CTI-CFF congratulates Atauro Island of Timor-Leste as 2021’s Top 100 Good Destinations Sustainability Stories

CTI-CFF congratulates and celebrates Atauro Island of Timor-Leste for being included in the 2021 top 100 Good Destination Sustainability Stories from Great Destinations.

“The Great Destinations recognition affirms that with the community and government support as well as ecotourism integration, sustainable development for the marine protected areas on the Island can be achieved,” Dr Mohd Kushairi Mohd Rajuddin, Executive Director of CTI-CF Regional Secretariat said.

Atauro Island is a 25 km stretch of volcanic rock and home to the most biodiverse reefs in the world. The Island abounds with natural resources which include, coral reefs, endangered cetaceans migrating through the Ombai-Wetar Strait, as well as rare terrestrial flora and fauna.

According to the greendestinations.org, the community in Atauro Island has revived cultural traditions to help marine protected areas and fostered ecotourism development through tara bandu.  Tara bandu, a tetum word which literally means prohibition (bandu) by hanging (taru), is both a code of behavior and community ritual, which uses local conservation knowledge and helps expand social networks and community cooperation. On the Atauro Island, Tara Bandu has been used to protect mangrove areas, nut trees, and traditional bee farms and more recently, has been used to establish 13 Marine Managed Areas (MMA) across the island.

During this COVID-19 pandemic where tourism has been completely closed across the island, MMA managers are working to consider more resilient and flexible systems for marine protection through seasonal closures, bans on certain species, or else other sources of funding for villager impacted by the protected area closures.

Learn more about the why the Atauro-Island, Timor-Leste  is a recipient of  2021’s Top 100 Good Destinations Sustainability Stories via this link: https://bit.ly/3CbiWTk