A Night at the Mandala Club: Oceans, Money, Power

Protecting the ocean costs money. The question is who should pay.

As traditional aid and development funding for marine conservation shrinks, many marine protected areas struggle to function beyond paper promises. Patrols, monitoring and community support all need long-term finance solutions, rather than a series of short-term donations.

Using Indonesia’s East Bintan Marine Protected Area as an example, this discussion will draw on the experience of Nikoi Island and Cempedak Island, two privately run islands exploring different ways to support local MPA management. Their work raises bigger questions about responsibility, power and fairness in ocean protection.

The panel will discuss how conservation can move beyond donor-led models towards practical approaches that channel funding from those who benefit from healthy seas into the systems that protect them.

Join us if you are curious about how ocean protection actually works, and what needs to change to make it last.

SPEAKERS
Lilly Milligan Gilbert is an investor and adviser working across conservation, investment and creative projects, currently supporting long-term financing and governance for the East Bintan Marine Protected Area and nature-based initiatives across Southeast Asia and Europe.

Siti Maryam Yaakub is Director of the Blue Carbon Institute, specialising in unlocking finance for mangroves, seagrass and coastal ecosystems through carbon markets, policy and innovative funding mechanisms in Indonesia and the wider region.

Amandine Vuylsteke is Nikoi Island's resident Marine Biologist with nearly a decade of experience in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia, leading tourism-based conservation programs that bridge science, education and on-the-ground action.