Government Resolution No. 31/2017 approving the Voluntary Commitments for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goal 14.

The Timor-Leste Strategic Development Plan for the horizon 2011-2030 establishes a set of objectives that are closely linked to the Sustainable Development Goals, which, due to the importance it has assumed at the international and national level, the National Parliament approved the Resolution No. 19/2015 of 18 November recognizing the need to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. With a view to materializing the provisions of the aforementioned instruments, the Government recently approved the Roadmap for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in which it describes the main stages, methodologies and the necessary articulations to be carried out for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
This Government Resolution approves the Voluntary Commitments for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14. In particular, by reaching the following objectives: by 2020 having defined and implemented the national pollution awareness campaign, in order to raise public awareness to soil pollution that are affecting fishing zones and ocean biodiversity; by 2017 having approved the Ocean Policy; by 2019 having completed research on the fish stock in the East Timor sea, spawning and breeding areas, levels of sustainable harvesting of major commercial species and mapped Major Marine Biodiversity Areas; by 2019, complete the review and increase of current fisheries license fees and regulations related to fish species and science-based sustainable harvest limits; by 2020 having completed the mapping of all vulnerable coastal areas, to avoid development or conversion to aquaculture a and salt in highly prone areas, and reverting non-productive areas to natural systems; by 2020, have in place a set of guidelines for nature-based tourism to register and regulate the number of operators and vessels namely, Observation Guidelines of Whales in Timor-Leste; by 2020 having ratified the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to deal with the harvesting, transportation and illegal sale of species registered in CITES from Timor-Leste.