The Coral Triangle is a 272-page book that showcases the people, places, and marine ecosystems that make this region truly remarkable. Published by ADB and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the book documents an 18-month expedition by award-winning photographer Jürgen Freund and Stella-Chiu Freund. 

Photo Essay

The Coral Triangle covers 5.7 million square kilometers of ocean waters in Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste.  The area is considered as the global center of tropical marine diversity, supporting the highest number of species of coral reef fishes, and turtles. The mangrove forests, coral reefs, and coastal and offshore waters are the most species-rich in the tropics.

These resources are at immediate risk from a range of factors, including the impacts of climate change, over-fishing, unsustainable fishing methods, and land-based sources of pollution.

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This publication presents a snapshot of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) environmental strategies, programs, initiatives, partnerships, and a range of activities that demonstrate ADB’s commitment to support environmentally sustainable growth in Asia and the Pacific—a strategic agenda of ADB’s Strategy 2020. The report highlights innovations designed in selected ADB-supported projects with environmental sustainability as a theme that were approved in 2008–2010. It also discusses the emerging environmental challenges in the region, and previews ADB’s strategies to strengthen its operational emphasis on the environment, including climate change, that would help realize green growth in Asia and the Pacific.

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A new S$120 million research centre at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) will harness the powers of micro-organisms for environmental and water sustainability.

The Singapore Centre on Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE), will look at innovative ways to process waste water efficiently and trapping greenhouse gases.

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INDIGENOUS peoples of Indonesian Borneo have demanded a halt to an Australian-backed forest conservation scheme, saying they are trampling their rights and robbing their lands.

The Central Kalimantan chapter of the Indigenous Peoples Alliance issued a statement condemning the projects, including those being implemented under a $947.91 million deal with Norway to cut carbon emissions from deforestation.

The projects, which involve the Australian government, CARE International and WWF environmental group, fall under a UN-backed conservation drive known as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD).

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The Herald Sun

BHUBANESWAR, India (AlertNet) - India faces a tough choice between preserving its forests and digging up the valuable minerals that lie beneath them. Nowhere is this more obvious than in Orissa State - home to 35 percent of India’s iron ore resources, which it is exploiting fast.

Orissa’s production of iron ore alone increased seven times in the decade to 2009, topping 77 million tonnes as global demand, particularly from China, drove export prices higher. The state is also rich in bauxite, chromites and coal, holding 55 percent, 95 percent and 24 percent of India's total deposits respectively.

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AlertNet

A forest in Oddar Meanchey province is facing environmental “disaster” after thousands of people destroyed up to 1,000 hectares of natural habitat, putting revenues from a carbon credit scheme worth tens of millions of dollars at risk.

Proceeds from a United Nations-backed Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation scheme are said to be in danger after waves of settlers destroyed parts of the forest in Samroang district, chief of the Romdoul Veasna community forest programme, Malis Hoeuth, said yesterday.

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Phnom Penh Post

The government issued a new version of a forest map, revising down the size of primary forests and conservation areas in the forest moratorium to 55 million hectares.

The new map, posted on the Forestry Ministry website Monday, highlights 55 million hectares of primary forests and conservation areas and 17 million hectares of peatland estimated to store 1 billion tons of carbon.

Previously, presidential aide on climate change Agus Purnomo and several officials said a moratorium would cover 64 million hectares of primary forests and conservation areas.

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The Jakarta Post

Over the years, policy makers have explored various mechanisms, which address environmental management and poverty alleviation.  Payments for environmental services (PES) is a relatively new concept which is now recognized as a way to address both of these goals. In a PES system, those who benefit from the environmental services (ES) compensate those who provide these services in order to secure ES provision. This paper investigates the value that domestic water users in Tuguegarao City place on watershed protection. Using the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), this study established the willingness to pay of domestic water users in Tuguegarao City. Payments would contribute to a fund that would provide for the watershed protection of the Penablanca Protected Landscape and Seascape (PPLS). This would help to ensure the provision of a reliable water supply for their households. This local fund may lead to funding for a possible watershed management program. This would generate solutions to forest problems by directing funding support to upstream communities to implement measures protecting the PPLS.

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PREM

The forest is home to a large, marginalized sector of Philippine society composed of both migrant and indigenous dwellers.  They constitute about 20 million or 25% of total population and are generally considered the poorest of the poor.  The attraction of the forests to the poor has partly to do with the lack of livelihood opportunities in the lowlands and partly with the numerous goods and services the forests provide for free.  If properly managed by the upland dwellers, the forests can provide society with both use values such as timber and non-timber products, beautiful landscapes, recreation and hydrological services and non-use values like climate regulation, carbon sequestration and biodiversity. The offsite beneficiaries of these services are the downstream industries and residents who are normally better off in economic standing than the upland dwellers but who do not pay for the external benefits they derive. 

In recent decades, there has been a growing interest among resource decision-makers in developing countries in market-based instruments (MBI) as a strategy to address the twin goals of resource management and poverty alleviation.  This development is attributed to the poor performance of command and control policies in resource management in the absence of complementation from market-based instruments (MBI).  A recent and innovative MBI that is gaining importance globally is payment or compensation for environmental services (PES).  PES seeks to promote forest conservation activities by recognizing and compensating forest owners or dwellers for the environmental services they provide and making the beneficiaries of these services pay for them.  The basic idea in PES is to create a market for environmental services by linking together the providers and users of these services and creating incentives to both groups to protect the integrity of the forests.

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PREM