Lessons learned meeting on Locally Managed Marine Areas in Timor-Leste

In the framework of their Kiwa local project in Timor-Leste, Blue Ventures organized and facilitated a 3-day Locally Managed Marine Areas #LMMA Knowledge Exchange in #Atauro for fishing communities from Hera, Ilimanu and Atauro Islands.

What were the objectives of this event?
- To facilitate communities from Hera and Ilimanu to learn from the LMMA groups of Atauro;
- To create an informal LMMA network;
- To facilitate communities from Hera and Ilimanu to see the result of LMMAs in Atauro, including #ecological and #economic #impacts (marine biodiversity, tourism, livelihoods)

The meetings focused on the history, experiences, and challenges of the Tara Bandu groups of Atauro who have successfully implemented the #traditional #custom in their marine areas. They shared lessons learned with the communities of Hera and Ilimanu, in order to find inspirations to tackle the issue of food security, with a declining number of fishes, in order to improve their livelihoods.

The major partners of this event were local partner Konservasaun Flora no Fauna, Representative from the Ministry of Fisheries, Representative from Secretary of State for the Environment, Fishers from Hera, Fishers from Behau, Tara Bandu Structure of Atauro. Tara Bandu groups, local leaders, and the local communities of Atauro.

Learn more about this Kiwa project: https://urlz.fr/mJKh