CTC and Naturalis Biodiversity Center Partner to Advance Marine Conservation in Indonesia

Coral Triangle Center (CTC) has formalized a new five-year partnership with Naturalis Biodiversity Center, the Netherlands’ national research institute for biodiversity and natural history, to advance marine science, training, and conservation across Indonesia and the Coral Triangle.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed in Leiden, the Netherlands on June 18, 2026, by CTC Executive Director Rili Djohani and Maaike van de Kamp-Romijn, Deputy General Director and Director of Research & Education at Naturalis. The agreement focuses on strengthening human resource capacity in marine science, advancing joint research and technology applications, and expanding data-sharing and knowledge exchange between the two institutions.

The five-year MOU underscores both organizations’ shared commitment to sustainable marine management and the preservation of Indonesia’s globally significant coral reef ecosystems, and reflects continued international collaboration in support of long-term marine conservation goals.

Under the partnership, CTC and Naturalis will collaborate on activities in Ambon and the Banda Islands, the Lease Islands in Maluku Province, and Nusa Penida in Bali. Planned work includes organizing a workshop in the Banda Islands featuring hands-on training in DNA-barcoding techniques, joint scientific publications on species diversity, in collaboration with students and faculty from the University of Banda Neira and Pattimura University.

A second focus area centers on water quality monitoring, with training in sampling methods, data collection on biophysical water quality indicators, and the development of spatial water quality reports with recommendations for addressing marine pollution. The partnership also plan to produce shared education materials along with training resources for marine protected area monitoring. . The partnership also plans to offer university students the opportunity to conduct hands-on experience in conservation activities such as surveying, monitoring, coral restoration, and socio-economic data collection.

During her visit to Naturalis, Rili also gave a public lecture to highlight CTC’s work in the Coral Triangle.

Photos: Purwanto/CTC