The communities of Atauro Island, a diver’s paradise located just off the coast of Timor-Leste, have unified twelve marine protected areas into a single network, to strengthen conservation and drive forward sustainable tourism. As part of dive tourism businesses have agreed to now pay Atauro’s community conservation groups for access to the network’s pristine dive sites. This marks the first time in the nation’s history that a group of communities will benefit financially from their commitments to conservation.