Chonburi, Thailand — Participants from Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam were enlightened with the new techniques that they have learned during the recently conducted training workshop on Shoreline Assessment and Clean up. The training was aimed to enhance awareness and understanding of relevant personnel on the principles and process of assessing oiled shorelines, environmental effects of various clean up techniques, and principal shoreline methods and guidelines in planning and developing a shoreline clean up plan. Dr. Ruth Yender and Mr.

Manila, Philippines — Representatives from East Asian countries and regional programmes and organizations convened for two days to assess the status and challenges to sustainable management of the East Asian Seas region, and to identify the future role of and support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

 

Chonburi, Thailand — The Fourth National Contact Points Meeting on the Implementation of the Framework Programme on Partnerships in Oil Spill Preparedness and Response in the Gulf of Thailand was held on 22 November 2010 in Chonburi, Thailand. The meeting was attended by national contact points from Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, relevant government agencies in Thailand, industry partners, namely, the Industry Environmental Safety Group of Thailand (IESG) and Oil Spill Response Limited, and PEMSEA.

 

Kobe, Japan — On Thursday, July 1, 2010, the International EMECS Center held an EMECS International Seminar at Lasse Hall in Kobe, Japan. The theme of the seminar was "Challenges and approaches toward the implementation of The World Coastal Integrated Management (ICM)." The seminar featured presenta­tions on issues and efforts relating to integrated coastal management in Chesapeake Bay and the Mediterranean, as well as a discussion on how to achieve sustainable developm­ent from an economic standpoint.

Toyama, Japan — As requested by the member states at the recently convened 15th NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meeting (IGM) in Moscow, the Regional Coordinating Unit (RCU) of NOWPAP has started consultations with the Regional Activity Centres on the development of the NOWPAP Medium-term Strategy in order to enhance NOWPAP implementation.

 

Toyama, Japan — The UNEP Year Book 2011 - Emerging Issues in Our Changing Global Environment - was launched recently. It is the 8th edition of the UNEP flagship report which examines global emerging issues and provides the latest environmental science.

 

Nairobi, Kenya — NOWPAP officers attended the 7th Meeting of the Regional Scientific and Technical Panel and Project Steering Committee for the UNDP/GEF Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem (YSLME) Project in PR China and the meeting of the Coordinators of UNEP-administered Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans in Nairobi, Kenya.

 

NOWPAP at the YSLME Meeting

 

Koh Rong Samloem, Preah Sihanouk Province, Cambodia — A hands-on training course organized by the Regional Fisheries Livelihoods Programme for South and Southeast Asia (RFLP) has helped raise awareness and understanding amongst Cambodian government, marine police and navy personnel of the importance of fisheries resource management.

 

Beijing, PR China — PEMSEA's transformation into a self-sustaining international organization was a major topic of discussion during the recently concluded Executive Committee meeting in Beijing, PR China.

 

Quezon City, Philippines — As a signatory to the Putrajaya Declaration and the Haikou Partnership Agreement, the Philippines has committed to develop and adopt a national coastal and ocean policy and contribute to the target of scaling up ICM to cover 20 percent of the region's coastline. These two objectives have been adopted by PEMSEA participating governments as two measurable milestones in implementing the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia over the next 5 years.