East Nusa Tenggara observes Coral Triangle Day 2012

East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) supported the Coral Triangle Day 2012, which is observed for the first time in several Coral Triangle member countries, on June 9 this year at the initiative of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF).

"The Coral Triangle Day is observed to promote the awareness of marine biodiversity conservation globally, therefore it should be supported," Vice Governor of East Nusa Tenggara Esthon Foenay said here on Sunday.

In Kupang, the activities of the Coral Triangle Day, which is part of the World Maritime Day, included beach clean-up, coloring contest and maritime bazaar, the vice governor said.

The Coral Triangle encompasses Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor Leste. It is home to six of the world`s seven species of marine turtles, and a place where whales, dolphins, dugongs, and the world`s largest fish, the whale shark, live.

More than 120 million people also depend heavily on the region`s marine resources for food and income.

"The Coral Triangle is where a big portion of the world`s tuna supply comes from. From here, tuna finds its way to local markets and also on to your dinner table. It`s very likely that the seafood you enjoy at your favorite restaurants comes from the Coral Triangle, as it is home to thousands of the world`s reef fish species," said Dr Lida Pet-Soede, the head of the WWF Coral Triangle Programme on the official website of the Coral Triangle Day.

Located in the heart of Asia Pacific`s rapidly expanding economies, the Coral Triangle is facing incredible pressure from the region`s growing financial clout.

Increasing demands for food means that fishing boats are extracting tuna and reef fish out of the sea faster than populations can replenish themselves, and many are caught using highly damaging practices. People are also feeling the crunch, with climate change now dramatically altering the lives of millions of people.

The campaign has been developed through partnership of the WWF Coral Triangle Program and Dentsu Asia, together with WWF-Hong Kong, WWF-Indonesia, WWF-Malaysia, WWF-Philippines and the Asia Pacific Growth Team (APGT), with the support of WWF International.

MyCoralTriangle will be simultaneously launched on 3 November in four pilot markets: Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia and driven by the WWF national offices in these countries.(Antara)