KOTA KINABALU: Sabah will be playing a lead role in the Threatened Species Technical Working Group which was set up during the Fifth Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security (CTI-CFF) Council of Ministers meeting in Manado, Indonesia recently.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Ewon Ebin, who attended the meeting, said that Malaysia had been tasked to head the working group and the Sabah Fisheries Department will be involved.
According to Dr Ewon, the CTI-CFF is a multilateral partnership between the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste working together to sustain extraordinary marine and coastal resources by addressing crucial issues such as food security, climate change and marine biodiversity.
Through the CTI-CFF, the six countries have agreed to support people-centered biodiversity conservation, sustainable development, poverty reduction and equitable benefit sharing.
Dr Ewon, who had chaired the meeting on May 15, said that the delegates also recognized Malaysia’s competence in fisheries management and endorsed Malaysia to lead the newly established Threatened Species Regional Technical Working Group.
Malaysia, through the Sabah Fisheries Department, will chair the Terms of Reference of the working group, he said, adding that among the issues agreed on by the ministers attending the meeting were to recognize the initiatives and progress made by the CTI Women Leaders Forum.
In his farewell speech at the handing over ceremony of the CTI Chair of the Council of Ministers, Dr Ewon said that at the fourth ministerial meeting in Putrajaya, Malaysia through the Sabah Fisheries Department was appointed the Chair of Eco-system-Approach to Fisheries Management Regional Technical Working Group.
The Technical Working group has organised various regional exchange programs, human capacity development-based activities as well as community involvements.
“As a result, the Ecosystem-Approach to Fisheries Framework was successfully developed and launched,” Dr Ewon said, adding that the framework will certainly act as guidance for those involved in the fisheries industry.
Meanwhile, Dr Ewon was also awarded a certificate of appreciation during the meeting for his exemplary leadership as the Chair of the CTI-CFF Council of Ministers for the period of 2011-2014 during which the CTI-CFF achieved significant progress towards development of the CTI-CFF institutions and advancement of its goals.
The Council of Ministers recorded their appreciation towards Dr Ewon for his stewardship and particularly his efforts to establish the CTI-CFF Regional Secretariat and setting out rules for its operation.
The MM5 achieved a significant milestone when four out of six countries, including Malaysia, announced their ratification of the legal agreement for the establishment. This will allow for the establishment of a permanent CTI-CFF Regional Secretariat.
Professor Dr Boediono, Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, will inaugurate the new state-of-the-art secretariat building which was built and donated by the government of Indonesia.
Also in his farewell speech, Dr Ewon congratulated his successor from Papua New Guinea as the next Chair of CTI-CFF Council of Ministers. He also reiterated Malaysia’s firm commitment towards the realization of CTI-CFF goals.