PROJECT

The first year of this partnership project has seen the successful launch of Blue Ventures’ marine ecotourism model in Timor-Leste. The project has introduced a new form of tourism to the country, developed sustainable community tourism benefits and exceeded Blue Ventures’ preliminary targets by more than 100%. Alongside the tourism successes Blue Ventures has launched the country’s first long-term coral reef and seagrass monitoring program and initiated a dialogue with communities for the establishment of long-term local conservation interventions. In-country partnerships have developed quickly and government and community engagement and support have far exceeded their expectations as Blue Ventures has developed meaningful and influential strategic partnerships with ministries and authorities. The project has enjoyed a strong start, with significant successes as well as challenges during the reporting period. The remainder of the report explains in more detail the progress to date.

ACTIVITIES SUMMARY

1. Ecotourism model up and running:

• The Blue Ventures expedition ecotourism activities began on the 20th March 2016 on Atauro Island, Timor-Leste. To date six sequential 6-week educational expeditions have been completed.
• By establishing an ecotourism expedition, Blue Ventures has introduced volunteer ecotourism as a new tourism model to the country. Government and other key stakeholders have welcomed Blue Ventures’ work and the influence it will have on the tourism sector.
• A key aim of the project has been to establish a homestay accommodation model in Timor-Leste. Homestays have been hugely successful for Blue Ventures’ expeditions in Belize and provide direct economic benefits to host communities while offering volunteers a more authentic experience of the country they are visiting. A homestay pilot will begin on Atauro Island in January 2017 with eight host families. If the pilot is a success the program will expand to benefit further families Atauro, and replicate the model in at least one more community in 2017.
• Recruiting and training Timorese staff is crucial to achieving Blue Ventures’ aim of wider community involvement in natural resource management, conservation and local participation in resource monitoring. Their Timorese dive/science assistants, Jemima Gomes and Amos Da Costa, have each completed four levels of PADI dive certification since joining Blue Ventures in May; Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Emergency First Response and Rescue Diver. They will be moving on to their PADI Dive master programs shortly, a professional level certification.
• Above and beyond homestay benefits, Blue Ventures’ presence contributes to communities through ecotourism activities. Volunteers have contributed over USD1,000 in accommodation, food and Tara Bandu (Locally Managed Marine Area) access fees for diving and snorkeling in the village of Adara.
• An English language support programs has been developed with a language school on Atauro Island to help the teachers with English education. This has proven very successful with lessons and activities providing a stimulating learning environment.
• Feedback from volunteers has been consistently positive. Close monitoring of − and quick responses to − feedback from in-country and headquarters staff has been instrumental in continuously improving the volunteer experience.

Results to Date:

• 6 Expeditions with 51 volunteers hosted since 20th March 2016 from 13 countries, with a further group of 8 joining Blue Ventures’ last expedition of the year from 14th November – 19th December.
• 1,841 Eco tourist nights contributing to local businesses and the wider Timorese tourism industry.
• Over USD50,000 spent with Timorese tourism providers
• 6 Timorese and 3 international staff recruited and trained
• 12 coral reef sites surveyed
• 2 seagrass areas surveyed and mapped
• 5 communities engaged in marine conservation and management
• 25 students involved in English language programs.
• 2 formal community meetings with local stakeholders to introduce Blue Ventures’ work and objectives in Timor-Leste

2. Developing capacity for community based marine resource monitoring:

• Engaging community based monitors (CBMs): In October Blue Ventures hosted a stall at the Beloi market (Atauro’s weekly central market) to promote community involvement in natural resource monitoring and gather names of potential CBMs for dugong and seagrass monitoring. Over 20 people signed up for training from all over Atauro Island and even some from Dili (Timor-Leste’s capital city on the mainland). The first sensitisation and training sessions for those that expressed interest took place on 12th and 20th October 2016.
• In April 2016, the community of Adara inaugurated the first locally managed marine area (LMMA) in Atauro, designated through a traditional process known as Tara Bandu on a section of coastal reef directly in front of the village. The management system comprises a no take zone (NTZ) (reserve) and Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) anchored in the adjacent deep water, the latter aimed at attracting pelagic fish to the FAD, to help alleviate fishing pressure on overfished coral reef species. Blue Ventures has assisted the community and technical partners, WorldFish, in maintenance and upkeep of the FAD and provided income to the community by paying an entrance fee to dive within the NTZ. Discussions have begun with the community and Worldfish to offer Blue Ventures resources and expertise to carry out underwater visual census surveys to monitor changes in the reserve, and in fish populations around the FAD.

Results to Date:

• Over 20 people recruited as Community Based Monitors.
• 4 Community Based Monitoring training sessions planned by end November 2016.

3. Identifying priority sites for conservation of dugong and seagrass:

• Blue Ventures has carried out two informal ‘drop-in’ participatory mapping sessions at their stalls in the Beloi market. One that asked participants to identify areas where sightings of dugongs and other megafauna are most common, and one that asked participants to map and identify activities they carry out in seagrass areas. The sessions proved very successful, with over 25 participants.
• Blue Ventures has been asked by partner NGO Conservation International to assist with dugong surveys on Atauro. Training of CBMs for this will begin in November and surveys will follow.

Results to Date:

• Sites are not yet identified. Blue Ventures are mapping seagrass and coral reef resources on Atauro Island through ecological monitoring and participatory mapping exercises, with communities leading on identifying priority areas for conservation.

4. Identifying communities for co-management initiatives:

• Progress to identify partner communities for co-management activities has been slow in 2016. This activity has been delayed as the community leaders whose support is key to commencing discussions on co-management are approaching the end of their five-year terms in office. To ensure the retention of the political capital necessary to engage the wider community on matters of marine management and conservation, Blue Ventures plans to focus their engagement efforts with the new cohort of community leaders at the start of their terms of office in November.

Results to Date:

• Blue Ventures’ work to identify communities on Atauro that will engage with them in conservation initiatives is currently on hold. With elections for new community leaders imminent, this will be delayed until after the elections, in order to establish relationships with new leaders at the early stages of their six-year terms in office.
• Three focus groups/meetings/presentations with communities. The outcomes of these meetings included increased local awareness and understanding of Blue Ventures’ mission and objective in Timor-Leste, and an updated timeline of activities and outputs provided to attendees.

PROJECT

Blue Ventures has made strong progress in the second year of this partnership project, with particular success towards local economic development and marine conservation objectives. The pilot homestay programme in Beloi, Ataúro − the first such initiative in Timor-Leste − is already providing significant income and alternative livelihood opportunities for host families, inspiring the replication of the model in a neighbouring community, and strengthening resilience of the wider island economy. In addition, our strong relationship with the community of Ilik-namu has seen the creation of a new locally managed marine area (LMMA) governed by traditional tara bandu law. We’ve also seen encouraging progress building capacity of a new generation of local conservationists. The project has trained ten Timorese community seagrass data collectors, whose surveying, swimming and teamwork skills developed rapidly, enabling excellent progress in mapping key marine habitats around Ataúro. Finally, the Blue Ventures ecotourism programme has continued to exceed expectations throughout 2017. As we look forward to the remainder of 2018, they are continuing to explore new opportunities for growth of their expeditions, expansion and professionalisation of homestays, and strengthening capacity for marine resource management and conservation with partner communities across Ataúro.

ACTIVITIES SUMMARY

1. Ecotourism model up and running:

• The Blue Ventures expedition ecotourism activities began on the 20th March 2016 on Atauro Island, Timor-Leste. To date six sequential 6-week educational expeditions have been completed.
• The ecotourism project has continued to exceed our expectations through 2017, with homestays 
accounting for 1129 ecotourist nights (879 of which have been from BV volunteers), and generating a total income of around $18,000 by the start of 2018. There have been 7 expeditions in 2017, bringing the total since the start of the project in March 2016 to 14.
• Ecotourist engagement continues to be highly positive (see blog), and baseline reef data collection is progressing well, with 16 sites surveyed each expedition.
• The pilot homestay programme at Beloi, Ataúro, is running successfully; it is already providing direct economic benefits to host families, volunteers consistently give positive feedback on their homestay experience, and two members of staff will be living in homestays full time. Eight families in Beloi began running homestays in January 2017.
• Building on the success of the pilot, Blue Ventures are supporting expansion of the homestay programme to nearby Uaro-ana, where they are working with five host families.
• In July, ten community members from Beloi and Uaro-ana homestays attended a ten-day training workshop on how to provide guided tours, organised by the Ministry of Tourism, to give families the ability to diversify their income from tourism further.
• Peer-training on food preparation and nutrition was delivered in Beloi for the five families of Uaro-ana in August and a short nutrition workshop was delivered by Blue Ventures on 15th September to help families eat better and ensure that ecotourists were offered healthy meals.
• Additionally, Empreza Di’ak delivered a three-day business management training session in September for 12 people from Beloi and Uaro-ana to provide them with the skills to successfully manage their homestay business and income.
• Six people from Beloi and Uaro-ana took part in a week-long exchange trip to Raja Ampat at the end of January 2017. This took place earlier than anticipated due to a further funding opportunity to support this trip. A video of the exchange trip can be seen here. Blue Ventures are now exploring the possibility of a return exchange trip from Raja Ampat to East Timor and have applied to several organisations for funding.
• Community consultations on the ecotourism homestay work plan have been completed for Beloi, and are in progress in Uaro-ana, with meetings held on 21st March, 2nd and 23rd August with five community members.
• In November Blue Ventures supported a visit from videographer Paul Hilton and his crew, who spent five days in Ataúro collecting footage for a video featuring homestays and ecotourism to be released in mid-2018. In December a USAID crew interviewed homestay members on alternative livelihoods and seagrass conservation as part of a documentary on Ataúro’s communities.
• Amos Da Costa and Jemima Gomes (BV Dive and Science Assistants from Ataúro) are progressing well in their training towards professional PADI Divemaster certification (see blogs on Amos and Mima).

Results to Date:

• 14 expeditions with 95 ecotourists hosted since 20th March 2016 for a total of 3,858 tourist nights.
• 879 Blue Venture ecotourist nights spent in homestays, generating US$13,185 in income for the homestay families since the project began. In Timor-Leste, where over 40% of people live below the poverty line (2014 World Bank estimate), this income can make a significant difference to families previously reliant on subsistence fishing.
• A further 152 nights were spent by Blue Ventures staff in homestays. One member of staff moved into homestay accommodation in September, generating a regular income of US$350/month for the host family and a second staff member will move in early 2018.
• In addition, an estimated 41 independent (non-BV) tourist nights were spent in homestays; to improve accuracy, host families started using a new monitoring system for independent tourist nights in November.
• Ecotourism model continues to fund locally managed marine areas through park fees at Adara (to date 165 divers at US$1.50 a dive), the new Haru Ina LMMA (to date 252 divers at US$2.00 a dive), and Vila LMMA (to date 12 divers at US$2 a dive).

2. Developing capacity for community based marine resource monitoring:

• Training sessions on seagrass mapping, (as a first step before ongoing monitoring begins) were held with community members over three days in May, which resulted in eight community based monitors (CBMs) being fully certified. Field sessions were cancelled in June and July due to a dengue outbreak among Blue Ventures staff and adverse weather, but resumed in August, when two additional operators were certified, bringing the total to ten.
• Blue Ventures made strong progress integrating the ecotourism model with the community-based resource monitoring (CBRM): ecotourists now work with CBMs on seagrass mapping activities. Blue Ventures adapted the timing of mapping sessions to align with low tides and weaker currents, which resulted in much faster seagrass mapping and noticeable improvement in the CBM s’ skills, confidence, and leadership. The team has consistently carried out several transects each session, and having completed the mapping of Beloi’s seagrass meadows they began mapping Biqueli in November.
• Participatory seagrass mapping has now been completed at Beloi along approximately 6 km of coastline, and mapping has begun at Biqueli. Seagrass areas of particular importance (in terms of high biodiversity, health and importance for local fisheries or nearby coral reefs) identified at Beloi and Biqueli are covered by the Haru-ina and Ilik-namu tara bandu (customary resource management laws), respectively.
• Following communications on the importance of seagrass, homestay families expressed interest in joining the CBM team in November; a new seagrass training course will be offered in early 2018.
• Community consultations were carried out in Uaro-ana in August, and suggested that the village is currently more interested in developing alternative livelihoods (i.e. ecotourism) than marine management.
• Fisheries catch landing monitoring: Training started with one community member in Beloi in July. Monitoring was discussed in Ilik-namu (NE Ataúro) in July and September 2017, and methodologies were developed and agreed in December. Training and fieldwork will begin with local operators in early 2018 as a requirement to establish marine management measures.

Results to Date:

• 1 full community-based seagrass mapping training session delivered in 2017
• 2 Timorese staff members completed their seagrass mapping training, and started their Dive Master and Reef Check Eco Diver training.
• 10 Timorese community-based seagrass monitors are fully certified
• 7 seagrass habitat mapping sessions held
• 4 seagrass sites identified for conservation (Akrema, Biqueli, Beloi, Vila)

3. Identifying communities for co-management initiatives:

• Consultations started in Ilik-namu on 29 May with a women’s group representative and the local seaweed farming cooperative. These explored the potential for marine management in the village and were followed by meetings with the head of the cooperative in June, and with village leaders and fishermen, the women’s group representative, and a local priest in July, during which we discussed the option of establishing marine management measures in the village. The community then further discussed the options for marine management without Blue Ventures staff present in August, and approved a cyclical fisheries closure system on one of their reefs, with two-year closure periods followed by three-month open seasons for regulated fishing (see blog).
• On 14 June 2017, the Ilik-namu community formally invited BV to facilitate the implementation of a locally managed marine protected area (LMMA) based on tara bandu local laws, with the goal of protecting seagrass and coral and to increase the productivity of fish. We drafted the tara bandu legislation based on earlier consultations; the community reviewed and informally approved the document in December 2017.
• During four community consultations held in Ilik-namu in 2017, the community identified key species and areas to manage, including an area of reef (-8.203901, 125.630088). The borders of the new tara bandu-governed LMMA were mapped using GPS in October.
• Blue Ventures also held community consultations about natural resource management in Beloi in May. These discussions revealed the community is not yet ready to fully engage with BV on marine management, though in December they gained verbal agreements with Beloi and Vila recognising Blue Ventues as the organisation responsible for supporting the community to monitor the tara bandu- governed LMMAs. These agreements were formalised in early 2018.
• Blue Ventues held consultations in Behau in October, with the community identifying fisheries and management needs. They asked for support in establishing co-management measures based on tara bandu. Further engagement with the community began in early 2018.

Results to Date:

• Working with 1 community to develop marine management measures
• Supported development of 1 new LMMA governed by tara bandu laws, and carrying out dive 
monitoring at a further 3 
LMMAs. 


PROJECT

The third year of the Blue Ventures programme in Timor-Leste has been an exciting time, with significant progress made towards their goals. Thanks to support from Wilstar, highlights of 2018 include:

• The first Tara Bandu locally managed marine area (LMMA) supported by Blue Ventures was established in December in Behau; a landmark achievement for community-based marine protection in Timor-Leste. The community decided to use traditional customary law to establish a two-year no-take zone in a coral reef area closed to all forms of fishing, as well as a seasonal fishery closure system for cuttlefish.
• Financial benefits to the wider community from ecotourism have increased as more families have been trained to provide lunches for visitors, as well as offering other services such as laundry to ecotourists taking part in Blue Ventures’ expeditions.
• The Atauro Homestay Association is now focusing on becoming a fully independent community business, establishing new partnerships, and pursuing new training and development opportunities – to ensure its viability and resilience in the long-term.
• Establishing participatory fisheries monitoring activities led by women in two sites – Ilik-namu (since March, with eight women) and Behau (since August, with six women).
• Data collected by community surveyors and visiting ecotourists are building our understanding of the health of coral reefs, seagrasses and fisheries, and are guiding evidence-based adaptive management supporting existing LMMAs, as well as the establishment of new marine management measures.
• Completing seagrass mapping of seagrass meadows in Beloi and Biqueli, and starting regular seagrass monitoring in both sites.

In 2019, their work will focus on targeting new markets to develop the homestay businesses and developing the Tara Bandu LMMA management associations to ensure good governance. Additionally, as they continue to strengthen our programmes in Timor-Leste, Blue Ventures are seeking opportunities to expand their work on mainland Timor-Leste to broaden their impact. Blue Ventures have received requests for support from two more communities, in Dili and Manatuto districts, to implement homestays and Tara Bandu LMMAs. Both models are receiving positive attention in Timor-Leste and showing great potential for replication.

ACTIVITIES SUMMARY

1. Ecotourism model up and running:

Expedition

• The ecotourism programme is running successfully and getting consistently strong feedback from ecotourists, who mention the location, facilities, science programme, quality of dives and community focus as the highlights of their experience. Ninety eight percent of visitors in 2018 described their overall experience as good or very good and 87% said that they were likely or very likely to recommend the programme.
• A total of 134 ecotourists have taken part in one or more of 18 expeditions since the project started, with a total of 6,179 nights spent on Atauro by ecotourists, over one third of which have been accommodated within family homestays.
• A total of $2,502 was raised through diver access fees for three LMMAs in Atauro. LMMA authorities manage the funds and assign them to community projects (e.g. in 2018, the Vila LMMA authorities opted to use the funds to buy food for community events).
• Every expedition, ecotourists are involved in a range of community projects such as weekly beach cleans and English classes in local schools.
• As part of the expedition programme Blue Ventures have provided extensive training to local staff. Their two dive and science technicians completed their dive training, which started in 2016, reaching PADI Divemaster level in May, as well as achieving Reef Check Ecodiver certification. Between October and December, Blue Ventures trained their compressor operator and a WorldFish staff member to PADI Open Water level.
• In order to broaden the appeal of Blue Ventures ´s expeditions they have developed a new two-week expedition product, offering ecotourists the opportunity to focus on coral impact assessments or cetacean surveys, which will be trialled in 2019.

Community Homestay Programme

• To date, the Atauro Homestay Association (AHA) has hosted guests for a total of 2156 nights, generating a total income of $32,340.
• AHA is currently transitioning from relying on a market largely provided by Blue Ventures to independent tourism, which will ensure the initiative’s sustainability beyond the end of the project. Much of Blue Ventures ´s work this year has focused on making AHA an independent and viable business, by providing training opportunities and management support, including:

– Facilitating AHA’s participation in the second Dili Handicraft Market, which showcases local businesses;

– Recruiting an intern who worked on expanding AHA’s independent market. She helped develop a welcome brochure, a marketing leaflet that was distributed to tourism operators in Dili, a logo and a Facebook page, and creating an identity for AHA;

– Facilitating a five-day visit from Engineers Without Borders (EWB), AHA’s first independent tourist group;

– Supporting AHA to establish a formal partnership with Agora Food Studio as part of their Timor-Leste Food Innovator Exchange (TL-FIX) project;

– Encouraging Dili-based organisations and government bodies to use AHA as their accommodation provider on Atauro, with several organisations currently staying in homestays during their field visits to the island.

• To further develop the capabilities of AHA Blue Ventures organised a homestay learning exchange in November, with representatives from other communities in the Coral Triangle. The visit was planned in collaboration with their partners 73-ltd and WWF Malaysia, and included workshops on business management, community organisation management, leadership, and gender issues, all useful skills for setting up and running a homestay business. Participants provided positive feedback, and each community has planned actions based on the results of the exchange (e.g. establishing a welcome point at Beloi port). This exchange provided a unique opportunity for AHA members to showcase share their experience with community homestay operators from elsewhere in the region, in particular with visiting communities from Tun Mustapha marine park (Sabah, Malaysia), who are considering new homestay initiatives drawing on the experience of Atauro community.
• A homestay best practice toolkit, based on the exchange, is currently being developed to share lessons learned with and support more communities and NGOs to replicate this approach.
• The homestays have also proved to be a powerful tool to engage community members in marine conservation. Homestay hosts are taking part in several conservation initiatives: six members are involved in seagrass monitoring; the association is organising regular beach cleanups; the AHA Coordinator visited the Behau community to share experiences and lessons learnt from using Tara Bandu in Beloi, where the first Tara Bandu LMMAs were created in 2017; and one AHA member was appointed the manager of a Tara Bandu LMMA.

Results to Date:

• 18 expeditions with 134 ecotourists hosted since 20th March 2016 for a total of 6,179 tourist nights.
• Locally managed marine areas supported by ecotourists through diving fees (to date $2,502 income generated).
• 400 reef transects/surveys carried out at eight sites.
• Two local Dive and Science Assistants reaching PADI Divemaster level in May and one local Tank Assistant trained to PADI Open Water level in October.
• Five Blue Ventures field staff members (two Timorese and three international staff) trained in Reef Check methodology throughout 2018.
• One local WorldFish staff member trained to PADI Open Water level.
• 2,156 ecotourist nights spent in homestays, generating US$32,340 in income for the homestay families.
• One nine-day marketing and business skills training programme delivered to AHA by 73-ltd, as part of an exchange visit to Atauro.
• One formal partnership between AHA and Agora Food Studio established as part of their Timor- Leste Food Innovators Exchange (TL-FIX) project.
• Four community exchanges facilitated: one hosted by AHA with homestay owners from Railaco, a mainland community, supported by local tourism operator Timor Unearthed; one visit from local authorities and community representatives from Metinaro, another mainland community; one visit by AHA Coordinator to Behau community; one exchange trip with communities from the Coral Triangle supported by 73-ltd and WWF.
• One homestay best practice toolkit in development with 73-ltd.

2. Developing capacity for community based marine resource monitoring:

• In March, Blue Ventures finished mapping Atauro’s seagrass meadows, which allowed them to identify the most important seagrass areas and to start long-term monitoring, and in April, 11 community members (eight women, three men) from Beloi and Biqueli completed a training programme based on the Seagrass-Watch monitoring methodology. Monthly seagrass monitoring sessions are ongoing in Beloi and Biqueli.
• Eight women from Ilik-namu completed a fisheries monitoring training programme in March. The training was also replicated between June and July in Behau, on mainland Timor, where Blue Ventures have started supporting communities in marine management. Four women completed the programme and two more joined the Behau team in November. Several monitoring sessions continue to be held each week in both communities and these data will allow the communities to make more informed decisions about future management initiatives.
• Monthly meetings are held with the seagrass and fisheries monitoring teams to discuss and interpret data. Additionally, regular meetings are held with representatives from relevant ministries and with community leaders to share data and progress, and discuss partnership opportunities.
• Due to their involvement in this programme, the female fisheries monitoring teams were invited to attend consultations about Timor-Leste’s new fisheries strategy in September, and presented at the Women Fishers’ Forum in October, held in Dili. The teams actively participated in the consultations, which is a very promising sign that the programme is starting to have a positive effect on their confidence and status in the community, especially as women are under- represented in community decision making, and have traditionally not been involved or consulted.

Results to Date:

Seagrass

1. •  Atauro’s seagrass areas mapped, for a total of thirty-four transects in 6 km of coast.
   • One Seagrass-Watch monitoring training delivered in April 2018.
   • 11 Timorese community-based seagrass monitors fully certified (eight women, three men).
   • One community seagrass monitoring team in Beloi and Biqueli, where monthly monitoring is carried out.
   • Monthly meetings held with the seagrass monitoring team to present and discuss data.

Fisheries

1. • Two fisheries monitoring training programmes were delivered, one in Ilik-namu (Biqueli) and one in Behau, in March and June-August respectively, with 14 women completing the training.
   • Two community fisheries monitoring programmes (Ilik-namu and Behau).\
   • Monthly meetings are held with the fisheries monitoring teams to present and discuss data and fieldwork.

3. Identifying communities for co-management initiatives:

• Following extensive community consultations and field visits, community representatives from Behau drafted regulations for marine management using Tara Bandu, the Timorese customary law, with help from Blue Ventures staff. These consultations included identifying the key target groups (e.g. fusilier and tuna), potential management measures (e.g. no-take zones), and zoning for fisheries management.
• The Behau community decided to implement a no-take zone and a temporary fisheries closure on two adjacent sections of coral reef. The temporary closure was selected to test whether it would have a positive impact on cuttlefish, which is an exciting development, building on Blue Ventures `s work in other countries with octopus closures.
• Also in Behau, Blue Ventures mapped the no-take zone and the temporary fisheries closure area using GPS in July, producing maps that are being included in the new Tara Bandu legislation, which they drafted with the community and outlines the measures decided by the community. The maps and draft legislation were shared and discussed with the community between August and October, and the new Tara Bandu LMMA was formalised by local authorities in December.
• A community management committee for the Behau Tara Bandu LMMA is currently being assembled and will be formalised in early 2019. Blue Ventures will then engage the committee in a training programme covering key skills needed for LMMA management such as how to run an association, how to monitor and enforce regulations, and conflict resolution.
• Progress in Ilik-namu, where consultations on marine management started in 2017, slowed down this year due to challenges with engaging local leaders (notably difficult logistics and community conflict). However, a data sharing session held in November prompted requests from the community to restart these conversations and implement Tara Bandu. Blue Ventures will follow-up on these with local leaders in early 2019

Results to Date:

• Working with two communities on marine management measures.
• One Tara Bandu LMMA established in Behau, with a two-year complete no-take zone and a six- month temporary closure.
• Consultations for marine management are ongoing in Ilik-namu.
• One reef monitoring programme, which includes three Tara Bandu LMMAs, in Atauro.