Indonesia Eyes US$260 Million in Foreign Funding for Marine Projects

Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono stated that Indonesia has the opportunity to secure foreign funding worth US$260 million following four government commitments to strengthen sustainable ocean governance. “The four commitments we delivered today affirm Indonesia’s concrete steps in strengthening marine spatial planning, expanding and improving the effectiveness of conservation areas, and developing nature-based solutions such as blue carbon for climate change mitigation,” Trenggono said in a written statement on Tuesday, 23 June 2026. The four commitments to strengthen sustainable ocean governance at the regional and global levels were presented by Trenggono at the 11th Our Ocean Conference (OOC) in Mombasa, Kenya. Trenggono explained that the foreign funding could be obtained through various cooperation schemes to support coral reef conservation, marine ecosystem restoration, and the development of Ocean Centres. The four commitments include strengthening marine spatial governance by integrating land and sea spatial planning into national and provincial spatial plans, drafting cross-regional zoning regulations, and incorporating national strategic blue carbon areas into national spatial planning. The second commitment targets the designation of 700,000 hectares of new marine conservation areas in 2026. Trenggono said this commitment demonstrates Indonesia’s seriousness in protecting marine biodiversity and ecosystems, while also aiming to expand conservation areas to 30 percent of the total national waters by 2045. In addition to pursuing the expansion target, Indonesia will evaluate the management effectiveness of 19.10 million hectares of existing marine conservation areas to ensure that conservation benefits are optimally felt by both the environment and coastal communities. The final commitment involves developing a blue carbon pilot project model that can be replicated in various regions across Indonesia. Based on these four plans, Trenggono stated that the Indonesian government is ready to cooperate with friendly nations, international organisations, and all stakeholders to accelerate implementation. “We believe that ocean challenges are transboundary, thus requiring strong global collaboration,” he said. Previously, in 2018, Indonesia hosted the 5th OOC and delivered 23 commitments worth approximately US$500 million, or Rp7–8 trillion, for marine protection actions. Over nine years of participation in the OOC forum, Indonesia, through the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, has recorded delivering 73 commitments to maintaining ocean health.