Azores, Portugal — PEMSEA participated in the Seminar on Maritime Policies and Globalization in Azores, Portugal from 9 to 10 July. The seminar was one of the series of three seminars organized by the Government of Portugal in preparation for its accession to the Chairmanship of the European Commission.During the session on "Integrated maritime policies are set up from one continent to another," PEMSEA Regional Programme Director Dr.

Tianjin, PR China — The Seminar on Policy Reform, Sustainable Financing and Investment for Pollution Reduction in the East Asian Seas, to be held 17-19 October in Tianjin, PR China, aims to enable participants to consider and incorporate in project formulation and implementation adequate strategies and approaches to policy reform in managing impacts from river basins and coastal seas, as well as addressing bottlenecks in financing and making investments for pollution reduction.Participants include PEMSEA focal agency staff in project coordination; representatives of local governments in the

Lady Elliot Island, Australia — The global extent of the 1997-1998 mass bleaching event, destroying 16 percent of the world's coral reefs, have fuelled scientific curiosity about the causes of mass bleaching and the implications of these events for future coral reef condition. It has been established that mass bleaching events are caused primarily by increased sea temperatures. Bleached corals can survive if stressful conditions subside soon enough.

Batangas Province, Philippines — For almost three years now, a group of dedicated members and leaders of ANAK-Balayan has been visiting schools and communities in Batangas Province, Philippines, in an effort to impart environmental information. Currently, environmental education in public schools is subsumed under science and technology classes but discussions are sometimes limited. This may perhaps explain the limited appreciation of students when it comes to applying practical environmental management skills in their daily lives.

 

Quezon City, Philippines — After more than 13 years of service as Regional Programme Director of PEMSEA, Dr. Chua Thia-Eng officially retires on 31 December 2007.As a special tribute to and celebration of his inspiring leadership and contribution to the East Asian Seas region, staff of the Regional Programme Office presented a brass sculpture of a fisher to Dr. Chua, who has served not only as a manager, but as a teacher and mentor to all those associated with the project. Indeed, it is difficult to envision PEMSEA without Dr. Chua. In his message to staff, however, Dr.

Manila, Philippines — In preparation for the next phase of PEMSEA, 56 participants composed of Project Management Office (PMO) Directors and National Focal Points (NFPs) from 11 countries across the region were brought together in a workshop held in Manila from 12-15 December 2007.