T

he government and three international NGOs — Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy and the World Wildlife Fund — on Friday announced their commitment to contribute a combined US$23 million to the Blue Abadi Fund, the world’s largest marine conservation trust.

The fund is uniquely designed to support local community stewardship of protected areas of the world’s most biodiverse reefs found in Bird’s Head Seascape, West Papua. This area encompasses more than 2,500 islands and reefs, and supports thousands of species — including 70 that can be found nowhere else on earth.

Once the fund is fully capitalized, the seascape will contain the country’s first sustainably financed marine protected area (MPA) network.

The fund will help secure the long-term financial sustainability of the seascape by providing grants to local communities and agencies so they can sustainably manage their marine resources into the future,

The fund is hailed as a powerful example of how local leadership combined with coordinated global support can deliver sustained conservation goals.

“These protected areas exist thanks to the support and involvement of local communities and fishermen,” said Rob Walton of the Walton Family Foundation, which has been working in the Bird’s Head region for more than a decade. “Of course it is not enough to create marine protected areas, you have to have long-term management and enforcement. That is what the Blue Abadi Fund is all about.”

The Bird’s Head Seascape coalition was launched in 2004 by Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund and now includes 30 conservation partners, including local and national governments, international and local NGOs, and academic institutions.

Its mission is to ensure sustainable management of the seascape’s resources in a way that empowers local indigenous communities while enhancing their food security and livelihoods.

“The future of our planet depends upon the wisdom of communities,” said Peter Seligmann, chairman and CEO of Conservation International. “Through the Blue Abadi Fund, the global community joins with local communities to secure the long-term health of Bird’s Head Seascape, arguably the most diverse marine region on planet earth.”

Since the launch of the coalition 12 years ago, the MPA network in Bird’s Head Seascape has grown to include 3.6 million hectares of MPAs or approximately 20 percent of all MPAs in Indonesia. Locally managed by communities and the government, the MPA network prioritizes biodiversity conservation and sustainable local fisheries.

Overall, the coalition effort has engaged 30 partner organizations and 70 donors, both local and global. The governments of Indonesia and the West Papua province, along with local communities, have played fundamental roles in managing the MPA network and local fisheries.

The coalition will complete a full transfer of MPA management responsibilities to local communities and the government by June 2017, who will then co-manage them into the future.

Local funding sources will provide 70 percent of the financing needed for the seascape, with the Indonesian government being the largest source of funding, and the Blue Abadi Fund providing the remaining 30 percent.

In a demonstration of their commitment to the MPA network and as a match to the Blue Abadi Fund, the West Papua provincial administration has committed to providing a minimum of Rp. 7.2 billion (US$555,000) per year to the management of the MPA network starting in 2018.

Budget allocations from the central government as well as revenue generated from tourism will also contribute to the MPA costs.

“As a conservation province, our natural resources are of strategic value and importance for West Papua. To ensure that we continue to benefit from conservation, we need to work together to ensure that our MPAs are sufficiently and sustainably funded,” said Nathaniel D. Mandacan, the secretary of the West Papua provincial administration.