Protecting nature in one of the youngest nations on Earth
With some of the most biodiverse waters on Earth and a population heavily dependent on nature for income, the young nation of Timor-Leste is well positioned to adopt a sustainable development strategy for the future.
Conservation International-Timor-Leste, working with local communities and government partners, is charting a sustainable path for the Timorese people by helping create a nationwide network of protected areas, furthering the country’s blue economy and supporting food security, livelihoods, and climate change mitigation for years to come. To date, Conservation International-Timor-Leste has helped established protections for dozens of previously vulnerable habitats on land and sea, including the country’s first Marine Protected Area in the waters around Atauro Island, an area teeming with fish, whale and coral species.
As the only conservation-focused NGO operating in-country, Conservation International-Timor-Leste continues its work helping the Timorese people find innovative, cost-effective ways to protect their nation’s vast natural wealth.
2009
YEAR FOUNDED
433K
PEOPLE
dependent on nature in Timor-Leste1
6M
METRIC TONS
of irrecoverable carbon in Timor-Leste2
568
SQUARE KILOMETERS
of marine protected areas within Timor-Leste’s waters3
Areas we work
Revitalizing the waters of Atauro Island
ln 2015, Conservation International led a biological survey that identified the waters around Timor-Leste’s Atauro Island — home to some 10,000 fishers and farmers — as having the highest average number of reef fish anywhere in the world.
Following that report, the team at Conservation International-Timor-Leste began working with residents and local officials to create a web of 12 community-managed areas to protect the small island’s unusual biodiversity. By 2019, those disparate areas were joined to create Timor-Leste’s first marine protected area network.
Today, depleted fish species have rebounded, catch rates have increased and dive organizations now pay a fee to explore the network’s untouched waters — an important financial boon for the Timorese people made possible by their commitment to conservation.
Conservation International-Timor-Leste remains focused on protecting the unique biodiversity of Atauro Island and is working with the government to have the area declared a national park.
References
- Fedele, G., Donatti, C. I., Bornacelly, I., & Hole, D. G. (2021). Nature-dependent people: Mapping human direct use of nature for basic needs across the tropics. ScienceDirect, 71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102368
- Conservation International (2021, November). Irrecoverable Carbon. Retrieved January 2025, from https://www.conservation.org/irrecoverable-carbon
- 30x30 SkyTruth. (2024, October). Marine Conservation Coverage. https://30x30.skytruth.org/progress-tracker?layers=6,144,7,145&settings=%7B%2522bbox%2522:%5B-167.96,-61.4,167.96,61.4%5D,%2522labels%2522:true%7D