Manila, Philippines — The Philippines has a long and rich experience in ICM. Since the first initiatives in the late 1970s, ICM practice has significantly evolved to the integrated and multi-sectoral management system that it is today. The benefits shown on the ground as a result of ICM implementation have spurred further interest for ICM scaling up.

Quezon City, Philippines — An organizational workshop to discuss the Strategic Partnership arrangement among the GEF, The World Bank, UNDP and PEMSEA was held at the PEMSEA Office Building on 24-26 June.

Seoul, RO Korea — The Korea Maritime Institute (KMI) and PEMSEA inaugurated the PEMSEA Twinning Secretariat on 17 June 2008, at KMI in Seoul, RO Korea. The Twinning Secretariat is a functional arm of PEMSEA with the responsibility of coordinating a knowledge-sharing and technical cooperation network that is focused on integrated river basin and coastal area management. Existing members of the twinning network include representatives from projects in the Bohai Sea, Manila Bay, Gulf of Thailand, Jakarta Bay, and Masan-Chinhae Bay.

Manado City, Indonesia — The PEMSEA Partnership has grown bigger with the inclusion of two new non-Country Partners. During the First East Asian Seas (EAS) Partnership Council Meeting in Manado City, the International Ocean Institute (IOI) and the Swedish Environmental Secretariat for Asia (SENSA) were officially introduced and welcomed as members of PEMSEA.Abiding by the provisions of the Partnership Operating Arrangements, the three entities submitted formal requests for inclusion as Partners.

Tokyo, Japan — On 14-17 July, the East Asian Seas (EAS) Partnership Council held its second meeting in Tokyo, Japan. Representatives from 22 Country and non-Country Partners as well as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA), PEMSEA Network of Local Governments implementing ICM (PNLG) and Thailand (country observer) attended the Meeting.

Quezon City, Philippines — After several months of rigorous recruitment, the PEMSEA Resource Facility (PRF) Secretariat Services is now fully operational. The PRF Secretariat Services is set to work to provide secretariat support to the PEMSEA regional mechanism, which includes the EAS Partnership Council, the Ministerial Forum, the Regional Partnership Fund, the EAS Congress and the PEMSEA Resource Facility.

Quezon City, Philippines — On 9 November, the GEF/UNDP/IMO Regional Programme on Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) inaugurated and officially opened its new office building, located at DENR Compound, Quezon City, Philippines. The inauguration was led by the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Jose L. Atienza Jr.; United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Deputy Representative Kyo Naka; and PEMSEA Regional Programme Director and Interim Executive Director, Dr. Chua Thia-Eng.

Manado City, Indonesia — The East Asian Seas (EAS) Partnership Council has successfully conducted its first operational meeting in Manado City, Indonesia, last 17-20 July. The Meeting, which was participated in by 11 Country Partners and 11 non-Country Partners, reached important decisions related to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA).Highlights of the Meeting included the election by consensus of the Officers of the Executive Committee, consisting of the Council, Intergovernmental Session and Technical Session Chairs. Dr.

Plymouth, United Kingdom — The Plymouth Marine Laboratory Board of Trustees announced the appointment of Dr. Stephen de Mora as its new Chief Executive following an extensive international recruitment campaign. Dr de Mora will take up his new appointment on 1 September 2008.