The visit to northern Australia are participated by five community representatives from Rote Island in eastern Indonesia and five community representatives from Dili, Com and Batugade districts of Timor-Leste.
The visit is hosted by Charles Darwin University (CDU), the North Australia Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA). During this exchange programme, the participants visit various locations around Darwin and eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.
Topics covered during the tour include:
During this visit, participants are expected to share ideas and information with other participants. They are expected to participate in group discussions regarding their expectation of the visit, what they have learnt and how it might be relevant or useful to them and their communities. The participants are encouraged to ask questions both of the session facilitators as well as Aboriginal host organisations.
The demonstration project in Timor Leste is implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF), the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. The project started on 1 October 2012 and will end on 1 May 2014.
The demonstration of alternative or supplementary sustainable livelihoods to improve food security and socioeconomic conditions of local communities in TL aims at addressing one priority environmental concerns, such as a decreased of mangrove coverage due to deforestation. By strengthening the livelihoods of coastal communities is expected to have better management of mangrove conservation.
There are two main components in this demo project.
The project started with a discussion with communities’ leaders. Thus a participatory approach was used to select beneficiaries and plan the implementing process. 17 people attended the mudcrab farming traning. After the training, 80 pens were set up in Beacou Atabae, Bobonaro, TL up to mid April 2013. Due to strong wave and wind, only 30 pens left. Then the MAF moved the pens to Liquica, different villages that have more protection from the wind and wave.
Meanwhile, fish processing training was attended by 26 women in Beacou. The women were excited with these new knowledge and skills to improve the value of the fish. One participant considered this training inspired her to preserve the fish during abundant stocks and improve the value of the fish along the marketing chain.
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