Casting into the future of Timor-Leste’s south coast small-scale fisheries for enhanced marine resource sustainability, species conservation and ecosystem resilience

Abstract

Our rapidly changing world necessitates now, more than ever, that we look into the future. The need for looking forward is particulary integral in rural communities that are closely linked with and depend on their environment for food, income, health and livelihoods. These communities need to prepare and adapt for a future under global climate change as well as local drivers of ecosystem change. Globally, various approaches have been developed to provide insights into what the future might hold, but many times these approaches are alien and impractical in the context of developing nations and rural communities. Even though fisheries management in Timor-Leste has received a lot of support and focus over the past decades, a gap still remains in understanding the status of marine resources and ecosystems and how these should be used and managed in a changing world.