Conservation International Timor-Leste

Based in Dili, CI Timor-Leste works nationally with government and local communities on protected areas on land and at sea, natural resource management, and marine and coastal conservation. Its current work is organised around four strands: creating a protected area network, supporting communities, sustainable tourism, and marine conservation. == History ==

Conservation International's documented work in Timor-Leste begins in 2009. By that year, it was among the non-governmental partners involved in planning and management support for the proposed Nino Konis Santana Marine Park. The Timor-Leste office was established in 2012 under invitation from then-President José Ramos-Horta. In May 2016, a GEF-financed project to secure the long-term conservation of Timor-Leste's biodiversity and ecosystem services through a functioning national protected area network and improved natural resource management in priority catchment corridors was approved. The project aimed to formally establish the national protected area network, strengthen management of two key catchment areas as pilot sites, and build the capacity of local communities to manage natural resources collaboratively. The executing agencies were the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Environment, and CI Timor-Leste, with a GEF grant of US$3,340,367 and total cofinancing of US$14.1 million. In 2020, national guidelines for interaction with cetaceans and dugongs were established in collaboration with Conservation International to support responsible whale- and dolphin-watching and a broader sustainable marine-tourism framework. == Programmes and operations ==

National protected area network and catchment corridors Conservation International has served as an executing or implementing partner in the GEF-financed Timor-Leste Protected Area Network project, approved in 2016 to formally establish the national protected area network and strengthen management in two key catchment areas as pilot sites. The project was to be carried out with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Environment, with a GEF grant of US$3,340,367 and total cofinancing of US$14.1 million. Since 2015, CI Timor-Leste has worked with communities on Atauro to establish community-managed marine protected areas. In 2019, these were brought together in Timor-Leste's first marine protected area network. By 2023, 12 marine protected areas had been established on Atauro through cooperation among the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Ataúro authorities, local communities, and Conservation International, including no-take zones and local fishing rules. The network was also linked to an access-fee agreement with dive operators, and by 2024 it was being used as part of a wider push to establish Atauro and its surrounding waters as a marine park. Marine protected areas and coastal resilience CI Timor-Leste's more recent marine operations have also included coastal resilience and new marine protected area initiatives on the north-west coast and in other proposed marine park areas. In 2023, it worked with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Forestry (MALFF) on a north-west marine protected area initiative covering the Bobonaro sites of Sanirin, Batugade, and Aidabaleten, and the Liquiçá site of Vatuvou village, with support from the Government of New Zealand through its embassy in Timor-Leste. In 2025, CI Timor-Leste announced plans to establish two further marine protected areas, one in Lautém and another in Liquiçá, with the longer-term aim of developing sustainable marine parks. The proposed areas were described as focusing on dugong habitat in Lautém and whale-sighting areas in Liquiçá. Studies were reported as underway, and the initiative was said to have support of about US$1.5 million from Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. Sustainable tourism and cetaceans CI Timor-Leste's sustainable-tourism work links marine protection to community-based nature tourism, including whale tourism, snorkelling, and diving, while trying to ensure that conservation areas can support both local subsistence needs and longer-term economic benefits. == Partnerships ==

Recurring government and institutional partners have included Timor-Leste ministries responsible for agriculture, fisheries, environment, industry, protected areas, and tourism in the national protected area network, marine zoning, marine protected area planning, and responsible whale- and dolphin-watching rules. International institutional partners have included the Global Environment Facility, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the Coral Triangle Initiative framework in protected area and marine-planning work. == Funding and conservation finance ==

The main implemented conservation-finance architecture in CI Timor-Leste's work has been the GEF-backed Timor-Leste Protected Area Network project. Approved in 2016, the project combined US$3,340,367 in GEF financing with indicative cofinancing of US$14.1 million. The cofinancing plan included Conservation International, Timorese government agencies, local governments, the Centre for Biodiversity and Climate Change at the University of Timor-Leste, Permatil, development partners, and beneficiary cooperatives and local stakeholders. A separate implemented donor-backed stream has supported marine protected areas and coastal resilience. The north-west marine protected area initiative in Bobonaro and Liquiçá was funded by the Government of New Zealand through its embassy in Timor-Leste. In 2024, the Solutions for Marine and Coastal Resilience project was launched with support from the German Development Agency (GIZ) through the Coral Triangle Initiative, with a reported budget of US$1 million and a timetable running to December 2026. The Kiwa RESTORE project has also funded coastal ecosystem restoration and livelihood work through local partnerships in Bobonaro and Liquiçá. Implemented finance has also appeared at the local marine level. On Atauro Island, the marine protected area network was linked to a fee-for-access model with dive organisations, and the later agreement with operators was intended to generate income for communities from access to sites within the network. Tourism-linked financing has so far been framed mainly through standards and industry development rather than through a stand-alone conservation fund. The 2020 cetacean-interaction guidelines and the associated responsible whale-tour-operator certification were intended to support a regulated whale- and dolphin-watching industry, linked to local employment and longer-term income from protected marine areas. == Impact and evaluation ==

The protected-area-network project was later cited in GEF evaluative work as a strong example of integrating community-based sustainable forest management into village-level natural-resource-management plans. It was also presented as showing how nature-based approaches could be embedded in local governance and planning processes, laying groundwork for broader adoption in Timor-Leste. Marine information and management in Timor-Leste remained constrained by poor coordination and a critical lack of data-sharing between development programmes, especially around Atauro Island and Nino Konis Santana. These weaknesses were linked to overlap in coral-reef surveys and habitat mapping and to lost opportunities for integrating marine data. A national marine protected areas strategy and plan, broader coordination among donors and programmes, and more standardised monitoring and data collection were identified as ways to improve planning, management, and complementary livelihood development. == References ==