Quezon City, Philippines — As part of the PEMSEA participating countries' commitment to place 20 percent of the region's coastline under an integrated coastal management (ICM) program by 2015, as well as to increase the number of ICM practitioners and allied experts in the region, a new ICM model training course has been developed and will soon be rolled out for national and regional training.Over the past 14 years, more than 2,000 individuals have benefited from ICM training, organized and conducted by the GEF/UNDP/PEMSEA regional programme in partnership with participating governments as

Guimaras Province, Philippines — Guimaras has proven that a committed leadership and supportive stakeholders can accelerate the preparation process for integrated coastal management (ICM). Barely four months after the conduct of the initial site evaluation process, which established Guimaras as a PEMSEA ICM parallel, the Province was able to develop its three-year work programme delineating the key activities for 2008-2010. Importantly, the necessary human resource and budgetary allocations for the ICM program were also identified, consistent with the three-year plan.

 

Tokyo, Japan — The PEMSEA/Japan Joint Seminar, entitled "Integrated Coastal Management in the Seas of East Asia" was held on 18 July in Tokyo, Japan. The Seminar was hosted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) and the Ocean Policy Research Foundation (OPRF) and co-organized with PEMSEA.

 

Sihanoukville, Cambodia — The Municipality of Sihanoukville in Cambodia is poised to host the 2008 PEMSEA Network of Local Governments for Sustainable Coastal Development (PNLG) Forum on 19-21 November at the Sokha Beach Hotel. The Forum will discuss critical issues on "Water Resource Protection, Utilization and Management" and will convene more than 80 local executives and technical staff from nine PEMSEA participating countries.

Quezon City, Philippines — Port authorities and operators face a number of challenges with respect to their role and impact in ICM programs and sustainable development of coastal areas - from the safest way to rig gangway nets, to the handling of hazardous substances and management of machinery and noise. The Port Safety, Health and Environmental Management System (PSHEMS) Code gives port authorities a defined structure within which to manage safety and the environment, and proof that they are doing it correctly.

Quezon City, Philippines — To cope with the increasing demand for economic space brought on by development and migration to coastal cities, countries in the East Asian Seas region have engaged in coastal reclamation projects and foreshore developments. While a number of developments have been undertaken in the region, their impacts particularly on the coastal and marine resources and environment have not been given much attention.

Vladivostok, Russian Federation — As part of activities under the Northwest Pacific Plan's Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter (RAP MALI), the 2008 NOWPAP International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) and Training Workshop was held in Vladivostok, Russian Federation on 26-28 September.

Qingdao, PR China — The 2nd Joint NOWAP Oil Spill Exercise was conduced on 2 September 2008 in Qingdao, PR China. This exercise was jointly organized by China Maritime Safety Administration and the Korea Coast Guard as one of the activities under the NOWPAP programme of work for 2008. The purpose of having this joint activity was to check the coordination between Chinese and Korean authorities in dealing with oil spill emergency preparedness and response.

Hanoi, Viet Nam — PEMSEA launched a 25-chapter book, which is a compendium of essays written by 25 authors, during the 4th Global Conference on Oceans, Coasts and Islands held in Hanoi, Viet Nam, from 7-11 April. Securing the Oceans: Essays on Ocean Governance – Global and Regional Perspectives was published a decade after the Year of the Ocean in 1998.

Guimaras Province, Philippines — The island-province of Guimaras has become the first in the Philippines to embark on an island-wide Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) program. Guimaras has obtained the support of the Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR) & the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA), a regional program implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for the Global Environmental Facility (GEF).