Women on Alor Island in eastern Indonesia lead mangrove restoration in the Coral Triangle as part of a broader IUCN-supported program strengthening marine protected area governance across six nations.
As the tide retreated along Alor Island’s coast, Mama Martha and twelve women from Kelompok Cinta Persahabatan stepped through the mud carrying young mangrove seedlings. For this group of local conservationists, restoring mangroves has become part of daily life, shaped by years of living closely with the sea and witnessing changes along their coastline. The work is physically demanding but deeply personal. Mangroves protect villages from erosion, support fisheries, and provide security for future generations.
Their efforts represent a growing movement connecting community-level action to regional marine conservation across the Coral Triangle, the global center of marine biodiversity spanning Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste. The region supports over 1,700 reef fish species, five of seven marine turtle species, and more than 460 reef-building coral species.
In March 2026, mangrove restoration in the Coral Triangle gained regional visibility when partners gathered on Alor for the Solutions for Marine and Coastal Resilience in the Coral Triangle (SOMACORE) Steering Committee meeting and field visits. The SOMACORE program, supported by Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment through the International Climate Initiative, works with governments and communities to strengthen resilience, governance, and sustainable marine conservation across priority seascapes.
The visit to Alor Marine Protected Area brought together conservation organizations, universities, local authorities, and community representatives. Conversations moved easily between science, traditional knowledge, fisheries, and the daily realities coastal communities face. Dr. Jahved Ferianto Maro, Vice Rector at Universitas Tribuana Kalabahi, emphasized that the Center of Excellence recognizes the traditional scientific knowledge of communities as an important resource and source of expertise.
Partners from across the Coral Triangle gathered on Alor Island for SOMACORE Steering Committee discussions on mangrove restoration in the Coral Triangle, marine protected area governance, and sustainable financing, including the proposed Coral Reef Bond Indonesia initiative and IUCN Green List assessments. Photo by Siska Sihombing, courtesy of IUCN.
The university’s Center of Excellence has become a meeting point between academic institutions, local government, conservation organizations, and coastal communities on Alor. Partners discussed mangrove restoration in the Coral Triangle alongside marine stewardship, dugong conservation, waste management, and opportunities for strengthening long-term resilience across the Lesser Sunda Seascape.
Mangrove restoration in the Coral Triangle connects to broader shifts in marine conservation philosophy across the region. Under SOMACORE, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and partners work with communities, governments, and marine protected area managers to move beyond simply expanding protected areas toward improving how they are governed, managed, and sustained over time.
In the Solomon Islands, communities from the Arnavon Community Marine Park participated in IUCN Green List self-assessments grounded in customary governance and community stewardship. In Papua New Guinea, field assessments in Lovongai and Murat MPAs highlighted the importance of Indigenous marine tenure systems and locally managed marine areas. These experiences across the Coral Triangle demonstrate that effective marine protection requires integrating traditional knowledge with contemporary conservation frameworks.
Alor MPA currently serves as a pilot site under the proposed Coral Reef Bond Indonesia initiative, a sustainable financing mechanism for marine conservation. The management team received a preliminary orientation to the IUCN Green Listing process as an indicator of conservation effectiveness. This connection between local mangrove restoration in the Coral Triangle and international financing demonstrates how community-level action can attract investment supporting long-term protection.
The regional collaboration continued at the CTI-CFF Marine Protected Area Technical Working Group meeting held in Malaysia in May 2026. IUCN provided training on the Green List Self-Assessment Tool as a complementary mechanism for evaluating management effectiveness within the Coral Triangle Marine Protected Area System. Six nations agreed on draft policy recommendations recognizing the tool and supporting assessment progress from nine of the 12 nominated Green List pilot sites.
Mangrove restoration in the Coral Triangle through groups like Mama Martha’s demonstrates what effective conservation looks like at the community level. Women who plant seedlings in coastal mud understand ecosystem dynamics through generations of observation and dependence on marine resources. Their traditional knowledge complements scientific monitoring, creating a more comprehensive understanding of ecosystem health than either approach alone can achieve.
SOMACORE partners are documenting 30 to 50 conservation solutions from across the Coral Triangle through the PANORAMA Solutions platform, a CBD-recognized global resource sharing conservation lessons. These documented solutions, including nominated sites for the IUCN Green List, will contribute to a forthcoming publication showcasing effective approaches across the region.
The Lesser Sunda Seascape, where Alor sits, is gaining recognition as a conservation priority within the Coral Triangle. Local initiatives increasingly connect communities, institutions, and regional collaboration. For Mama Martha and her twelve companions, every seedling planted represents both immediate coastal protection and a contribution to a network of marine conservation spanning six nations and millions of square kilometers of ocean.
Mangrove restoration in the Coral Triangle ultimately succeeds by bridging scales. Women restoring degraded coastlines on a remote Indonesian island inform regional policy discussions at international meetings. Regional frameworks create financing mechanisms supporting local protection. Science validates what communities have practiced for generations. When these connections function, marine conservation becomes self-reinforcing, stronger at every level because each level strengthens the others.
