Community Based Marine Protected Areas: A conversation with Trudiann Dale of Conservation International in Timor-Leste

The Project Coordination Team for the Dugong and Seagrass Conservation Project sat down with Trudiann Dale from Conservation International in Timor-Leste to discuss Community-Based Marine Protected Areas. Conservation International has been working with two communities in Timor-Leste to develop CBMPA. Communities there have the legal authority to declare and enforce marine protected areas – making some areas ‘no take zones’. These CBMPA are sealed into local law with a traditional ceremony called a Terra-bandu. These rituals can last for days, but one thing is for sure, once its preformed it is respected!

Listen to our conversation with Trudiann by clicking on the link below. We are not editors, so the quality is not great, but we walked away from the conversation with a deep respect of Timor-Leste’s tradition of community respect for nature. We also enjoyed speaking with Trudiann – who by all accounts is an interesting conversational partner. Thank you Trudy for the insider’s look into TL and its conservation practices!

Also, we recently featured an interview with Trudy’s colleague at CI, Anselmo Lopes Amaral, on our blog. Anselmo also spoke about the practice of Terra-bandu and CBMPAs.