Tono River

{{short description|River in Oecusse, Timor-Leste}} {{EngvarB|date=February 2022}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}} {{Infobox river | name = Tono River | native_name = {{native name list |tag1=pt|name1=Ribeira de Tono / |paren1=omit|tag2=pt|name2=Rio Tono|tag3=tet|name3=Mota Tono}} | name_other = | name_etymology = | nickname =  | image = Tono River estuary, Oecusse, 17 Sep 2009.jpg | image_size = | image_caption = Tono River estuary | image_alt = Tono River estuary  | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | map_alt = | pushpin_map = East Timor | pushpin_map_size = | pushpin_map_caption= Location of river mouth | pushpin_map_alt = Location of river mouth  | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = Timor-Leste | subdivision_type2 = Municipality | subdivision_name2 = Oecusse | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 =  | length = | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max =  | source1 = | source1_location = | source1_coordinates=  | source1_elevation = | source_confluence = | source_confluence_location = Tripoint of ''Suco'' {{ill|Bobometo|de}}, Oesilo, and ''Sucos'' Cunha and {{ill|Naimeco|de}}, Pante Macassar | source_confluence_coordinates= {{Coord|9|16|31|S|124|21|16|E}} | source_confluence_elevation = | mouth = Savu Sea | mouth_location = Lifau | mouth_coordinates = {{Coord|9|12|31|S|124|18|12|E|display=inline,title}} | mouth_elevation = | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = | basin_landmarks = | basin_population = | tributaries_left = Bitaklele River / Malelai (or Malelui) / Toko / Bena / Columu / Ekai / Kinloki Rivers | tributaries_right = Abanal River | waterbodies = | waterfalls = | bridges = Noefefan Bridge | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = }}

The '''Tono River''' ({{langx|pt|Ribeira de Tono}} or {{lang|pt|Rio Tono}}, {{langx|tet|Mota Tono}}) is the principal river of Oecusse, an exclave of Timor-Leste. The river and its major tributaries flow generally north, through the centre of the exclave, into the Savu Sea, reaching the sea near Lifau. Its alluvial flood plain in Pante Macassar administrative post is the main rice-producing place in Oecusse.

==Course== thumb|left|A view of the river looking upstream towards the central mountains|alt=A view of the river looking upstream towards the central mountains The river is one of Timor-Leste's few perennial streams.<ref name="nunes 2001">{{cite conference |url=https://members.tripod.com/sd_east_timor/PROC%20Papers/Natural%20resources%20and%20conservation/Mario%20Nunes/Mario%20Nunes%20PROC.htm |title=The Natural Resources of East Timor: A physical, geographical and ecological review |last=Nunes |first=Mario N. (Manager ETTA Forestry Unit) |date=26 January 2001 |conference=Conference on Sustainable Development in East Timor |conference-url=https://members.tripod.com/sd_east_timor/ |editor1-last=Anderson |editor1-first=Russell |editor2-last=Deutsch |editor2-first=Carolyn |book-title=Sustainable Development and the Environment in East Timor: Proceedings of the Conference on Sustainable Development in East Timor, held from 25-31 January 2001 |publisher=Timor Aid |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724101951/https://members.tripod.com/sd_east_timor/ |archive-date=24 July 2021 |url-status=live |location=Dili |isbn=0646417169 |doi= |access-date=30 July 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Its primary headwaters are in the portion of Timor-Leste's central mountains located within the southern ends of Nitibe and Oesilo administrative posts in Oeucusse.<ref name="tl gis oecussi">{{cite map |title=República Democrática de Timor-Leste: Oecussi |trans-title=Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste: Oecusse |url=http://websig.civil.ist.utl.pt/timorgis/dist_maps/oecussi.pdf |scale=1:75000 |publisher=Timor-Leste GIS Portal |cartography=Instituto Superior Técnico |location=Lisbon |language=pt |access-date=7 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630181113/http://websig.civil.ist.utl.pt/timorgis/dist_maps/oecussi.pdf |archive-date=30 June 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In general, the river's tributaries flow from the headwaters in a northeasterly direction, mostly along the border between Oesilo and Pante Macassar administrative posts, until two of the tributaries (the Ekai and Abanel Rivers, respectively) merge near the northwesternmost point of ''Suco'' {{ill|Bobometo|de}} in Oesilo to form the river itself.<ref name="tl gis oecussi"/> From there, the river continues, as the principal river of the Oecusse exclave,<ref name="seehausen 2018">{{cite journal |last1=Seehausen |first1=Malte |last2=Pinto |first2=Rui Miguel da Silva |last3=Trainor |first3=Colin Richard |last4=Lopes |first4=Jafet Potenzo |title=Further records of Odonata from Timor Island, with the first photographs of living Nososticta impercepta (Odonata: Platycnemididae) and additional records from Rote and Romang Islands |journal=Faunistic Studies in South-east Asian and Pacific Island Odonata |date=30 December 2018 |issue=25 |pages=1–75 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330466803 |access-date=10 April 2022 |language=en |issn=2195-4534}}</ref>{{rp|4}} in a different, northwesterly, direction,<ref name="tl gis oecussi"/> until it discharges into the Savu Sea a short distance southwest of Lifau, Pante Macassar administrative post.<ref name="tl gis oecussi"/><ref name="mindat tono">{{cite web |title=Kali Tono, Oecusse, Timor Leste |url=https://www.mindat.org/feature-1938893.html |website=Mindat.org |access-date=7 September 2022}}</ref>

Approximately {{cvt|0.5|km}} upstream and to the east of the river mouth is the {{cvt|380|m|ft|adj=mid|-long}} Noefefan Bridge over the river.<ref name="tl 2017-06-12">{{cite web |title=Inauguration of Noefefan bridge in Oe-cusse Ambeno |url=http://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=18300&lang=en&n=1 |website=Government of Timor-Leste |access-date=9 September 2022 |language=en |date=12 June 2017}}</ref> The bridge connects Citrana, Passabe and other isolated regions west of the river to Oecusse's capital, Pante Macassar, providing them with permanent access to markets, the ferry, and airport, even during the rainy season (November to April).<ref name="zeesm">{{cite web |title=Noefefan Bridge inaugurated |url=https://www.zeesm.tl/opened-noefefan-bridge-tono/ |website=ZEESM TL |access-date=9 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180825180227/https://www.zeesm.tl/en/opened-noefefan-bridge-tono/ |archive-date=25 August 2018 |date=10 June 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The river's main tributaries, in order of entrance, are as follows:

* Bitaklele River: rises as its tributaries the Bao, Matin and Upun Rivers, respectively, in ''Suco'' {{ill|Lelaufe|de}}, Nitibe administrative post, where it also has its source convergence; flows generally eastwards, to the tripoint between Nitibe, Oesilo and Pante Macassar administrative posts, where it merges with the Malelai (or Malelui) River (see below) to form the Toko River (see below);<ref name="tl gis oecussi"/> * Malelai (or Malelui) River: rises not far from the southern end of the border between Nitibe and Pante Macassar administrative posts; flows generally northwestwards, to the Nitibe / Oesilo / Pante Macassar tripoint, where it merges with Bitaklele River (see above) to form the Toko River (see below);<ref name="tl gis oecussi"/> * Toko River: flows from the confluence of the Bitaklele and Malelai (or Malelui) Rivers (see above) generally northwards, along the border between Oesilo and Pante Macassar administrative posts, until it merges with the Bena River (see below) to form the Columu River (see below);<ref name="tl gis oecussi"/> * Bena River: rises in ''Suco'' Cunha, Pante Macassar administrative post; flows a short distance southeastwards to the border between Oesilo and Pante Macassar administrative posts, where it merges with the Toko River (see above) to form the Columu River (see below);<ref name="tl gis oecussi"/> * Columu River: flows from the confluence of the Toko and Bena Rivers (see above) generally eastwards, along the border between Oesilo and Pante Macassar administrative posts, to the tripoint between ''Sucos'' {{ill|Bobometo|de}} and {{ill|Usitasae|de}}, Oesilo administrative post, and ''Suco'' Cunha, Pante Macassar administrative post, where it enters the Ekai River (see below);<ref name="tl gis oecussi"/> * Ekai River: rises as the Passabe River and its tributaries in the south of Passabe administrative post, Timor-Leste; flows initially eastwards through Passabe and over the international frontier into North Central Timor Regency, Indonesia; continues northeastwards, and then northwestwards, through North Central Timor Regency; then, as the Ekai River, passes along and over the international frontier, and across ''Sucos'' Bobometo and Usitasae, Oesilo administrative post, Timor-Leste, to the tripoint between ''Sucos'' Bobometo and Usitasae, and ''Suco'' Cunha, Pante Macassar administrative post (which is also the location of the Columu River mouth (see above)); and finally heads northwards, to the tripoint between ''Suco'' Bobometo, Oesilo administrative post, and ''Sucos'' Cunha and {{ill|Naimeco|de}}, Pante Macassar administrative post, where it merges with the Abanal River (see below) to form the Tono River;<ref name="tl gis oecussi"/><ref name="mindat passabe">{{cite web |title=Noel Passabe, Provinsi Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia |url=https://www.mindat.org/feature-1944453.html |website=Mindat.org |access-date=8 September 2022}}</ref> * Kinloki River: rises as the Bimilo River near the international frontier between Naimeco, Pante Macassar administrative post, Timor-Leste, and North Central Timor Regency, Indonesia; flows initially southwestwards along that frontier, and then northwestwards along the border between ''Suco'' Bobometo, Oesilo administrative post, and ''Suco'' Naimeco, to the tripoint between ''Sucos'' Bobometo and Naimeco, and ''Suco'' Cunha, Pante Macassar administrative post, where it enters the Ekai River (see above);<ref name="tl gis oecussi"/> * Abanal River: rises as the Bussi River in ''Suco'' Costa, Pante Macassar administrative post, flows generally westwards, mainly as the Abanal River along the border between ''Sucos'' {{ill|Bobocasse|de}} and Naimeco, Pante Macassar, to the tripoint between ''Suco'' Bobometo, Oesilo administrative post, and ''Sucos'' Cunha and Naimeco, Pante Macassar, where it merges with the Ekai River (see above) to form the Tono River.<ref name="tl gis oecussi"/>

==History== Lifau, a short distance northeast of the Tono River mouth, was the first place on the island of Timor to be settled by Europeans. Between 1512 and 1515, Portuguese traders were the first of the Europeans to arrive in the area; they landed near modern Pante Macassar, about {{cvt|5|km}} to Lifau's east. Only much later was a permanent Portuguese settlement established at Lifau.<ref name="Schwarz 1994 198">{{cite book |last=Schwarz |first=A. |year=1994 |title=A Nation in Waiting: Indonesia in the 1990s |page=[https://archive.org/details/nationinwaitingi00schw/page/198 198] |publisher=Westview Press |isbn=1-86373-635-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/nationinwaitingi00schw/page/198 }}</ref><ref name="heuken 2008">{{cite book |last=Heuken |first=Adolf |chapter=The Solor-Timor Mission of the Dominicans, 1562–1800 |editor-last1=Aritonang |editor-first1=Jan Sihar |editor-last2=Steenbrink |editor-first2=Karel |title=A History of Christianity in Indonesia |publisher=Brill |date=2008 |pages=73–97 |volume=35 |jstor=10.1163/j.ctv4cbgb1.9 |chapter-url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/10.1163/j.ctv4cbgb1.9.pdf |isbn=978-90-04-17026-1}}</ref>

By the seventeenth century, the Lifau settlement had become the centre of Portuguese activities on Timor, which had extended into the interior of the island. In 1702, Lifau officially became the capital of all Portuguese dependencies in the Lesser Sunda Islands. However, Portuguese control over Lifau's environs, known as Oecusse (which is also the traditional name of Pante Macassar), was tenuous, particularly in the mountainous interior.<ref name="Schwarz 1994 198"/><ref name="hull 2002">{{Citation |last=Hull |first=Geoffrey |author-link=Geoffrey Hull |year=2002 |title=The Languages of East Timor: Some Basic Facts (Revised 9.2.2002) |publisher=Independently published |publication-place= |page= |url=http://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/default/CommunityGovernanceDocuments/The_Languages_of_East_Timor_Some_Basic_Facts.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091001090126/http://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/default/CommunityGovernanceDocuments/The_Languages_of_East_Timor_Some_Basic_Facts.pdf |archive-date=1 October 2009 |access-date=20 April 2022}}</ref> In 1769, the capital of Portuguese Timor was transferred from Lifau eastwards to Dili, due to frequent attacks from the local Eurasian Topass group. Most of West Timor was left to Dutch forces, who were conquering what is today Indonesia.<ref name="boxer 1947">{{Cite book |last=Boxer |first=C. R. |title=The Topasses of Timor |date=1947 |publisher=Indisch Instituut te Amsterdam |location=Amsterdam }}</ref>

In the 1780s, a reconciliation took place between the governor in Dili and the Topasses of Oecusse, who henceforth usually supported the Portuguese government.<ref name="boxer 1947"/> In 1859, under the Treaty of Lisbon, Portugal and the Netherlands divided the island between them. For the most part, West Timor became Dutch, with its colonial seat at Kupang. Eastern Timor became Portuguese, with its seat in Dili. Oecusse was confirmed as a Portuguese exclave, with the Savu Sea to its north west, but otherwise surrounded by Dutch territory.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pélissier |first=R. |title=Timor en guerre: Le crocodile et les portugais (1847–1913) |date=1996 |publisher=Pélissier |location=Orgeval |pages=274–277, 299–301 |language=fr |trans-title=Timor at War: The Crocodile and the Portuguese (1847–1913)}}</ref>

As is the case throughout the Indonesian archipelago, human settlement in Oecusse, including in the Tono River catchment or drainage basin, has traditionally been concentrated in the mountainous interior, rather than near the coast. There are many likely reasons for this tradition: for example, altitude offers relief from coastal heat and much lower rates of malaria infection, and high ground is easier to defend against invaders. In Oecusse, areas of higher altitude also benefit from substantially greater rainfall over a rainy season that can be two months longer than along the coast, and groundwater reserves are more plentiful. Additionally, the channelling of water for small-scale cultivation is relatively simple in mountainous landscapes.<ref name="holthouse 2008">{{cite report |last1=Holthouse |first1=Kym |last2=Grenfell |first2=Damian |date=2008 |title=Social and Economic Development in Oecusse, Timor-Leste |url=http://mams.rmit.edu.au/f6qs47gbumu3.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930204656/http://mams.rmit.edu.au/f6qs47gbumu3.pdf |archive-date=30 September 2009 |location=Melbourne |publisher=Oxfam Australia and the Globalism Institute, RMIT University |isbn=9780646486871 |access-date=7 June 2022}}</ref>{{rp|11}}

Many Oecusse communities were among the last in Timor to have contact with foreigners, as Portuguese colonialism after 1769 was focused on the eastern half of the island. Some mountain villages in Oecusse were not reached by Portuguese missionaries until as recently as the 1950s. However, Oecusse still identifies strongly with the former Portuguese Timor, even though the effect of the Portuguese on the culture of the exclave was shallow.<ref name="holthouse 2008"/>{{rp|10}}

In 1975, Indonesia, which had become independent in 1949, began an invasion of Portuguese Timor, including Oecusse.<ref name="martin">{{cite book|last=Martin|first=Ian|title=Self-determination in East Timor: the United Nations, the ballot, and international intervention|year=2001|publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers|location=Boulder, CO, USA|url={{GBurl|ZjC1cGfvARQC}}|isbn=158826033X|page=16}}</ref><ref name="chega part 3">{{cite book |title=Chega! The Report of the Commission for Reception, Truth, and Reconciliation Timor-Leste |date=2005 |publisher=Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor |location=Dili |chapter-url=https://www.etan.org/etanpdf/2006/CAVR/03-History-of-the-Conflict.pdf |access-date=12 January 2022 |chapter=Part 3: The History of the Conflict |pages=60–63}}</ref> The Indonesians then proceeded to occupy the former colony.<ref name="nevins">{{cite book|last=Nevins |first=Joseph |title=A Not-So-Distant Horror: Mass Violence in East Timor |publisher=Cornell University Press |location=Ithaca, New York |year=2005 |isbn=0801489849 |pages=108–110}}</ref> During the occupation, Indonesia maintained Oecusse's administrative links to the rest of the former Portuguese Timor, but some of the residents of Oecusse's mountains were forcibly relocated to the low-lying alluvial flood plains along the Tono River, ostensibly to maximise use of cultivable land, but also to facilitate government control over the community.<ref name="holthouse 2008"/>{{rp|10-12}}

In 1999, the East Timorese voted for independence from Indonesia.<ref name="nevins"/> Before leaving, the Indonesian military and its allies inflicted a scorched earth policy over the whole of the occupied territory, and especially in Oecusse.<ref name="guterres speech">{{cite speech |last=Guterres |first=Francisco |author-link=Francisco Guterres |title=Speech at the Inauguration of the Noefefan Bridge in Oé-Cusse |event=Lifau |date=10 June 2017 |location=Stockholm |publisher=Östtimorkommittén (Sweden) |url=http://www.osttimorkommitten.se/div/Lu-OloOe-cusse2017-06-10.htm |access-date=8 February 2022}}</ref> Since then, some of the forcibly relocated members of Oecusse's community have returned to the mountains. Of those who have stayed in the lowlands, many still consider the mountains to be the centre of their family, social and ritual activities.<ref name="holthouse 2008"/>{{rp|12}}

When East Timor became independent in 2002, the new Constitution of Timor-Leste expressly provided, in recognition of Oecusse's very longstanding particular disadvantages, that the exclave would "...{{nbsp}}enjoy special administrative and economic treatment{{nbsp}}..." and "...{{nbsp}}be governed by a special administrative policy and economic regime".<ref name="guterres speech"/><ref name="constitution">{{cite book |title=Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, sections 5 and 71 |date=2002 |url=http://timor-leste.gov.tl/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Constitution_RDTL_ENG.pdf |access-date=9 February 2022}}</ref> In 2013, the government of Timor-Leste appointed former prime minister Mari Alkatiri to oversee the development of a special economic zone in Oecusse.<ref name="lsmy 2018">{{cite book |last1=Meitzner Yoder |first1=Laura S. |editor1-last=Bovensiepen |editor1-first=Judith M. |title=The Promise of Prosperity: Visions of the Future in Timor-Leste |date=2018 |publisher=ANU Press |location=Acton, ACT |isbn=9781760462529 |page=88 |url=https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n4586/html/cover.xhtml?referer=&page=0# |chapter=4. Piloting the experimental ZEESM megaproject: Performing the future in the Oecusse-Ambeno enclave |chapter-url=https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n4586/html/ch04.xhtml?referer=&page=11}}</ref> The following year, the National Parliament of Timor-Leste took a further step towards complying with the government's constitutional obligations towards Oecusse, by enacting a law for the creation of an Authority of the Oecusse Special Administrative Region ({{langx|pt|Autoridade da Região Administrativa Especial Oé-Cusse|links=no}} – ARAEO), and for the designation of Oecusse as a Special Zone of Social Market Economy ({{langx|pt|Zona Especial de Economia Social de Mercado|links=no}} – ZEESM). On 23 and 24 January 2015, the central government formally handed over some of its powers to the ARAEO and the ZEESM.<ref name="mof better future">{{cite web |title=Oé-Cusse: the beginning of a better future for Timor-Leste |url=https://www.mof.gov.tl/oe-cusse-the-beginning-of-a-better-future-for-timor-leste/?lang=en |website=Ministry of Finance (Timor-Leste) |access-date=9 February 2022}}</ref>

Soon after his appointment as the overseer of the special economic zone, Alkatiri started publicising a fully formed plan for Oecusse's development. The plan comprised a substantial number of proposed buildings and capital investments, including a {{cvt|380|m|ft|adj=mid|-long}} bridge over the Tono River on the coastal road between Pante Macassar and Citrana.<ref name="lsmy 2018"/> Construction of the bridge, since named the Noefefan Bridge, began in April 2015. The bridge was formally inaugurated in June 2017.<ref name="tl 2017-06-12"/>

Meanwhile, in May 2016, a report published by the World Bank proposed a detailed Oecusse Agricultural Development Plan (OADP), costed at {{US$|47.5}}{{nbsp}}million over a ten year implementation period, to promote growth in agriculture and forestry in the exclave. By September 2017, the government had spent approximately {{US$|10}}{{nbsp}}million of that total amount, on rehabilitating and upgrading the Tono irrigation scheme, in particular by building a dam to provide more water, more reliably. The OADP also included provision for a {{cvt|1000|ha}} increase in the size of the area irrigated by the scheme, even though the report's authors considered that an increase would be uneconomic; the authors also felt that it was logical to focus on domestic production of import replacements of rice, and maize.<ref name="world bank 2016 v1">{{cite report |date=May 2016 |title=Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste: Oecusse Economic and Trade Potential |series=No: ACS18457 |chapter-url=https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/24726/Overview0of0Oe00long0term0potential.pdf?sequence=1 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=World Bank |chapter=Vol I: Overview of Oecusse Today & Long Term Potential |access-date=15 September 2022 |archive-date=22 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220222083136/https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/24726/Overview0of0Oe00long0term0potential.pdf?sequence=1 |url-status=live }} (See also {{cite report |date=May 2016 |title=Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste: Oecusse Economic and Trade Potential |series=No: ACS18457 |chapter-url=https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/24727/Detailed0analy0background0documents.pdf?sequence=1 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=World Bank |chapter=Vol II: Detailed Analysis and Background Documents |access-date=18 September 2022 |archive-date=10 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210124820/https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/24727/Detailed0analy0background0documents.pdf?sequence=1 |url-status=live }})</ref>{{rp|7,26,49}}<ref name="tg 2017-05-25">{{cite news |last1=Davidson |first1=Helen |title=Timor-Leste's big spending: a brave way to tackle economic crisis or just reckless? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/25/timor-leste-spending-big-economic-crisis |access-date=15 September 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=25 May 2017 |language=en}}</ref>

==Catchment== The catchment of the Tono River is one of the 10 major catchments in the country.<ref name="nbsap 2015">{{cite report |date=2015 |edition=rev. |title=The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan of Timor-Leste (2011 – 2020) |url=https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/tl/tl-nbsap-v2-en.pdf |publisher=Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste |page=72 |access-date=16 April 2022}}</ref> Sources vary as to its size. According to one source, the portion located within Timor-Leste is {{cvt|499|km2}} in area, and 20% of the catchment (ie another {{cvt|124.75|km2}}) is situated in Indonesia.<ref name="costin 2006">{{cite report |last1=Costin |first1=Graham |last2=Powell |first2=Bronwyn |date=2006 |title=Situation Analysis Report: Timor-Leste |url=https://d9g3mju4iidx1.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/19013958/Costin-Powell-2006-_-Timor-Leste-Situation-Analysis_FIN.pdf |location=Brisbane |publisher=International WaterCentre |access-date=21 January 2025}}</ref>{{rp|9}} Another source quantifies the East Timorese portion as being about {{cvt|509.16|km2}} in area.<ref name="araujo 2011">{{cite thesis |last=Araújo |first=Gregório de |date=2011 |title=Armazenamento de água da chuva para utilização local |trans-title=Rainwater storage for local use |type=Masters thesis |publisher=Universidade de Aveiro |language=pt |page=29 |url=https://ria.ua.pt/handle/10773/8718 |access-date=6 July 2022}}</ref>

Timor-Leste has been broadly divided into twelve 'hydrologic units', groupings of climatologically and physiographically similar and adjacent river catchments.<ref name="costin 2006"/>{{rp|2,52}}<ref name="fao 2011">{{cite report |date=2011 |title= AQUASTAT Country Profile – Timor-Leste |url=https://www.fao.org/3/ca0411en/CA0411EN.pdf |location=Rome |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) |page=4 |access-date=21 January 2025}}</ref> The Tono River catchment is one of the two major catchments in the Lifau & Tono Besi hydrologic unit, which is about {{cvt|837|km2}} in total area, and covers 5.5% of the country; the other one is the Noel Besi River catchment.<ref name="costin 2006"/>{{rp|9,52}}<ref name="fao 2011"/>

==Economy== ===Agriculture=== {{multiple image | align = right | direction = vertical | width = 220 | image1 = Reisfelder in Oemelo 1.jpg | alt1 = Working a rice paddy in Oemelo, Suco Lifau, Pante Macassar administrative post | caption1 = | image2 = Reisfelder in Oemelo 4.jpg | alt2 = Working a rice paddy in Oemelo, Suco Lifau, Pante Macassar administrative post | caption2 = | footer = Working rice paddies in Oemelo, ''Suco'' Lifau, Pante Macassar administrative post }} The vast majority of the residents of Oecusse, including the catchment, have always relied on agriculture as their means of support. As of 2016, 78% of the exclave's population was engaged in agriculture. Subsistence farming is overwhelmingly the leading form of agriculture, and the bartering of goods is very common in its traditional markets. Many of the exclave's families are only marginally integrated into the cash economy; such integration has also lessened since 2002, because of a reduction in the spending power of civil servants, and the erection of border restrictions on imports into West Timor.<ref name="holthouse 2008"/>{{rp|22-23}}<ref name="world bank 2016 v1"/>{{rp|5}}

The cultivation of maize is the dominant form of agriculture in the upper part of the catchment.<ref name="araujo 2011"/> The alluvial flood plains of the river in Pante Macassar administrative post, of which about {{cvt|1700|ha}} are irrigated by the Tono irrigation scheme,<ref name="world bank 2016 v1"/>{{rp|26}} make up Oecusse's 'rice belt',<ref name="holthouse 2008"/>{{rp|11}}<ref name="araujo 2011"/> and are also the exclave's most productive agricultural area.<ref name="amado 2021">{{cite journal |last1=Amado |first1=Miguel |last2=Rodrigues |first2=Evelina |title=Sustainable Tourism Planning: A Strategy for Oecusse-Ambeno, East Timor |journal=Urban Science |date=2021 |volume=5 |issue=4 |doi=10.3390/urbansci5040073 |url=https://www.mdpi.com/2413-8851/5/4/73/pdf |access-date=27 February 2022 |page=7 |bibcode=2021UrbSc...5...73A |doi-access=free |archive-date=7 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407074051/https://mdpi-res.com/d_attachment/urbansci/urbansci-05-00073/article_deploy/urbansci-05-00073.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The majority of Oecusse's farmers plant small quantities of a wide range of crops at different times to guard against the possibility of total crop failure.<ref name="holthouse 2008"/>{{rp|22}} In general, inheritance of land and property in the exclave is patrilineal, but in the lowlands, female ownership of irrigated rice fields is common and men will move into their wives' homes upon marriage.<ref name="holthouse 2008"/>{{rp|12}}<ref name="lsmy 2005">{{cite thesis |last1=Meitzner Yoder |first1=Laura S. |date=2005 |title=Custom, codification, collaboration: Integrating the legacies of land and forest authorities in Oecusse enclave, East Timor |type=PhD thesis |page=101 |publisher=Yale University |docket= |oclc= |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/35216589 |access-date=14 September 2022}}</ref>

Agricultural or agro-forestry activity in the catchment is made difficult by its dry climate, poor soils and challenging topography, which is generally mountainous with little flat land for large-scale cultivation. The catchment has a long dry season, during which livestock food becomes scarce. The mostly steep topography not only limits arable land, but also causes run-off from heavy rains to remove much of the topsoil. The local people practise rotational cropping to counter the poor soils. However, rotational cropping requires constant clearing of new land, which leads to further environmental degradation, and the use of fertilizers as an alternative to rotational cropping is generally uncommon.<ref name="holthouse 2008"/>{{rp|14-15}}

The catchment has also been degraded for centuries by commercial logging of various species, and especially of sandalwood. Oecusse’s sandalwood reserves, unlike those in the rest of Timor, were still substantial in 1975, but were then rapidly depleted, largely by more intrusive, and often corrupt, Indonesian logging practices.<ref name="holthouse 2008"/>{{rp|15}} In the 2000s, the cutting of several protected tree species in Oecusse was prohibited to combat deforestation, and the allocation of private land to the planting of trees was recommended.<ref name="holthouse 2008"/>{{rp|25}}

Residents of Oecusse also commonly raise cattle, chickens, pigs, goats and buffalo. They prefer to use livestock as a store of wealth that can be used, eg, to pay a bride price or as insurance against food shortages, and rarely slaughter cattle for their own consumption. After Oecusse's sandalwood industry closed down, cattle became the only significant exports from the exclave. Since 2002, however, difficulties in marketing cattle in Dili, and the effective closure of the borders to West Timor, have presented very substantial obstacles to the export of livestock.<ref name="holthouse 2008"/>{{rp|24}}

===Fishing=== Very little fishing takes place either in or near the catchment, or in Oecusse generally. The people of Oecusse observe the tradition of ''pemali'', which is the prohibition of the eating of certain foods by certain clan groups, and one of the most commonly prohibited foods is seafood. For that reason, there is little incentive to develop seafood markets in Oecusse, and also little historical knowledge that would assist with the easy capture and marketing of fish from the catchment.<ref name="holthouse 2008"/>{{rp|14}}

===Town water supply=== The most reliable source of water for the water supply network in Pante Macassar is the Tono Bore, a deep well situated on the bed of the river near the town's south western corner. The bore was completed in 2003, and initially could be operated on only a limited basis, due to a lack of funding to buy fuel.<ref name="moi 2011">{{cite report |author=Ministry of Infrastructure |author-link=Ministry of Public Works (Timor-Leste) |date=September 2011 |title=TIM: District Capitals Water Supply Project – The Expansion, Rehabilitation and Operation and Maintenance of Pante Macasar Water Supply Systems – Initial Environmental Examination |url=https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/project-document/60858/44130-022-tim-iee-01.pdf |publisher=Asian Development Bank |page=7 |docket=District Capitals Water Supply Project (RRP TIM 44130-02) |access-date=19 September 2022}}</ref>

==See also== * List of rivers of Timor-Leste

== References == {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== {{refbegin}} * Wheeler, T. (2004) ''East Timor.'' Footscray, VIC; Lonely Planet. {{refend}}

==External links== {{commonscat-inline}}

Category:Rivers of Timor-Leste Category:Oecusse