Tokyo, Japan — The Nihon University held its 2nd International Conference of the Support Program for Contemporary Educational Needs with the theme "Coastal Zone Management and Projects of Asian Countries — Toward Restoration of Tokyo Bay" on 12 January in Tokyo, Japan. Ms. Kazumi Wakita, PEMSEA Resource Facility (PRF) Programme Officer for Partnership Programmes, participated in the conference as a keynote lecturer.

 

Batangas Province, Philippines — "So far, so good," so goes the initial testing of the State of the Coasts (SOC) reporting in Batangas province in the Philippines. Stakeholders regard the SOC as a tool for documenting their progress in meeting their socioeconomic and environmental targets as well as a means to consolidate the various efforts in environmental management in the province.

 

City of Taguig, Philippines — To raise funds and awareness for the preservation of the Tubbataha Reef in the Philippines, Concepcion Durables Inc., a local manufacturing company in the Philippines, recently organized the Race for the Reefs as part of its corporate responsibility efforts.Students, women, community groups and local celebrities participated in the race for a cause held on 2 March in the City of Taguig, Philippines. PEMSEA staff joined in the 3 km, 5 km and 10 km divisions. Flyers for the East Asian Seas Congress 2009 were also distributed during the activity.

Quezon City, Philippines — Preparations for the 2nd East Asian Seas Partnership Council Meeting are being undertaken by the PEMSEA Resource Facility. The PC Meeting will review the progress on the implementation of the Sustainable Development for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-Sea) and build consensus on future work plans.

Batangas Province, Philippines — Fisheries is one of the major sources of livelihood in Batangas Province, Philippines. The province, at the same time, is faced with varying issues including declining fish catch, use of destructive fishing methods and conflict arising from overlapping jurisdictions among municipalities.Each municipality has its own legislation concerning fishery management in its own municipal waters.

Quezon City, Philippines — The 2nd meeting of the Executive Committee (EC) of the East Asian Seas Partnership Council was convened on 14–15 March at PEMSEA Office Building in Manila, Philippines. The meeting was in preparation for the 2nd Partnership Council meeting in July 2008.The meeting was attended by the three Council Chairs, namely, Dr. Chua Thia-Eng, Council Chair; Dr. Li Haiqing, Intergovernmental Session Chair; and Mr. Hiroshi Terashima, Technical Session chair, as well as representatives from UNDP Manila and other resource persons.

Quezon City, Philippines — Published a decade after the 1998 Year of the Ocean, the 25-chapter Securing the Oceans: Essays on Ocean Governance is primarily aimed at increasing the awareness of the general public on coasts and oceans and at strengthening their understanding of the functioning of the ocean, land-sea interactions, ocean dynamics and ecosystem functioning.