Following the Courtesy Meeting with MMAF’s Research and Human Resource Agency in late June, RPMU continues to hold virtual meetings with other government agencies and overlapping programmes in the region.

The purpose of these meetings is to introduce the ATSEA-2 programme to various stakeholders and working groups, in order to provide them with not only information about ATSEA-2, but to also find ways on how the projects can support one another.

Some highlights of these meetings included a courtesy meeting held with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the Indonesian Sea Large Marine Ecosystem (ISLME), who are a GEF funded project focusing on fish resources, surveillance, aquaculture, and marine spatial regions of project sites in Indonesia and Timor-Leste. This meeting was held virtually on 23 July 2020, and through a 2 hour discussion both parties highlighted their common interests in assessment for selected fisheries, promoting alternative livelihoods, information sharing and knowledge building in the ISLME and ATS region. These common interests offer opportunities for both parties to share and apply best practices and lessons learned, and to maintain regular communication throughout the project.

Another significant meeting was held virtually on 27 July 2020 by the RPMU and the Director General (DG) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) of Timor-Leste. During the discussions, the MAF were able to update the RPMU team with the status of their National Ocean Policy, their acceptance to hold another collaborative research with LIPI, and to further continue their collaboration with FAO’s ISLME project and MPA network assessment led by the Coral Triangle Center (CTC).

Through these meetings, ATSEA-2 is strengthening further collaboration with important actors and stakeholders in the region so that the overall programme can move forward to achieve its long-term goals.