GEF, ADB pledge $63m for Coral Triangle
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Manado | Fri, 05/15/2009 2:14 PM
The Global Environmental Facility (GEF) in cooperation with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) committed to providing a grant of US$63 million to support the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI), to fund conservation of an area referred to also as “the Amazon of the Seas".
“Of the $63 million GEF commitment some $45.5 million has already been allocated for nine projects in the six coral countries,” a GEF delegate told reporters on sidelines of the GEF Summit on Friday.
The fund would cover activities to conserve region’s coastal and marine ecosystems and develop measures to help the environmentally rich area adapt to climate change and address environmental stresses.
As of May 2009, the CTI has received pledges amounting to around $300 million, including $40 million from the US.
Heads of Coral Triangle member states (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste) officially launched the CTI program on Friday.
“This initiative brings together for the first time all six countries' presidents, to mobilize action in the countries of Southeast Asia and the Pacific,” GEF chief executive Monique Barbut said in a statement.
“Their commitment is crucial for the sustainable management of these resources, to ensure that an adequate supply of food exists to sustain millions of people living in coastal areas.”
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