Trochus Illegal Exploitation in NKSNP

Conservation International has recorded an illegal vessel taking trochus from the marine section of the Nino Konis Santana National Park.

CI reports that in October 2012, the illegal fishing vessel entered the waters of Timor-Leste and "cleaned out an entire population of Trochus, a valuable seashell in the food export market, from a “no-take zone” located within the Nino Konis Santana National Park. Although this is technically a protected area — in fact, the country’s first and only national park — criminals don’t play by the rules. The total value of their loot was a cool US$ 20,000, which is a fortune to the community that had spent the last two years allowing the Trochus population to regenerate."

CI notes in its report that "one of the saddest aspects of this tale is that the illegal vessel was operating in full view of the community, who could only watch as the boat’s crew made off with their ill-gotten gains with impunity. Confronting these illegal fishers would have been tantamount to a death wish, as they were armed with weapons they would not hesitate to use."

CI has been supporting the communities in advocating to the Timorese government to put a formal protection system in place within the park, including coast guards. 

Much of Timor-Leste’s environment has yet to be explored and much environmental harm was perpetrated by both the Portuguese and Indonesians in their rapacious exploitation of the vast sandalwood forests which once covered the entire island and fish stocks*. Even so, the island is situated in the Wallacea biodiversity hotspot between Australia and Asia and in the heart of the Coral Triangle and so the lands and waters of Timor-Leste are home to potentially globally significant biodiversity and high rates of species found nowhere else in the world.

CI is the first international environment NGO registered in Timor-Leste. With the support of USAID under the Coral Triangle Support Partnership, CI has conducted a successful marine conservation program in collaboration with the communities of Com, Tutuala and Lore.

CI has had great success in engaging communities to protect their own natural resources, because it is these communities who depend on their environment the most for their daily needs and livelihoods. About 90% of Timorese depend on natural resources for their daily survival. The difficulty is poachers from outside the communities who take whatever they want and leave the communities to deal with the repercussions.

 

Source: ETLJB

UNCLOS by Timor-Leste

Proposal of the Resolution on the approval of the United Nations Convention on the Law
of the Sea

The Council of Ministers approved the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) for ratification by the National Parliament. The international treaty defines the rights and obligations of States’ use of seas and oceans.

Timor-Leste is an island State with maritime borders not yet defined according to the fair rules of UNCLOS. The National Parliament has stated the need to fix maritime borders so that the country can meet its responsibilities in relation to both environmental protection and the conservation of its natural resources. This is a national priority and legal and technical teams will be created to define the borders and to provide technical advice on this matter to the Government.

SOURCE: ETAN

Geology

Geology and Soils in Timor-Leste is a short desk-study report by Steve Thompson on the connection between the geology of the half-island country and the currently known distribution of soil types.

The report shows how basic information on Timorese soil was collected and published around 1961 in the Carta Dos Solos de Timor (Soil Map of Timor).

These maps were digitized in 2004 and the information was re-interpreted and upgraded according to the 1990 soil classification of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

According to Thompson a simplified soil classification, with reference to local soils based on the relative proportions of silt, sand and clay, and providing information on soil conditions and soil fertility across the country would be a valuable input for location-specific agricultural development.

The full report can be read here.

SOURCE: Seeds of Life

7/12

7/12/1975...
7/12/2012..

7/12 Is a silent day. In 1975, the Indonesian troops, brutally invaded Timor-Leste. In 2002 the nation saw itself "free". In almost 30 years of indecency,  1/3 of the Timorese population disappeared. The other 2/3 cried (and still). Since 2002, justice has been claimed by Timoreses and internationals, that share one opinion: if Timor-Leste had been pacifically added as an Indonesian territory, some indonesian would be a success person. But it didnt happen at all. So, where are the brave/conqueror indonesians to assume their inexplicable/unrepairable actions taken during 30 years? 

Even in Tetun, the picture below talks itself.
PAZ

Illegal Fishing Breaking the News

*Asanami calls on F-FDTL to control illegal fishing in Timor Sea, Timor Post

Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Mariano Asanami Sabino has called on the Timorese Defense Force (F-FDTL) to control illegal fishing in Timor Sea.

The defense force should control our natural resources in the sea, so that other countries‚ people cannot steal them, the minister told journalist at Dili's Convention Center last Thursday.

Asanami affirmed that, each year people stole about 200 million in the Timor Sea in which its costal area is 73 kilometers.

He added that the Government was planning to rehabilitate Com Sea port in Lautem district to better develop fishery sector in the area.

*Polices have no proper facilities to control illegal fishing, Independente

Communities who are living in the eastern and southern territories are concerned about illegal fishing in their areas.

The Timorese National Police (PNTL) Marine Unit commander, Lino Saldanhal said there was always illegal fishing in the eastern coast such as in Valusere and Jaco Island and in the southern coast. To control these areas PNTL Marine Unit needed proper facilities.

The operation is aimed to capture people that engaged illegal fishing, therefore, PNTL Marine Unit needs proper facilities to protect themselves and to do operations successfully, he said.

PermaFest

Timor-Leste’s own permaculture NGO, Permatil, is hosting the 3rd Annual National PermaScout Camp from 24th November – 30th November in Laga, Baucau.

1,300 people are expected, which represents more than a 100% increase from last year’s camp in Aileu.  PermaScout & Permatil representatives from each of the 13 Districts in Timor-Leste will join 180 International volunteers and enthusiasts from Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Japan, PNG, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Ireland and the United States.  A news / documentary film crew from Australia, led by Wayne Tindall (“Change the World”) and including two Timorese trainees, are filming the event throughout the week.

Hundreds of people from the local communities in Tequinomata and Sagadate have been active participants in preparing the camp over the last 5 months.  The camp was constructed exclusively from local materials in the village and will remain after its close as a legacy to community participation in hosting the camp.

The theme of the 2012 PermaScout Camp is NATUREZA IDA BA ITA HOTU (One Nature for All).  The 2012 camp is named for the recently-deceased HE FRANSISCO XAVIER DO AMARAL, the proclaimer of Timor-Leste’s National Independence in 1975.

With support from Australian ‘Permaculture’ practitioners, Permatil was established in 1999 shortly after the end of Indonesian occupation.  Permaculture connects and integrates different ideas and techniques of living and agriculture together: housing, water supply, health, waste management, agriculture, tree crops, aquaculture, rivers, forests, and animals.  It builds on traditional knowledge and new techniques available to augment that knowledge.  

Permatil provides disadvantaged communities in East Timor with an opportunity to overcome poverty and hunger while restoring the natural environment.  The Permascout camp, designed to empower its participants with this knowledge, will enable participants to carry techniques, skills and ideas back to their own communities.

The camp includes over 70 activities, 30 workshops, several site visits (to local villages, historic Veterans’ sites, & nearby farms), exhibitions, an expo, and musical performances.

Over 25 young leaders from most of the 13 districts have been formally trained during camp preparations.  Conducting the training are approximately 40 active Permatil leaders who were trained at previous camps in Dili and Alieu.  The camp has been sponsored by over 20 local and international organisations which has enabled participants to travel and attend the camp at minimal to no cost.

Non-Permascout members are welcome to attend (there is a daily fee) to learn, exchange, join in, compete and have fun. However, in the words of Ego Lemos – Permatil and PermaScout founder – there is an important message to be absorbed by every one of us:

“It is people who have created these problems and it is people who must change their ways for the earth to become healthy again. It is not too late for all of us to take action and to fix and save our earth. There is much local wisdom that still exists around the world today, including in Timor-Leste; our future generations depend on it. “

ENQUIRIES:
Herminia J Pinto, Head of Organising Committee:  +670 77345653 / Permatil.optims@gmail.com
All English-language Media Enquiries should be directed to Jason at +670 7802 9770
All Tetun-language Media Enquiries should be directed to Efraim at +670 7728 2076

SOURCE: ETAN

Census

Parabéns ao Timor-Leste pelo grande avanço. Certamente é um passo enorme para a melhoria da gestão dos recursos marinhos do país.


Dili, 14 November 2012

Timor-Leste completes first national census of fishing boats

Timor-Leste has completed its first ever national census of fishing vessels, an achievement which will greatly facilitate the sustainable management of the nation’s fisheries resources.

Between October 2011 and October 2012, a Mobile Licensing Service visited 192 fishing centers in all 11 districts throughout the country. There they gathered information on almost every fishing boat currently operative in the country. A total of 2,865 boats were registered during the process, of which 1,324 were issued licenses.  Information on all the boats has been entered into a publicly accessible online system (www.peskador.org) where if forms a national census of fishing effort.

The service was operated by the Department of General Fishing Inspection of the National Directorate of Fisheries and Aquaculture (NDFA) in partnership with the Spanish-funded Regional Fisheries Livelihoods Programme for South and Southeast Asia (RFLP) which is executed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Mr. Lourenco dos Reis Amaral, the Chief of the NDFA’s Department of Fisheries Inspection said, “This is a major achievement for Timor-Leste. By facilitating a simpler and more effective process we now know how many fishing boats we have, where they are based and the type of fishing gear they use. This data will greatly facilitate better planning and management for the sustainable use of Timor-Leste’s fisheries. At the same time by visiting communities the mobile licensing team has also helped build better relationships between the authorities and fishers.”

Mr. Man Ho So, FAO’s Representative to Timor-Leste said, “This is an excellent example of how a relatively small-scale, but well targeted activity can deliver concrete results that will have very real and long lasting benefits for the people of Timor-Leste.”

The information gathered during the process has also been put to practical use during search and rescue missions for missing fishers. For example when an empty boat washed ashore on Atauro Island on 29 May 2012, the registration number on the boat allowed authorities to quickly find out exactly where it had come from and who the owner was. A search and rescue operation was launched along the route the boat had travelled, and although unfortunately the fisher was not found, the boat was returned to the fishing household.

Under Timor-Leste’s fishing law certain fishing boats (those with engines) are required to obtain a license. However the process to obtain one was complex, time consuming and expensive. As a result, prior to the census only eight vessels were licensed.

In response, the NDFA, with support from RFLP, decided to form a mobile licensing team in order to make the procedure simpler by providing a one-stop service much needed by fishers. The team registered all boats (motorized and non-motorized) and issued licenses to those requiring them.

RFLP helped equip the team with basic equipment including a generator, laptop, printers, a laminator, and geo-referenced camera. RFLP also helped the team coordinate its visits with that of an awareness raising team. They visited the communities a week before the mobile licensing team and explained to communities the need for basic fisheries management to help fishers better understand the need for licensing.

When the mobile teams visited the fishing centres, they helped every fisher with a boat to fill out a form detailing basic characteristics such as the owner/operator’s name, vessel length, year built, type/materials, fishing techniques used etc. A registration number was then marked on every boat: spray painted for non-motorized canoes and with an acrylic plate for motorized boats. A photo of the boat and owner was then taken with a geo-referenced enabled camera, making sure that the registration number was clearly visible.

For the motorized boats requiring licenses fishers pay the US$ 5 fee and are issued a receipt. They were helped to fill in the license application which was officially stamped and the license issued on the spot.

On their return from the field the information gathered was entered into the National Fisheries Statistical Database www.peskador.org that was established with RFLP support where it is publically available. The geo-referenced photographs boats/owners are also uploaded into Google Earth, so that their exact location can be recorded and seen.

SOURCE: ETAN