Boracay, Philippines — Clear water. Blue skies. Clean air. Powder-fine sand. Picturesque and picture-perfect. The best tropical paradise this side of the world.This is Boracay, in words found in every print publication and among stories from the mouths of those who have been there.Yet paradise is far from perfect. Unknown by many, Boracay's precious marine resources are under constant stress, while its watersheds and critical habitats are giving way to man-made structures. Its ongoing development is pushing the island to reach — and exceed — its carrying capacity.

Bali, Indonesia — NOWPAP representatives recently attended the 5th Global Conference on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands held on 3-7 May 2010 in Paris, France and the 8th Intergovernmental Session of the IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific (WESTPAC) held on 10-13 May in Bali, Indonesia.At the Paris conference, the NOWPAP representative attended several sessions under the Policy, Science and Technical Symposium related to issues of interest to NOWPAP, such as ecosystem-based adaptation to impacts of climate change, biodiversity conservation, governance of large transboundary marine ecosyst

Quezon City, Philippines — Ms. Zhang Lifeng, principal staff member of the Resource and Environment Protection Department of the Xiamen Oceans and Fisheries Bureau, has joined PEMSEA for a three-month period as part of PEMSEA's Professional Upgrading Program for 2010.Ms. Lifeng is in-charge of the implementation of the Marine Environment Conservation Planning in Xiamen, which includes the monitoring of marine environmental quality and promoting ecosystem-based management in Jiulong River Basin and Xiamen Bay.During her three-month stay in the Philippines, Ms.

Tagaytay City, Philippines — Representatives from the offices of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Regions III, IV and the National Capital Region together with representatives from the provincial governments of Batangas, Bataan and Cavite have agreed to update their shared Integrated Information Management System for Manila Bay (IIMS).The group aims to encode available data by early June 2010, in time for the planned PEMSEA workshop on extracting, summarizing and depicting information from the data using IIMS.Emphasis will be placed on updating the database with da

Quezon City, Philippines — PEMSEA has signed a Letter of Cooperation with GTZ (German Technical Cooperation) to jointly assist participating ports in the project: "Sustainable Port Development in the ASEAN Region." The objective of the project is to implement and continually improve safety, health and environmental (SHE) management under an integrated systematic approach in accordance with the provisions of the Port Safety, Health and Environmental Management (PSHEM) Code.

Preah Sihanouk, Cambodia — Consistent with its vision "to be a leading Logistic and Distribution Center," Sihanoukville Autonomous Port - the sole international and commercial deep seaport of the Kingdom of Cambodia — embarked on the development of a Port Safety, Health and Environmental Management System (PSHEMS), with guidance from PEMSEA.

 

Hirado City, Japan — The 2010 NOWPAP International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) and Workshop on Marine Litter was convened 26-28 March in Hirado City, Japan. The event was attended by the representatives from the National Focal Points and governmental officials from related ministries of the four NOWPAP member countries (namely, PR China, Japan, RO Korea and Russia), partner organizations, NOWPAP Regional Activity Centers and Regional Coordination Unit.

 

Hanoi, Viet Nam — The Government of Viet Nam through the Vietnam Administration of Seas and Islands (VASI) of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) has undertaken the necessary steps to initiate scaling up of integrated coastal management (ICM) across the country.An interagency workshop was convened on 24 March 2010, which served as a platform for engaging key agencies, experts and stakeholders in Viet Nam to plan for the development and implementation of activities in support of national priorities for sustainable coastal development.

Guimaras Province, Philippines — The Province of Guimaras, a PEMSEA ICM parallel site, has embarked on the development of its State of the Coasts (SOC) baseline report. The SOC Baseline details the social, economic and environmental conditions in the coastal Province and serves as a benchmark for measuring changes and assessing the impacts of the ICM program over time.

 

Laguna, Philippines — Scientists estimate that there are between five to 100 million plant and animal species sharing this planet with us. Thus far, only about two million of these species have been identified. But did you know that 17,291 of these plants and animals are threatened with extinction? In the ASEAN region alone, 2,517 out of 8,613 or 30 percent of species assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature are threatened.