Coral Triangle Support Partnership (CTSP)
USAID funded the Coral Triangle Support Partnership (CTSP) as a platform from which the combined experience and technical depth of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Conservation International (CI) could be brought to support the six nations of the Coral Triangle (Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines – the CT6).
Activity Description
The CTSP worked within the US Coral Triangle Initiative (US CTI) Support Program funded by USAID and other agencies to ‘improve the management of biologically and economically important coastal and marine resources and associated ecosystems that support the livelihoods of peoples and economies in the Coral Triangle.
To ensure an integrated design under the US CTI Support Program, CTSP worked in concert with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the US CTI Program Integrator, other U.S. agencies, the Asian Development Bank, the Global Environment Facility, and other donor and government agencies, to map needs and derive best ways for CTSP to create value and provide leadership within the overall CTI. Country needs are expansive and none of the assistance sources can meet these needs alone. CTSP, being the first program on the ground, took both a tactical and strategic view by responding and taking advantage of high priority needs that are likely to produce results immediately and in the near future, while also taking more strategic positions that set the stage for outcomes over the medium to long term.
Expected Outcomes
- Regional and national platforms strengthened to catalyze and sustain integrated marine and coastal management in the Coral Triangle
- Ecosystem approach to fisheries management improved throughout the Coral Triangle region.
- Marine protected area management improved in Coral Triangle countries
- Capacity to adapt to climate change improved throughout the Coral Triangle region
Actual Outcomes
- Over 1 million hectares of MPAs are under improved management, with an additional 9.8 million hectares of coastal areas under improved management
- 100+ policies, laws, and agreements supporting improved management have been proposed or adopted
- Over 9,000 individuals have been trained through community awareness or formal trainings.
- A mobile phone application has been deployed in the Solomon Islands to capture and analyze real-time data for fisheries managers
- Alternative livelihood projects have been established in the proposed Tun Mustapha Park in Malaysia; the Turtle Islands Heritage Protected Area in Tawi Tawi, Philippines; and Ang Pulo MPA in Verde Islands Passage, Philippines.