Indonesian Sea (LME)

Description The Indonesian Sea LME (ISLME) is situated at the confluence of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and is bordered by Indonesia and Timor Leste. It covers an area of 2.13 million km², with 98% within Indonesia’s territorial waters, and approximately 2% located within the territorial waters of Timor Leste. Within the ISLME, 1.49% of the area is officially protected, and the area contains 10.82% and 0.76% of the world’s coral reefs and seamounts, respectively. Seasonal monsoons, during which ocean currents reverse directions, exert a significant influence on the LME and beyond. The seas around Indonesia have complex and rapid currents owing to energetic tides over rough topography and owing to the Indonesian Throughflow, which is the flow and exchange of oceanic water between the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The ISLME is globally important in terms of fisheries production, biodiversity, and global climate regulation. Situated at the confluence of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the ISLME is considered a Class I ecosystem with high productivity and represents more than 1% of the global fisheries production. The ISLME is located in the heart of the western Indo-Pacific marine biogeographical region, where species richness is greater than in any other location on Earth, supporting more than 500 species of reef-building corals, 2,500 species of marine fish, 47 species of mangroves and 13 species of seagrasses. Approximately 185 million people live in the ISLME region, with an estimated 184 million in Indonesia, and almost 900,000 in Timor Leste.

Basin Management Institutions

• Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA)
• Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Centre (SEAFDEC)
• Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA)
• Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI)

Basin Projects (12)

• Building Partnerships for the Environmental Protection and Management of the East Asian Seas - closed (Project Closure)
• Coastal and Marine Resources Management in the Coral Triangle-Southeast Asia (CTI-SEA) - closed (Project Approved)
• CTI Strategies for Fisheries Bycatch Management - closed (Project Approved)
• CTI West Pacific-East Asia Oceanic Fisheries Management Project - under the Coral Triangle Initiative - closed (Project Closure)
• East Asian Seas Region: Development and Implementation of Public Private Partnerships in Environmental Investments - closed (Project Closure)
• Eco-system Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM) in Eastern Indonesia (Fisheries Management Area (FMA)- 715, 717 & 718) - active (Project Approved)
• Enabling Transboundary Cooperation for Sustainable Management of the Indonesian Sea - active (Project Approved)
• Implementation of Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia - closed (Project Closure)
• PAS Strengthening Coastal and Marine Resources Management in the Coral Triangle of the Pacific - under the Pacific Alliance for Sustainability Program - closed (Project Approved)
• PAS: Community-Based Forest and Coastal Conservation and Resource Management in PNG - closed (Project Approved)
• World Bank/GEF Partnership Investment Fund for Pollution Reduction in the Large Marine Ecosystems of East Asia (Tranche 1 of 3 tranches) - preparation (Concept Proposed)
• World Bank/GEF Partnership Investment Fund for Pollution Reduction in the Large Marine Ecosystems of East Asia (Tranche 1, Installment 2) (from November 05 WP) - preparation (Concept Approved)

Strategic Action Programme (SAP)
Other documents and resources from the projects

LME Factsheet
NOAA	TWAP	LME HUB
Available Metadata for GEF LME Projects

Finances
Total cost	289.00M US$
GEF allocation	77.00M US$