About ATSEA

The Arafura and Timor Seas (ATS) region is unique in terms of its ecology, geography and socio-political structure.

Shared by Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste, this fertile corridor of tropical water traverses the North Australian Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (LME), connecting the Pacific and Indian Oceans with the Coral Triangle.

This area provides the peoples of many nations with essential resources, while also stocking the world’s oceans with biodiversity.

The ATS region is home to a vast array of natural wonders:

• 160 species of coral
• 350 species of reef fish
• 25% of the world’s mangroves
• 45 mangrove tree species
• 15 species of seagrass beds
• Marine turtles, dugongs, sharks and rays
• Nesting colonies of shorebirds and seabirds

In addition, the ATS is extremely rich in non-living natural resources, including oil and gas reserves.

Much of the marine life in ATS is under threat from a combination of overfishing, loss of habitat and the impacts of climate change. This underlines the urgent need for collective regional action and transboundary management of economically important fish species, critical habitats and marine megafauna.

GOALS & OBJECTIVE

ATSEA-2 sets out to achieve a variety of aims and objectives in the Arafura and Timor Seas (ATS) region, oriented towards the conservation of ecosystem biodiversity and the integrated, sustainable management of resources. These objectives can be divided according to their environmental and governmental scope: