quinta-feira, 28 de junho de 2012

Nó atado

Na foto, o nó que é dado para amarrar as "amas" das canoas Timorenses. Baseada em fibra de bambu, o nó une a iternsecção (geralmente entre dois bambus) que dá a estabilidade para as canoas, usadas para pescar e transportar materiais. Trabalho artesanal, necessário e eficaz.



terça-feira, 26 de junho de 2012

Full Report Rio+20 (english)

Sustainable Development in Timor-Leste

NATIONAL REPORT TO THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (UNCSD)

On the run up to Rio+20

Full Report Here (english)


segunda-feira, 25 de junho de 2012

Speech at the Rio Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20)

Speech at the Rio Conference on Sustainable Development by The Special Envoy of the President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, José RAMOS-HORTA, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1996)

FULL TEXT

Rio, 20-22nd June 2012

Madam President Dilma Rousseff,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Heads of State and Government,
Majesties and Highnesses,
Excellencies,

   I bring you warm greetings from President Taur Matan Ruak, who cannot be present and so gave me the honor of being his Special Envoy to Rio+20. I also bring greetings from the President of our National Parliament, Fernando La Sama de Araújo, Prime-Minister Xanana Gusmão, and the President of our Supreme Court, Cláudio Ximenes.

  We gather in Rio, in the midst of an unprecedented financial, economical and social crisis that began in the US in 2008, spread into Europe, and is affecting other world economies. In Copenhagen, Monterey and Durban we did not reach a substantial, binding agreement that could meet the great challenges of climate change. Under the wise leadership and mediation of our friend President Dilma Rousseff and Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, we have avoided the polarization of Copenhagen and other Development and Climate Change meetings.

   We have a comprehensive agreement entitled The Future We Want  but we all know that it is next to impossible to bring all parties to agree on a binding international agreement that entails deadlines and costs. So pragmatism and realism tell us that in order to avoid failure we must lower our expectations to the lowest possible common denominator. The truth is that the financial, economical and social crisis that affects the US and almost all of Europe, have conditioned the political willingness of the rich countries of the North to contribute substantially to any bold sustainable development program to fight poverty in the world to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Even before the crisis that began in 2008, that is still being felt with no light at the end of the tunnel, most rich countries were never able to mobilize the political and humanist will to allocate 0.7% of their GDP for development aid. And aid pledges made in international conferences was rarely kept and when it was, it was not always effective for the benefit of the receiving countries.

    But not everything was negative: the path taken for the past decades in the relationship between rich and poor countries, between North and South, had ups and downs, with much waste and mismanagement, based on wrong concepts, wrong assumptions and wrong policies. But mistakes were not only on one side of the relationship; donors and recipients shared in those mistakes and lost decades.  There is abundant academic literature on the matter, the flaws of international foreign aid policy. I will not elaborate further on this matter.

Majesties, Highnesses, Excellencies,

   It seems that everyone is pleased with the document outcome of this conference, even if it is way below the urgent global action needed to counter the alarming rate of climate change. Dare we ask, instead of attempting to negotiate and achieve an international agreement without much substance, wouldn't it more realistic, practical and effective to think of Agreements and Plans on a regional level? For instance, shouldn’t Asia consider an Asian Road Map for 20-30 years for an integrated, equitable, sustainable Human Development, targeting eradication of poverty, illiteracy, TB, malaria, HIV/Aids, etc. and restoration of our forests, rivers and seas? Asia, with half the world population, extracts a lot more from our Planet  to satisfy our needs of survival and development than any other region in the world.

    For our own survival, by solidarity with our brothers and sisters from other parts of the world, we must act with vision and determination, we must do a lot more to free our people from extreme poverty and save our common Planet. China, India, Pakistan, Japan, Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf countries, together have an unparalleled pool of know-how and enough financial resources to transform Asia in a prosperous, peaceful and happy region for the 4 billion that live in our region that spreads from Istanbul to Jakarta, Timor-Leste and the Pacific Islands. Africa, the Middle East and Latin America should and could do the same. Each region in the world should adopt its own Road Map for Sustainable, Equitable, Integrated Development, adapted to the conditions of each region and sub-region, mobilize regional resources and if/when needed seek additional funding from other partners.

    Our American and European brothers are making heroic efforts and enduring painful sacrifices to overcome a deep financial, economic and social crisis that has been lingering since 2008. We sympathize with them and believe that the USA and Europe will rise stronger from this crisis. The USA and Europe still lead in Science and Technology and they should invest even more on education, research and new technologies for the benefit of their own peoples and of the world.  Our brothers and sisters in the USA and Europe should contribute with know-how, technology and financially to the programs in each region or sub-region. But Asia should create its own Fund, the Asian Fund for Sustainable Development, that can be managed by an existing institution such as the Asian Development Bank, in partnership with UN Specialized Agencies such as UNDP, UNICEF, WHO or NGO's with solid regional or international reputation such as OXFAM. Each country should mandatorily contribute to such a Fund, according to its GDP. The total funding can be decided later but we believe that with vision and political will, Asian countries can easily mobilize US$100 billion to be invested during the next decade

    Asia's industrialized nations such as Japan, Korea, Singapore, China, India or natural resource rich countries, i.e. oil, gas, gold, diamond producers should lead by example and contribute 0.7% of their GDP to this Fund. Asian private sector would also be invited to contribute. Asia's poor, low income countries with little or no mineral resources, vulnerable to climate change, would qualify to benefit from this Fund, to develop programs targeting extreme poverty, illiteracy, TB, malaria, HIV/Aids, etc. and reforestation as well as cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas. Asian leaders should rise to the challenges of the 21st Century, to the dreams and hopes of a peaceful and dignified life for our people, and lead with vision and courage. Asia is the most populous region in the world: we represent half of all mankind; the largest, oldest, richest civilizations appeared and met in Asia, but 50 years ago our region was extremely poor. Today Asia emerges as a center of world power and the 21st century could be Asia's century; we have the brainpower, advanced technology and financial means to make this dream come true.

   But the challenges we face in Asia are immense and complex. I would dare say that our region is the most dangerous in the world, the most militarized, the most nuclear, with complex land and maritime border disputes, regional rivalries, ethnic and religious conflicts that have exploded frequently in and among states. But we cannot continue to demand from the aging and impoverished Europeans and from today's less powerful USA to come to our rescue and lead. If it is an established and obvious truth that our European and American brothers and sisters contributed the most to the environmental degradation of our Planet in the last 100 years, truth be told, they also contributed the most towards advances in Medicine, Science and Technology to all of Humanity’s benefit. We Asians, from this vast region that extends from the doors of Constantinople to Dili, a region of great civilizations, religions and cultures, of great challenges and great possibilities, should unite and act responsibly to correct the mistakes inherited from the past and those of the present and adopt a Road Map to build a Future of Peace, Freedom and Prosperity. My country, although young and with modest resources has given examples of solidarity. In the past 5 years we have contributed a total of about 10 million USD in aid to some countries affected by natural disasters such as Cuba, Brazil, China, Portugal, Australia, Japan, Indonesia, Myanmar, and to some UN specialized agencies.

    Our people have shown that we are and will be ready to contribute as much as possible to make the Asian Road Map a reality, through a Fund for Sustainable Development. Meanwhile, as we wait with great expectation for a Global Agreement and Plan to come out of Rio +20 or any Regional Agreement and Plan, in Timor-Leste we are already implementing our Strategic Development Plan 2011-2030. We are determined to achieve all of the Millennium Development Goals and become a high-income country in the next 10-20 years with a per capita income of US$10,000.

Majesties, Highnesses, Excellencies,

    Since independence in 2002, Timor-Leste has ratified the three Rio Conventions, namely the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). In response to these conventions, under the leadership of the Ministry of Economy and Development, Timor-Leste has produced three strategies and Action Plans, namely,

-       National Adaptation Plan of Action for Climate Change (NAPA) approved by the Council of Ministers in 2011,

-       National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) approved by the Council of Ministers in February 2012, and

-       National Action Plan for Sustainable Land Management (SLM), awaiting approval of the Council of Ministers.

    The Council of Ministers also approved the base law on the environment in April 2012 which has set the foundation for creating a framework to meet the international obligations and the needs of environmental protection and conservation of natural resources for Timor-Leste’s sustainable development. Timor-Leste has benefited from offshore oil and gas deposits and has established a system to define national development priorities, which have been identified through the National Priorities Process (NPP). In July 2011 the National Strategic Development Plan was launched and it is now the main strategic document identifying the national priorities up until 2030 and setting the platform for partnership between the government and development partners.

    Timor-Leste does not have a National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS) as such, but the Strategic Development Plan (SDP) provides a road map to implement sustainable development, demonstrating the Government’s commitment to securing the wellbeing of the Timorese people. Although a secretariat or national commission for sustainable development is needed in order to implement sustainable development in an effective and coordinate manner, the National Development Agency (NDA), established under the SDP 2011-2030, provides a suitable institution for carrying out the functions of such a national commission by coordinating and monitoring sustainable development activities in TL within the framework of the SDP. Moreover SDP provides the GoTL with an opportunity to reshape and refocus its plans and policies in order to integrate various sectors within the country in line with the MDGs in a coherent manner.

    Another significant achievement made by the GoTL is the Transparency Portal, which allows all citizens to access and monitor available budgets both from the government and from development partners. This program is designed to strengthen good governance and transparency, and provides a model to minimize corruption and manipulation. The GoTL also carried out the 2010 National Census of Population and Housing, to provide the Government, its own citizens and Development partners with sound information on the current status needs and priorities of the country as a whole as well as those of each of the sucos (villages) in the country. The GoTL has established a new Directorate to support and strengthen the traditional custom of Tara Bandu to protect and conserve natural resources in order to achieve environmental sustainability, as well as a means to build trust within communities, and resolve conflicts. All in all a green and sustainable development model enables economically viable growth that goes hand in hand with environmental sustainability, thus protecting the inheritance of future generations.

    Sustainability is an essential and vital goal for Timor-Leste and can only be translated into tangible outcomes with a strong political will, financial commitment and joined effort from all stakeholders involved.

    To conclude, Timor-Leste is currently promoting renewable energy use for rural communities and at the same time tackling poverty eradication and low carbon development initiative. This renewable energy program is also an opportunity for accessing clean development mechanism in the context of sustainable development and a green economy.

May God, The Almighty and The Most Merciful Bless and Illuminate us all with compassion, wisdom and courage to face the challenges of the 21st Century.

The end

domingo, 24 de junho de 2012

Um pouco de história...


    "An act of genocide on the East-Timorese people carried out by Indeonesian Troops with the backing of Western Nations ie., Australia. East-Timor is a country with substantial resources such as oil, which naturally, sparked controversy on the intentions behind the brutal genocide of its people."
    
    Death of a Nation - East Timor by John Pigler
  
    Participantes:
    Alan Clark - former British Defence Ministee 
    James Dunn - former Australian consul in East Timor 
    Gareth Evans - Australian Foreign Affairs Minister 
    Abel Guterres - Timorese exile 
    José Ramos Horta - Timorese Foreign Minister, in exile  
    C. Philip Liechty - senior CIA officer in Indonesia 
    Konis Santana - Commander, Timorese resistance 
    Shirley Shackleton - wife of murdered reporter 
    Mário Soares - President of Portugal
    Sir Alan Thomas - head, British Defence Sales 
    Nugroho Wisnumurti - Indonesian ambassador to UN 
    Richard Woolcott - former Australian ambassador to Indonesia

    Lenght: 1:14:37
  

quinta-feira, 21 de junho de 2012

Coral Triangle Initiative, Timor-Leste

    O Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI - inglês para Iniciativa do Triângulo dos Corais) é um acordo entre seis países - Malásia, Indonésia, Timor-Leste, Ilhas Salomão, Filipinas e Papua Nova Guiné. Com uma área total de 6.8 milhões de quilómetros quadrados e com diversidade marinha singular, a iniciativa propõe o desenvolvimento costeiro dos países membros em duas principais linhas: conservação e desenvolvimento sustentável.

    Medidas conservacionistas envolvem gestão de espécies ameaçadas e implementação de uma rede de áreas de protecção ambiental conectadas. Já as metas de desenvolvimento sustentável compreendem, entre diversos aspectos, adoção de políticas especificas para mudanças climáticas, desenvolvimento da indústria pesqueira e segurança alimentar.

   O Timor-Leste, sendo um país membro da iniciativa, será "beneficiado". Contudo, vale lembrar que é país que atingiu "oficialmente" a independência à 10 anos e que é uma nação em fase de desenvolvimento estrutural e administrativo. Os problemas são muitos e afetam diretamente diversos setores, inclusive o costeiro. Com desmatamento dos manguezais, turismo desordenado e baixo controle da industria pesqueira, os recursos naturais do país passam por um processo de muita cautela.

    Mesmo sabendo que 75% da população é baseada na agricultura de semi-subsistência, os recursos marinhos/costeiros são fundamentais para as comunidades que vivem nesta região. A proteína provinda do pescado e do frango, aliada ao cultivo de mandioca e frutas tropicais é a base alimentar de quase metade da população. Além dessas fontes de proteína, a carne de porco e de búfalo também pertencem à dieta Timorense, apesar de serem considerados alimentos para ocasiões festivas. Tal dependência de recursos naturais e dificuldade de acesso a produtos importados (pela grande população), é necessário um manejo adequado dos recursos naturais costeiros com políticas sustentáveis.

    Embora muitos planos de ação e políticas vem sendo elaborados, nota-se dificuldade em aplica-los. Dificuldades envolvem ausência de mão-de-obra local capacitada, sistema administrativo confuso (no que se refere à definição de mandatos), falta de investimento financeiro, além de baixo interesse governamental. O CTI é visto como uma possibilidade para o desenvolvimento e estruturamento do sector, devido também ao investimento de capital exterior e capacitação da mão-de-obra local.

    Porém, outra questão surge quando verifica-se as dimensões do CTI (6 países sendo 5 entre os 100 menos desenvolvidos - IDH 2011), as metas desejadas e a capacidade de concretiza-las. São metas ambiciosas. que envolvem diversas esferas sociais - desde a comunidade de pescador até os fazedores de política - e em diferentes setores (ambiental, turístico, alimentício). Além disto, vale compreender que países possuem problemas diferentes assim como a formasse confronta-los, além do fator cultural que é pouco considerado. Políticas panaceias, podem refletir em resultados não desejados, liderando a descredibilidade de instituições envolvidas e mal uso do recurso financeiro.

Para acessar a proposta do CTI e seus planos de ação, clique aqui.

Num próximo post, assuntos envolvendo esta temática serão discutidos.

sexta-feira, 15 de junho de 2012

Praia de Baucau



    Águas calmas na praia de Baucau - à leste de Dili. Esta é uma das praias mais visitadas por turistas que vão ao Timor-Leste. Pela foto, nota-se a transparência e calmaria da água. Na ocasião em que visitei (nov-dez 2011), tive a oportunidade de fazer um snorkeling e me surpreendi pela quantidade de cor e vida existente (corais, esponjas, crustáceos) apesar de raramente ter visto peixes maiores do que 15cm de comprimento.
     Nas redondezas, pouquíssimas hibatações ou resquícios de desenvolvimento humano...

segunda-feira, 11 de junho de 2012

CTI's Day Celebrated in Bali

The Jakarta Post, Monday, June 11 2012

Coral Triangle Day promotes marine conservation

Cleanup: Local students participate in a beach cleanup activity held in Kedonganan to celebrate the Coral Triangle Day. BD/Anggara Mahendra

The first-ever Coral Triangle Day was celebrated in several locations around the Coral Triangle region, including Bali, on Saturday to raise awareness of the importance of marine conservation in the area with the highest marine biodiversity on earth.

This celebration brought together individuals, organizations and establishments from different parts of the region to promote the importance of oceans through varied activities, including beach clean-ups, sustainable seafood dinners, educational exhibitions, a marine-themed bazaar and carnival, and beach parties.

In Seminyak, award-winning chef Bobby Chinn took part with the rest of the region in celebrating the day by preparing sumptuous dishes using responsibly caught seafood in selected restaurants.

“Today is about celebrating the wonders of our oceans and what individuals can do to help protect it. As a chef, I would like to do my part by helping raise awareness on the importance of patronizing responsibly caught seafood and the many creative ways to enjoy them,” Chinn said.

In Kedonganan village, where the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) with its partners from Udayana University, the village’s local organization and some other institutions held a full-day celebration, Chinn visited the kitchens of 24 seafood restaurants located along the coast to discuss with the chefs and give tips on responsibly caught seafood. He called on the restaurant managements to be aware of how their suppliers caught the fish.

“I’m here for a good cause, not only for food, but for our future. We have to use more sustainable fish, and I want you to let the owners know that their businesses will do better when they know what they should serve and what fish are endangered, because if it runs out, we don’t have much more left,” he told a manager in one of the restaurants, while showing WWF’s list of the status of sea species.

Overfishing and destructive fishing are among the most pressing issues facing the Coral Triangle, which contains more than 3,000 species of reef fish. This region is also a nursery ground and migratory pathway for commercially valuable tuna species such as yellowfin, bigeye and skipjack, producing almost a fifth of the total global tuna catch.

However, impacts arising from overfishing and the use of destructive fishing practices have posed major challenges to the sustainability of Coral Triangle resources, on which more than 120 million people depend for food and livelihoods. Increasing demand for seafood from growing markets in Asia, North America and Europe are depleting the Coral Triangle’s fish stocks and heavily impacting its fragile marine ecosystems.

“Fish are being taken out of the seas faster than they can be replenished, and with highly destructive means. This is why we all need to be more conscious of the seafood on our plates and start asking questions on where they came from and how they were caught,” Bobby said.

Covering all or parts of the seas of six countries ­ Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Timor Leste ­ the Coral Triangle is the earth’s center of marine life, which hosts 76 percent of the world’s coral species and 37 percent of the world’s reef fish species, and shelters thousands of whales, dolphins, rays, sharks, as well as six of the world’s seven species of marine turtles.

Tragically, coastal development, destructive fishing, overfishing, unsustainable tourism and climate change are taking a heavy toll and, if left unchecked, will cause the collapse of this world’s most remarkable coral reef ecosystem.

“The marine ecosystem has a carrying capacity. We need to ensure that marine species are used sustainably, in a way that prevents their population from being depleted. Tourism and coastal development should also take this carrying capacity into account,” said Efransjah, CEO of WWF Indonesia.

In Sanur, the Coral Triangle Center (CTC) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) also joined hundreds of individuals and partners in this celebration across the region, by hosting a marine conservation education day in an open house event in CTC’s office. They invited school children aged 8–15 years old to learn about the importance of healthy seas with marine scientists.

CTC executive director Rili Djohani said that the center was happy to open its door to the young generation. “We believe that capacity building should start with the young, an important investment to ensure that future generations safeguard their rich marine life for sustainable benefits,” she said, adding that the activity would also instill pride in being the custodians of the Coral Triangle.

By: Desy Nurhayati

sexta-feira, 1 de junho de 2012

Recifes

     Com aproximadamente 720km de extensao, a região costeira do Timor-Leste detém uma grande diversidade de ecossistemas entre eles manguezais, praias arenosas, recifes de coral e restinga. Os recifes de coral timorenses são caracterizados como recifes de franja, ou seja, aqueles que são paralelos à faixa da praia, pouca largura sendo ligados diretamente à terra (ausência de canal).
    No litoral norte do país, os recifes estão presentes em praticamente toda extensão, inclusive no enclave de Oecusse e na Ilha de Ataúro. Conglomerados humanos que habitam esta região dependem do recife como fonte de alimento (captura de peixes), fonte de matéria-prima (cal) para construção civil, fonte de renda (turismo), além do valor cultural (diversos cultos e festividades ocorrem em função de recursos recifais).
    Na foto, vista da praia dos Portugueses (vizinha à praia do Cristo-Rei). Notável a faixa coralínea de frente para a praia e a chuva que se aproximava da extremidade leste.