Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion

The Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion (SSME) is an integral part of the Indo-Pacific Region, considered as the global center of marine biodiversity, and the Coral Triangle, noted as the center of coral and reef-fish diversity in the world. The SSME encompasses Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
The two-pronged goals for SSME are biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.

In 2004, the governments of the three countries adopted the Ecoregion Conservation Plan (ECP) for SSME during the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Kuala Lumpur. Member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) recognized the SSME tri-national initiative as a sub-regional program. These events set the stage for the full implementation of the SSME Program by the governments starting with the development of a network of MPAs in the ecoregion.

WWF, on the other hand, developed its Action Plan based on the ECP focused on conserving priority areas in SSME. National organizations of WWF in Malaysia and the Philippines implement the Action Plan with partners. The SSME Coordination Unit complements country efforts by undertaking ecoregion level actions of transboundary nature and relevance.

The SSME Program is supported with funds from the Packard Foundation, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, the Australian Department of Environment and Heritage, the US State Department, USAID, WWF-US and WWF-International.

To know more about this project, you may visit the SSM Ecoregion website or may send an email to jingles@gmail.com.