The Indonesia Coastal Resources Management Project’s (CRMP) national policy program was not fully implemented until 1999 with the creation of the new Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (Departemen Kelautan dan Perikanan – DKP). With the enactment of Law Number 22 Year 1999 concerning Local Government, the CRMP recognized an excellent opportunity to enhance coastal and marine resource management in the country through work at the national level with DKP.
The project assisted the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries to develop its overall strategic plan and that of the Director General of Coasts and Small Islands.
The project helped DKP and other stakeholders develop a draft National Coastal Management Law with broad stakeholder participation. The process began with the establishment of a small drafting team by the Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries. The resulting draft law was discussed in 10 national and regional public consultations that were undertaken in one of the most open and participatory processes for legislative drafting ever conducted in Indonesia. The law set both the process and the substantive standards for transparency, public participation and technical quality. The draft law is currently pending in the legislative process. The project also helped develop standards for boundary delineation of marine areas and the naming of small islands in Indonesia.
The project recognized and worked to strengthen the unique role that universities play in coastal management in Indonesia. CRMP partnered with the Bogor Agricultural Institute — the leading marine university in Indonesia — to establish a national ICM reference library (Website: http://www.indomarine.or.id), developed and published a national peer-reviewed Journal of Coastal Management (Jurnal Pesisir dan Lautan), initiated an annual ICM learning workshop, and provided research support to other sites.
An Indonesia-wide network of 11 universities (INCUNE) was created in 1999. INCUNE members created a strategy for shared learning and evaluation that outlines how the universities will work together to build experience and capacity, and exchange information about coastal planning and management. INCUNE strengthened its members by conducting training courses, monitoring activities, and developing integrated coastal resource management programs.
CRMP also supported development of the Indonesian Sea Partnership Program, based in concept on the U.S. Sea Grant College Program. These national, decentralized programs provide matching funds through universities for local government and other stakeholders to address local coastal problems and issues that support national priorities.
The Coastal Resources Management Project produced more than 300 publications. This includes “Learning from the World of Coastal Management in Indonesia” which is available on CD-ROM as a selected collection of case studies, guide books, examples and catalogs that captures the best of these CRMP publications and final lessons learned from the project.