish species in the Philippines. She embedded herself in fishing communities,learning how local people can provide a wealth of information relevant to biodiversity conservation. She also received a National Geographic grant to study the spatial distribution, habitat-use patterns and risks to dugongs in Calawit Island, Busuanga, Philippines wherein she worked with local Indigenous peoples by employing a citizen science-approach to conservation. Here she was able to recruit two women to become part of the project, amongst a majority of men, which she hopes will encourage more women to join conservation projects in the area. She also underscored the importance of bridging the gap between science and community through education and collaboration.

In Indonesia, Dr. Elle Wibisono shared about using art and science to help the public understand fisheries management and its importance to marine conservation and our daily lives.  Elle is a Lui-Walton fellow at Conservation International, working as the Senior Manager for fisheries and marine protected areas. She was also a Knauss Marine Policy Fellow at the U.S. Senate, where she helped draft, research, communicate, and negotiate oceans and climate change bills. She also worked at The Nature Conservancy Indonesia Fisheries Conservation Project on the sustainable management of deep-water snapper and grouper fisheries. In addition to her research and policy work, Elle explores the importance of effective science communication by designing and creating fish comics (fishtory.co). Through her comics, she aims to highlight topics in fishery science and conservation in a fun and engaging way, helping the general public to understand their role in sustainable fisheries and its link to marine biodiversity conservation.

In Malaysia, Serena Adam talked about shark and ray conservation in her country and underscored how her team, composed mostly of women, navigated a male-dominated fishing industry and found allies for their cause. Serena, who is the shark conservation officer at the World Wildlife Fund Malaysia since 2017, noted that out of the 70 species of sharks and 85 species of rays in Malaysia, almost half are threatened with extinction due mainly to overfishing and unintentional catch or bycatch, worsened by habitat loss, climate change and pollution. Her work focuses on project management, research coordination of bycatch mitigation initiatives and species monitoring in marine protected areas (MPAs) as well as fulfilling important scientific gaps. Serena hopes that her work will help improve the recovery of these vulnerable species and ensure they are still swimming in our waters for years to come.

To wrap up, CTC Executive Director Rili Djohani thanked the women leaders and highlighted common threads from their presentations such as the inclusion of various stakeholders and bringing them into the table, working with multi-stakeholder communities, and going beyond traditional gender norms and challenges to advocate for conservation objectives. She also invited participants to join the next session focusing on Coral Triangle Women Leaders Kickstarting Climate Action and Ocean Protection Towards the 30 x 30 Goal which will be held on November 11, 2022.

Watch a replay of Session 1 via this link: https://bit.ly/WLFSession1Recording

Register for Session 2 via this link: https://bit.ly/WLFSession2