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Indonesia, Norway to set up ocean trust fund
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Water is life: Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti (right) and Norwegian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Vidar Helgesen hold bilateral talks at the Our Ocean conference in St. Julian’s, Malta, on Wednesday evening. (Photo courtesy of/Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry)
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ndonesia has accepted a proposal from Norway for the latter to form an ocean trust fund, the first of its kind, to support developing countries in conserving ocean environments and implementing sustainable fisheries.
In a meeting between Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti and Norwegian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Vidar Helgesen on the sidelines of the fourth Our Ocean Conference (OCC) on Wednesday, Indonesia expected that the planned fund could accelerate attempts to better protect its oceans.
“Norway already has a commitment for such a fund for the forestry sector. Now we’re exploring whether they can also provide a similar commitment for ocean conservation, which would cover far bigger areas than forest,” Susi said.
While details of the planned fund remain sketchy, Indonesia projected that it would be more or less similar to Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) aimed at supporting efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD+).
Under the REDD+ program, Norway pledged US$1 billion to Indonesia in 2011.
Susi said while the talks of the planned fund were still in their preliminary stages, Indonesia would allocate the money particularly for reducing marine debris and destructive fishing, as well as for expanding marine protected areas (MPA).
Susi said the fund would significantly help Indonesia expand its MPA from the current 17 million hectares to 20 million-ha by 2020.
