Brunei Darussalam, sitting as an Observer State at the 5th CTI-CFF Ministerial Meeting (MM5) in Manado, Indonesia, on May 15, reconfirmed its intent to become a Party to the CTI-CFF.

The sultanate was represented at MM5 by Industry and Primary Resources Minister Pehin Dato Yahya Bakar, who told the body that his government is confident it can fulfill the CTI-CFF’s requirements for membership. “Our area may be small, but due to our stringent conservation policies, our marine environment is well-protected,” he said.

Place: Dili, Timor-Leste

Description: Preliminary announcement -- more details to follow

Contact: Arwandrija Rukma, arukma@cticff.org

WWF announced that it has begun accepting entries for the 2014 Smart Gear International Competition, which seeks and supports innovative solutions to address fisheries bycatch—the unintentional catch of fish and other marine species. The deadline for entry submission is August 31, 2014.

Organizers of the upcoming World Coral Reef Conference (WCRC) in Manado, Indonesia have released details on several CTI-CFF events scheduled around the Conference.

Four CTI-CFF events are lined up for May 13, a day before the WCRC officially opens:

The World Bank and the Solomon Islands Government launched (external link) earlier this month a new project to help protect communities against growing risks from climate change and natural disasters.

The CTI-CFF National Secretariat of Malaysia (CTI-Malaysia), its Sabah Branch, and their partners successfully trained 43 trainers on climate change adaptation (CCA) last January.

The workshop, held on January 27-28 in Putrajaya, utilized a CCA toolkit that includes the Coastal Integrity Vulnerability Assessment Tool (CIVAT) and the Tool for Understanding Resilience in Fisheries (TURF).

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and WeChat are teaming up to make it easier for smartphone users to stay connected with nature, while also generating funds to support the Conservancy’s projects, such as helping sea turtles recover in the Coral Triangle and other parts of the world, TNC said in a news release (external link).

The CTI-CFF’s first Regional Exchange on Seascapes has successfully laid the groundwork for the development of a seascape model for the Coral Triangle.

Organized by the Australian Government and Conservation International, the workshop was designed to develop a shared and better understanding of how integrated ecosystem-based management of oceans and coastal areas in the Coral Triangle has been initiated in each of the CTI-CFF countries and can be progressed under the seascape approach. 

The CTI-CFF takes center stage in the April 2014 edition of Green Light (external link), a publication of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Governance for Sustainability. Green Light, a monthly newsletter highlighting promising economic and environmental initiatives, cites the CTI-CFF as a “model of success.”

In the foreword, James Bacchus, the Council’s Chairman, describes the Initiative as “an exceptional example of a bottom-up approach to governing environmental issues.”

(JCU MEDIA RELEASE) In a world-first study published on April 14, researchers have found that fish in the wild respond adversely to ocean acidification.

“Fish living at natural carbon dioxide seeps have abnormal behaviors similar to what we’ve observed in previous laboratory experiments,” says Professor Philip Munday, lead author of the study from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE) at James Cook University. He adds that these carbon dioxide levels are similar to what is predicted for the oceans in the second half of this century.