East Timor

New sedimentary geochemistry and petrographic analyses provide the most extensive sedimentary documentation yet of the rapid denudation of the young Timor orogen. The data from three basins including two widely-separated, well-dated sections of the Synorogenic Megasequence of Timor-Leste, and a re-dated DSDP 262, constrain the source and timing of detrital sediment flux during forearc-continent collision along the Timor sector of the Banda Arc. The exhumed synorogenic piggy-back basins formed above a mélange unit that developed at the expense of a weak stratigraphic horizon in the Mesozoic stratigraphy, and was exhumed to the sea floor in latest Messinian time. Following an interval of deep marine chalky marl sedimentation, an increasingly muddy sediment flux indicates that the island of Timor became emergent and shed sediment by 4.5 Ma. Comparison of exhumed sections with similar patterns in the DSDP262 chemistry suggests that the sediment source was probably located some 50-60 km distant from the basin, which is consistent with the Aileu region of Timor-Leste that shows an appropriate exhumation history. All sedimentation between 4.5 and 3.2 Ma was probably derived from a low-relief, rapidly eroding, and mudstone-dominated landscape with geochemical affinities to the Triassic-mudstone-derived synorogenic mélange. The mélange unit overlies and surrounds the Banda Terranc, and was presumably structurally emplaced by propagation of a decollement through the Triassic rocks during the collision. After 3.2 Ma, sedimentation was dominated by hard rock lithologies of the Banda Terrane, consisting of forearc cover and basement, the latter including elements of metamafic rocks and metapelites. This phase of sedimentation was accompanied by rapid uplift, which may have been partly driven by a transient imbalance between rock uplift and denudation as resistant lithologies emerged from below mélange-like mudstone. Previous work has suggested that the timing of collision in Timor-Leste and West Timor was substantially different. Our reevaluation of DSDP 262 facies migration history in the context of the re-dating presented here, favours a relatively synchronous onset of uplift in both halves of the island, but with different partitioning of strain between the foreland and hinterland in each half of the island.

A manifestation of early destination development, Community-Based Tourism (CBT) enterprises have been emerging across Timor-Leste as a rural development strategy. In the context of this fledgling and oil revenue dependent nation, CBT enterprises will need to overcome various challenges if they are to fulfil their potential. The present paper explores stakeholder perceptions towards the prospective shape and structure of a nationwide CBT network using a multi-stage qualitative research approach. Respondents broadly agreed that a CBT network can support the development of tourism and help enterprises to confront the challenges of deficient knowledge, funding and marketing, prospectively improving rural livelihoods. The researchers consider neo-colonial, social economy and community development perspectives when applying the prospective CBT model in a resource dependent developing country setting. The success of a CBT network relies on an authoritative funding body and on communications between managers and stakeholders that maintains a balance of power.

After more than 400 years of Portuguese colonization and a 24-year period of Indonesian occupation, Timor-Leste became a fully independent state on May 20, 2012. Independence followed a period of extreme violence caused by the Indonesians, who destroyed homes, livelihoods and infrastructure and devastated schools before leaving the country. Since 2012, the country has resorted to international aid to reconstruct the country and rebuild its education system. Following the restructuring of the basic education, the country has recently implemented a new general secondary education curriculum, through international cooperation with Portuguese institutions. This article presents the new curriculum developed and puts forward some of the challenges regarding its implementation. Based on interviews conducted with several policy makers, findings suggest challenges related with the use of Portuguese language, the scientific and pedagogical training of teachers and the pedagogical and administrative management capacity in most secondary schools.

1. Many coastal communities depend on ecosystems for goods and services that contribute to human well-being. As long-standing interactions between people and nature are modified by global environmental change, dynamic and diversified livelihood strategies that enable seasonal adaptation will be critical for vulnerable coastal communities. However, the success of such strategies depends on a range of poorly understood influences.

2. Gleaning, the hand-based collection of marine organisms from littoral habitats, provides an interesting case study of dynamic change in social-ecological interactions. It is an important coastal livelihood strategy, yet seasonal gleaning dynamics have not been empirically explored in contemporary communities. We examined seasonal gleaning in eight coastal communities on Atauro Island, Timor-Leste, using household surveys and satellite-derived maps of shallow-water benthic habitats. Our analysis explored the factors affecting household decisions to glean in each season, the relationship between gleaning and seafood consumption, and seasonal gleaning pressure on near-shore coastal resources.

3. Dynamic marine harvesting strategies differed among households and gleaning activity was seasonally heterogeneous. Not all gleaning households gleaned during the season characterised by rough sea conditions despite rough season gleaning being associated with greater seafood consumption stability among seasons. Households also gleaned less regularly, and catches were smaller, in the rough season.

4. Differences in seasonal participation in gleaning were explained mostly by type and extent of shallow habitat proximate to a community. In the calm season, household gleaning was positively related to the total area of shallow habitat, and in the rough season the percentage of hard-bottom shallow habitat was also an important predictor of gleaning activity.

5. Our findings illustrate how changes in the biophysical environment mediate human–nature interactions at fine scales through time and space. Consequently, this research highlights the importance of context‐specific perspectives for understanding drivers and dynamics in fishing pressure on littoral ecosystems, access to ecosystem benefits and limits to adaptation. Factors influencing when livelihood activities are feasible and desirable are important for evaluating the social impacts of climate change, particularly in the context of rural communities in the Global South.

This was an article I wrote with Eilís Ward of Trinity College, Dublin, now of the National University of Ireland, Galway, which was published in Indonesia and the Malay World, Vol.29 no.83 (March 2001), pp.51-74. It deals with European Union (pre-1993, European Community) diplomacy on the East Timor issue concentrating particularly on the role of Portugal after its accession to the EC/EU on 1 January 1986 and its impact in providing a focus for EU diplomacy relating to Indonesia and East Timor.

The East Timor Issue in the Context of EU-Indonesian Relations, 1975 - 1998

By

and Peter Carey (Trinity College, Oxford)

Women in conflict-affected countries are at risk of mental disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder and depression. No studies have investigated the association between experiences of abuse and injustice and explosive anger amongst women in these settings, and the impact of anger on women's health, family relationships and ability to participate in development. A mixed methods study including an epidemiological survey (n = 1513, 92.6% response) and qualitative interviews (n = 77) was conducted in Timor-Leste. The indices measured included Intermittent Explosive Disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder; severe distress; days out of role (the number of days that the person was unable to undertake normal activities); gender-specific trauma; conflict/violence; poverty; and preoccupations with injustice. Women with Intermittent Explosive Disorder (n = 184, 12.2%) were more disabled than those without the disorder (for >5 days out of role, 40.8% versus 31.5%, X(2) (2) = 12.93...

The management of groundwater quality is a critical issue in developing nations where sanitation and drinking water targets are commonly addressed by facilitating access to groundwater, which is then managed as a common-pool resource. We investigate the quality of the shallow unconfined groundwater in Dili's alluvial fan system, which 50% of Dili's rapidly growing population use for all their water requirements. Using the basic chemical and microbiological analyses that are locally available (sulfate, total hardness, fluoride, manganese, iron, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, total coliform and E. coli) we show that the shallow wells commonly contain enhanced concentrations of dissolved solids and microbiological contaminants (total coliform and E. coli), relative to deeper wells. Cool, shallow wells are worse than warm equivalents. Elevated nitrate and nitrite pollution in the embassy district are tentatively attributed to affluence factors, such as lawn cultivation and water filtration equipment. Microbiological contamination, and associated manganese contamination of groundwater, mimic population patterns, but are concentrated in the finer grained sediments of the small fans and low-slope interdistributary areas. We suggest that rapid development and successful implementation of appropriate sanitation policy in Dili (and elsewhere) is required to address the problematic features of the shallow groundwater system. Success will be predicated on (1) the establishment of baseline data, and (2) development of a systems-thinking approach to holistic water resource management.

Pristine detrital Platygyra corals were discovered in an exhumed package of syn-orogenic marine sediments on the island of Timor in the eastern Indonesian region and dated using U–Pb techniques. A single coral from the upper part of the sequence yields a 238U/206Pb–207Pb/206Pb concordia age of 2.66 ± 0.14 (2σ) Ma that is supported by coral 87Sr/86Sr chemostratigraphy and foraminiferal biostratigraphy from bounding strata. Minor U-series disequilibrium is best explained by U mobility within the last ~ 150 ka, as pore water chemistry was altered during exhumation, and is unlikely to have affected 238U/206Pb and the apparent sample age by more than 1–2%. The ability to date corals beyond the limits of 14C and U/Th techniques provides the opportunity to improve the temporal resolution of associated marine chronostratigraphic records. In this instance, we refine the timing of Timor's emergence from beneath the waters of the Indonesian Seaway (IS) and the initiation of turbiditic deposition at the study site to between ca. 3.35 and 2.66 Ma. These results have implications for the evolution of topography and IS oceanic pathways in the active orogenic belts along the northern fringes of the Australian Plate.

After 2002, Timorese authorities focused on the challenges of revitalizing the country's education system. Since then, several international cooperation initiatives were undertaken, which enabled, for instance, the restructuring of the general secondary education curriculum. This article reveals the perceptions of Timorese policymakers of the new curriculum and the challenges they identify in its recent implementation. It presents partial results from a wider project that evaluated the short-term impact of such restructuring. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five policymakers. Data were analyzed by applying thematic analysis procedures. Findings suggest participants perceive the new curriculum as an important step towards the creation of a structured educational system that did not exist before, as well as an opportunity to meet the country's obligations concerning education and other priority targets. They also identify challenges hindering an effective implementation of the curriculum. These relate, though not exclusively, to the provision of adequate training of the Portuguese language, the provision of initial and in-service teacher training, and enhancing school infrastructures, organization and administrative management capacity.

Palynology of exhumed Pliocene marine turbidites and marl beds on the island of Timor provide insights into crustal deformation in the Indonesian region. Between ca. 4.5 and ca. 3 Ma, palynomorphs were sourced primarily from Australia and New Guinea, with increasing swamp and mangrove elements sourced from an emerging proto-Timor. Following ca. 3.1 Ma, pollen and charcoal evidence track the rapid uplift of Timor to a high island, with the progressive appearance of montane and dry, lee-side floristic elements. Early- to mid-Pliocene uplift rates of 0.5–0.6 mm yr–1 increased to 2–5 mm yr–1 in the latest Pliocene. The rapid topographic development of Timor-Leste initiated earlier but followed a pattern similar to that of more westerly localities in the Timor sector of the Banda Arc. Timor's emergence from the marine environment is closely correlated with the timing of closure of the Indonesian seaway to deep-dwelling foraminfera.