The Asian Development Bank is the lead for the multi-agency Coral Triangle Initiative. This six-country program launched in 2007 covers Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands and Timor Leste.
As of the last CTI summit in May 2009, commitments and pledges reached over more than $350 million, including up to $63 million in grants from the Global Environment Facility. Resource mobilization from various sources and potential partners to support new activities under CTI is still ongoing.
There are current regional technical assistance and projects under the initiative. There is still a water resource management and natural resource management project in the pipeline as well as another regional TA, given the size and the expanse of the intervention.
A bank official advised interested parties to be early in the game and partner with organizations and groups that have experience submitting similar proposals. It may be difficult to win the contract if the organization is on its own. It should have a presence in all CTI countries. The possibility of an organization or firm being present in all countries is quite slim, she said.
She added that the organization’s track record and reputation is a very important consideration.
Although ADB is in charge of recruiting individual consultants, firms and non-governmental organizations required, a big chunk of the funding is provided by the Global Environment Facility. The bank has also partnered with the governments of Australia and the U.S., the World Bank and U.N. agencies as well as environmental non-government organizations World Wide Fund for Nature, the Nature Conservancy and Conservation International.
