Resource Mobilization Information Digest

No 479

March 2013

Integration for Biodiversity in Timor-Leste

Contents
1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 3
2. Mainstreaming Biodiversity in National Policies and Legal Frameworks ................................................. 4
Constitutional Framework ............................................................................................................................ 4
UNTAET Regulations ..................................................................................................................................... 4
Environmental Licensing Decree Law and Biodiversity ................................................................................ 4
Proposed Biodiversity Decree Law ............................................................................................................... 5
3. Mainstreaming Biodiversity in National and Sectoral Plans ..................................................................... 5
The Strategic Development Plan (SDP) (2011-2030) .................................................................................... 5
Climate Change Adaptation Plan .................................................................................................................. 6
Land Management Plan ................................................................................................................................ 7
4. Timor-Leste and the Global Multilateral Environmental Agreements ..................................................... 7
5. Biodiversity Considerations in Sectoral Plans ........................................................................................... 8
Forestry and Protected Areas ....................................................................................................................... 8
Fishery ........................................................................................................................................................... 8
Tourism ......................................................................................................................................................... 9
Energy ........................................................................................................................................................... 9
Agriculture .................................................................................................................................................... 9
Engaging other sectors................................................................................................................................ 10

1. Introduction
Timor-Leste reported1 that mainstreaming biodiversity involves integrating biodiversity into national and
local decision-making. Since 2002, Timor-Leste has implemented several initiatives to conserve
biodiversity. These activities include the establishment of protected areas, developing environment
policies and setting-up institutions that support conservation of biodiversity and natural resources. But
these have been inadequate and Timor-Leste continues to face challenges to improve its capacities both
at the policy and institutional levels, including human capacity to protect its biodiversity and improve
human welfare.
In fulfilling its obligation to the CBD, the Government of Timor-Leste has undertaken a national process
to develop the NBSAP by involving all sectors of the country to achieve the objectives of the Convention.
The NBSAP was completed in October 2011 in parallel to the preparation of Timor-Lestes 4NR to the
CBD.
Prior to the development of the NBSAP, biodiversity has been mainstreamed in the Strategic
Development Plan (SDP) of Timor-Leste (2010-2030). Environmental legal frameworks to protect and
conserve the environment, development of biodiversity decree, designating national authority on
climate change, establishment of community based nurseries to plant one million trees per year,
eliminating fuelwood use for cooking, and establishing an extensive network of protected land and
marine areas as representative of Timor-Leste biodiversity, are included as priority targets in the
countrys SDP 2010-2030.
This integration of environment and biodiversity conservation into national development plan would
strengthen the implementation of the NBSAP, Timor-Lestes conservation strategy, towards achieving
sustainable development goals.
Key national sectoral plans, such as the fisheries sector plan, forestry plan, and the Strategic Action Plan
(SAP) for Timor-Lestes Programme of Work on Protected Areas (PoWPA). Biodiversity concerns are
likewise incorporated in the development plans of the education, health, energy, tourism and
environment sectors in various levels of specificity. However, these plans have yet to be effectively
implemented on the ground to ensure the mainstreaming of biodiversity into development activities.
The NBSAP outlines the key legislations and policies on environment and biodiversity.

Timor-Leste (2011). Timor-Lestes Fourth National Report to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Ministry
of Economy and Development, October 2011, 92 pp.

2. Mainstreaming Biodiversity in National Policies and Legal Frameworks

Constitutional Framework
The 2002 Constitution of Timor-Leste includes, among the fundamental objectives of the State, the
protection of the environment and preservation of natural resources.
Under the Constitution, the State shall recognize the need to preserve and rationalize natural resources
use and shall promote actions aimed at protecting the environment and safeguarding the sustainable
development of the economy. The first National Development Plan and Road Map and subsequent
development documents and plans include as key goals the conservation of biodiversity, the
enhancement of livelihoods and the active participation of communities. These commitments to
conserve the natural and cultural assets of the country are integral to the Governments strategies to
ensure sustainable development. Article 61 of the Constitution of Timor-Leste states that:
Everyone has the right to a humane, healthy and ecologically balanced environment and the duty to
protect it and improve it for the benefit of the future generations.
The State shall recognize the need to preserve and rationalize natural resources.
The State should promote actions aimed at protecting the environment and safeguarding the
sustainable development of the economy.
UNTAET Regulations
Prior to the enactment of the Constitution, regulations passed under the United Nations Transitional
Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) include UNTAET Regulation 2000/17 On The Prohibition Of
Logging Operations And The Export Of Wood From East Timor, which prohibits the cutting, removal,
logging and export (in any form) of wood, and the burning or any other destruction of forests. Given the
high proportion of forest-dependent species of flora and fauna and the secondary impacts of forest
disturbance and destruction on other ecosystems (e.g. riparian, marine), this national policy is a very
important contribution to biodiversity conservation.
UNTAET Regulation No. 2000/19 On Protected Places was passed in 2000, and declared 15 Protected
Wild Areas in addition to selected endangered species, coral reefs, wetlands and mangroves, and
historic, cultural and artistic sites. These two regulations passed automatically into national law when
independence was restored in 2002 (IBA 2007).
Environmental Licensing Decree Law and Biodiversity
The Environmental Licensing Decree (Law No. 5/2011) enacted in February 2011 creates a system of
environmental licensing for public and private projects likely to produce environmental and social
impacts on the environment, basically, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Law. This Law aims
to create conditions to minimize or eliminate negative environmental and social impacts of project
implementation and determines measures for environmental and social protection.
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Proposed Biodiversity Decree Law

Timor-Leste is also in the process of developing a Biodiversity Decree Law. The proposed Biodiversity
Decree Law would define the national policy on: biodiversity planning, monitoring, and inventory;
protection and conservation of ecosystems, habitats and species; addressing threats to biological
diversity and resources including genetic resource, traditional knowledge and benefi t-sharing; and
addressing biodiversity information and public awareness, including training, research, valuation and
incentives.
3. Mainstreaming Biodiversity in National and Sectoral Plans
The Strategic Development Plan (SDP) (2011-2030)
It envisions that by 2030 a strong bond between Timorese people and the environment will be restored
and the natural resources and the environment managed sustainably for the benefit of all. The
protection of biodiversity, key habitats and ecosystems are part of the Plan. Specifically, the SDP has the
following targets related to biodiversity for the period 2011-2030:
Short Term (2011-2015)

An environmental basic law will be the legal framework to protect and conserve the
environment.

A designated national authority for the mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol and a national climate
change center will be made operational.

A national biodiversity law and a wildlife conservation law will protect and conserve biodiversity.

Air, noise, soil pollution and vehicle emissions regulations will be in place.

Community-based nurseries will be established to ensure planting of one million trees

nationwide every year.

Public awareness of environmental protection will be enhanced.

Medium Term (2015-2020)

Seventy percent of the National Adaptation Programme of Actions under the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change will be implemented.

No families in Dili will have to cook with fuelwood.

Timor-Leste will have an extensive network of land and marine national parks that protect
representative samples of our biodiversity.

Climate Change Adaptation Plan

The National Adaptation Programme of Action on Climate Change (NAPA, 2010) envisions the Timorese
people to be more resilient to climate change, recognizing their high vulnerability in an economy that is
dominated by subsistence agriculture.
Adaptation measures will focus on reducing the adverse effects of climate change and promote
sustainable development. These measures will build on existing strategies and plans across all sectors
within Timor-Leste including the National Priorities process.
Specifically, the SDP targets that by 2030, no families in Dili will have to cook with firewood. This
would lessen pressure on forests and mangrove ecosystems, which are the main sources of firewood by
the local people.
The Government of Timor-Leste highlights the issue of global climate change and its effects on the
country particularly due to its geographic position situated just north of Northern Australia and south of
the equator, which influences the monsoon climate and has a differentiated effect on the North and
South of the country that makes it vulnerable to disasters. This greatly affects its social and economic
infrastructure and, most importantly, greatly impacts the lives of the Timorese people. As a result, the
National Disaster Management Directorate adopted the National Disaster Risk Management Policy
which covers a shift from traditional crisis response management to disaster, conflict and climate
change risk reduction. It provides a general framework and details of activities related to disaster risk
management. In addition, it integrates activities across all sectors addressing economic, social and
environmental development, strengthening community capacity and reducing vulnerabilities.
In the area of climate change adaptation, policies and institutional arrangements are being established.
The MED, through the National Directorate for Environmental Services and the National Directorate for
International Environment Affairs, submitted the National Adaptation Program of Action (NAPA) in 2008
and established several thematic working groups to oversee the commencement of climate change
planning.
Acknowledging that biodiversity and climate change are inextricably linked, the government of TimorLeste has recognized that the country is vulnerable to climate change physically and biologically. Thus,
the NAPA is aimed to address the concerns on biodiversity and climate change issues through the
following priority actions:
Food Security: Reduce vulnerability of farmers and pastoralists to increased drought and flood events.
Water Resources: Promote the Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) to guarantee water
access in a climate change context.
Human Health: Enhance the capacities of the health sector and the communities to anticipate and
respond to changes in distribution of endemic and epidemic climate-sensitive diseases, and reduce
vulnerability of population to infection in areas at risk from expansion of climate related diseases.
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 Natural Disasters: Improve institutional and community (including vulnerable groups such as women
and children) capacity to prepare for and respond to climate change induced natural disasters.
Forests, Biodiversity and Coastal Ecosystems: Maintain and restore mangrove and forests and promote
awareness-raising activities to protect coastal ecosystems and forests from climate change impacts.
Livestock Production: Improve planning and legal framework for promoting sustainable and balanced
food for livestock production.
Physical Infrastructure: Improve regulations, standards and compliance for climateresilient
infrastructure.
Poverty Reduction: Support the ambitious national poverty reduction target in relation to the
expected increased storm intensity at sea by improving capacity to forecast and adapt offshore oil and
gas infrastructure to withstand strong storms and waves.
A ninth priority area, underpinning all others, focuses on National Institutional Capacity Development
for Climate Change through which overarching programme level coherence will be ensured.
Land Management Plan
The National Action Program to Combat Land Degradation (NAP, 2009) has identified project activities
addressing deforestation and land degradation processes in Timor-Leste focusing on sustainable land
management. These include restoring degraded areas, protection and conservation of unaffected areas
of high agriculture and environment significance, and capacity building for the enabling of the
implementation of both land rehabilitation and conservation activities.
4. Timor-Leste and the Global Multilateral Environmental Agreements
Timor-Leste acceded to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on 10 October 2006, and became a
Party to the CBD on 8 January 2007. The three main goals of the CBD are the conservation of
biodiversity, the sustainable use of its components and the equitable sharing of the benefits arising out
of the utilization of genetic resources.
Timor-Leste is also a Party to other multilateral environmental agreements, which it has ratified, such as
the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and the Kyoto Protocol; the UN Convention
to Combat Desertification (UNCCD); the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer; and
the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Specific action plans such as NBSAP
for UN CBD; NAPA for UNFCC and NAP for UNCCD have been formulated through multistakeholder
process, led by the MED through the Secretariat for the Environment. These plans would need a strong
political support and leap-frogging commitments to build capacity to implement the priority strategies
identified for these national plans.
The UN agencies, particularly UNDP is committed to providing continued support to the Government of
Timor-Leste in complying with multilateral environmental agreements. UNDP is actively engaged in
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implementing the enabling activities for the Rio Conventions and supports the development and
implementation of follow-on projects in biodiversity conservation, climate change, and combating
desertification as indicated in the UNDP Country Programme and Action Plan for 2009-2013. UNEP
likewise supports the Government of Timor-Leste in developing the environment decree and the
Biodiversity Decree Law.
5. Biodiversity Considerations in Sectoral Plans
The SDP of Timor-Leste provides a framework and a mandate for integration of biodiversity concerns
into the sectoral plans, which in turn define necessary actions for the sustainable development of the
country. The SDP aims to transition the country from a low-income society to an upper middle income
one, with a healthy, welleducated, and safe population by 2030.
Forestry and Protected Areas
The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries carry prime responsibility for cross-sector coordination in
water management. The Protected Area Network program is integral to this as it will contribute to
national watershed management, in a seasonally dry country with significant desertification problems. A
Forestry Management Plan will be developed in the short term to promote reforestation and
sustainable land management practices. Many of the plans and targets are stipulated in the SDP.
Biodiversity is specifically mentioned in the SDP 2011-2030 and the NBSAP will be at the forefront in
defining conservation action for natural resources.
Fishery
Policies on coastal and marine resources management are yet to be established. However, the National
Fisheries Strategy deals with some issues relating to coastal and marine resources.
The Strategy outlines the need to establish Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) over areas of critical habitats
to protect such areas from unsustainable fishing practices and impacts and those of terrestrial origin,
including river-borne pollutants, and coastal building developments. The policy recognized that at the
village level, the fisheries sector offers a significant opportunity to contribute to sustainable livelihoods
and cash income. It also recognized the need to use the precautionary approach to setting allowable
catch limits and the access to foreign fishing vessel to be under a licensed agreement with set conditions.
The Fisheries Policy has been a work in progress for more than six years with inputs from various
authors. Updates are in order to rectify the aggregate information collected over the years, to
incorporate results of recently conducted consultations and to generate the necessary approvals. The
fisheries sector is governed by several policies as covered in the Strategic Policy for the Fisheries Sector
and the Fisheries Strategic Plan for 2007/2012.
In addition, the fisheries sector has been included in the SDP 2011-2030. In the short-term (2011 to
2015), strategies and actions to improve the management of coastal and inland fisheries and create a
vibrant commercial fisheries sector will focus on increasing the catch from traditional fishing activities
and exploiting fishing grounds in the Exclusive Economic Zone. In the medium term (2016 to 2020),
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actions will focus on ocean-based fishing and be oriented towards exports and the development of
fishery centers along the southern coastline, especially in Lore (Lautem District).
The implementation of the National Fisheries Strategy is challenged with limited staff skills, lack of
institutional arrangements around the strategy outcomes and challenges in political direction at the
national level.
Tourism
Tourism is high on the priority of Timor-Leste and this will be pursued through a range of tourism
experiences that take advantage of the countrys natural beauty, culture and heritage. Timor-Leste will
also develop niche market offerings for visitors seeking adventure tourism, scuba diving and marine
tourism, trekking or cultural and historical tourist experiences.
Since the main attractions for this sector are nature-based, the link to biodiversity conservation presents
a good opportunity to pursue joint programmes that will promote ecotourism and other nature-based
tourism activities in biodiversity-rich areas and around protected areas.
Energy
The Government of Timor-Leste has been working with UNDP since 2005 in piloting Rural Energy
Technologies. Under the CPAP 2009-2013, UNDP continues to support and provide alternative energies
through improved use of biomass for energy, which in turn reduce pressures on biodiversity and land
resources. Alternative sources of energy have to be developed such that the dependence on biomass
like fuelwood, has to be reduced to conserve the biodiversity of Timor-Leste. The SDP 2011-2030
specifically mentions the expansion of renewable energy, which includes bioenergy or energy from
biomass.
Agriculture
The economy of Timor-Leste is heavily dependent on the export of petroleum. Given the fluctuations of
the international pricing of oil, Timor-Leste has become more vulnerable to economic fluctuations.
Hence, the diversification of its agricultural products has been strongly pursued (UNDP CPAP 2009-2013).
The economic development of Timor-Leste will be built around three critical industries: agriculture, oil
and gas, and tourism. The agriculture industry will focus on the development of its food crops, cash
crops and the livestock industry.
The SDP 2011-2030 mentions that by 2020, the rural communities would have adequate food supply. It
further plans to create sustainable agriculture production zones. Farming practices will be improved and
actions will be taken to boost the production of specific crops such as rice, maize, and coffee.
The SDP 2011-2030 targets to improve national food security, reduce rural poverty, support the
transition from subsistence farming to commercial farming of crops, livestock and fisheries, and
promote environmental sustainability and the conservation of Timor-Lestes natural resources.
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Engaging other sectors

The trade and industry sectors have yet to understand the concept of biodiversity conservation. This
was raised by private sector groups during both the NBSAP and the Culture and Heritage
Biodiversity also includes traditional knowledge, culture and practices of the native people of the
country. There are traditional regulations and customs in Timor-Leste that contribute to conserving the
natural resources such as forests and crops. This system of communal protection is known as Tara bandu.
In agriculture, Tara bandu involves an object, which is hung near a fruiting tree or garden to indicate
custodianship of the resource. It may be a piece of rattan tied around the trunk of the mango tree; or
the banned items are hung from a t-shaped bamboo. It is widely believed that people who steal the
goods that are the subject of Tara bandu will suffer from an accident, penalty, misfortune or illness.
Villagers designated as cab-leha/tobe are responsible for ensuring that village laws are followed
(Sandlund, et al. 2001). Tara bandu also includes temporary prohibitions on resource extraction such as
cutting of trees, including mangroves, and the designation of specific areas as sacred like Jaco Island and
its surrounding reef, which are considered sacred by the local community. Tara bandu prescribes fines
for violations and also provides for mediation of land disputes (SoL Program, 2009).
A ceremonial activity is a feature of contemporary agriculture across Timor-Leste and highlights the
continuing vitality and significance of customary beliefs and obligations for households as members of
ritual practices. Ritual beliefs and practices may also affect farmer interest and adoption of new
technology, such as new seed or cultivation techniques, although most rituals are tied to the stages of
development that a plant passes through.
The common practice of presenting food as gift throughout Timor-Leste strengthens social networks
between an extended family and neighbors who are non-kin and helps to secure access to food.
Successes in restoring ecological systems have been documented by some non-government
organizations such as Haburas Foundation in relation to community support for livelihood activities.
The SDP 2011-2030 encourage preserving Timor-Lestes cultural diversity and build respect for the
countrys cultural heritage and history. It recognizes that without this respect, the country would be
vulnerable to globalization and would lose the unique features of its society and people inherent to its
national identity. It further taps into the cultural practices and traditions to contribute to the economic
development of the country by targeting the small- to medium- sized businesses.

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