Manado, N Sulawesi - Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi expressed  optimism that a Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) meeting to be held here in conjunction with the World Ocean Conference in 2009 will result in the formation of a World Ocean Forum and the issuance of a Manado Declaration.

"The CTI's  saving program in the coral triangle zone  involves  six member countries and two observer countries," he said on the sidelines of a coordinative meeting on the Sail Bunaken event here on Wednesday.

The Coral Triangle covers all or parts of Indonesia (Central and Eastern), Timor Leste, the Philippines, Malaysia (part of Borneo), Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, and the two observer countries are the United States and Australia.

Sometimes referred to as the "Amazon of the Seas", it is the  epicenter of marine life abundance and diversity on the planet.

It has more than 500 species of coral reef and is home to more than 3,000 fish species.

The Coral Triangle sustains the lives of over 120 million people and benefits millions more worldwide.

The forum would go international due to the importance of saving the seas from many threatening factors, including  climate change, overfishing, illegal fishing, unsustainable coastal development and pollution, he added.