Batangas City, Philippines — Timely and significant, the Batangas Environment Protection Council (BEPC), the multisectoral governing body for the integrated coastal management (ICM) program in Batangas Province, was convened in Hotel Pontefino, Batangas City, on 17 June 2011 to discuss the current initiatives as well as future directions of the ICM program in the Province.

Dalian, PR China — Forty-one government officials responsible for managing pollution and assisting technical experts from China, RO Korea, Philippines, Indonesia, DPR Korea and Japan met to discuss "Total Allowable Pollutant Load Allocation in River Basins and Coastal Areas of East Asia" for the 6th Twinning Workshop on on Integrated River Basin and Coastal Area Management (IRBCAM) held on 18-20 May 2011 in Dalian City, PR China.

Koh Rong Samloem, Cambodia — The Regional Fisheries Livelihoods Programme for South and Southeast Asia (RFLP) recently provided training on marine survey techniques for the officials of the Cambodian Fisheries Administration (FiA) to help ensure better monitoring of marine resources in Community Fisheries.

 

Twelve officials from the FiA Cantonments of Kampot, Koh Kong and Kompong Som as well as the Marine Inspectorate and FiA line departments were trained in a variety of marine survey techniques during the eight-day course held in Koh Rong Samloem on 23-30 May 2011.

 

Laguna, Philippines — From mobilizing students to educate their fellow youth on the values of biodiversity to supporting forest research to gather information on the impact of climate change on forests, the winners of the first ASEAN Champions of Biodiversity awards are championing the web of life in their own spheres of influence.

 

Seoul, RO Korea — PML continues to strengthen relationships with East Asian partners through a recent high-level visit to Korea.

 

Last week Prof. Stephen de Mora (Chief Executive of PML) attended the Partnerships in the Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA)’s 4th East Asian Seas Partnership Council Meeting. In this meeting discussions were focused on the future programme and operational policies of the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia.

 

Toyama, Japan — A NOWPAP representative attended the Eco-life Act meeting and delivered a congratulatory address on 19 June 2011 in Toyama.

 

The Eco-life Act campaign in Toyama started in 2007, encouraging ordinary citizens to take environmental friendly actions in their daily life. NOWPAP has been involved in the campaign through participating in the annual meetings where outstanding individuals were awarded by the governor of Toyama Prefecture for their excellent performance in practicing eco-life.

 

Nagoya, Japan — NOWPAP will host the 13th Global Meeting of Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans (GMRS) in Busan, Republic of Korea, on 3-5 October 2011.

 

The focus of this annual meeting will be on the implementation of the Global Programme of Action (GPA) to protect the marine environment from land-based activities. Previous GMRS meetings in recent years were held in Bergen (Norway), Bangkok (Thailand), Guayaquil (Ecuador) and other locations, hosted by individual Regional Seas programmes.

 

Beijing, PR China — At the invitation of Greater Tumen Initiative (GTI) secretariat, a NOWPAP representative attended the Inaugural Meeting of GTI Environmental Board, held on 1-2 June 2011 in Beijing, PR China as a resource person to introduce NOWPAP activities.

 

Nagoya, Japan — Two NOWPAP Regional Activity Centres (RAC) convened their annual Focal Point Meetings (FPMs) where on-going activities and projects were reviewed and workplans were discussed for 2011 and the next biennium.

 

At the 9th DINRAC FPM held on 26-28 April 2011 in Hangzhou, China, it has been agreed to carry out, among others, the following major activities:

 

Nagoya, Japan — After about 10 years of uncertainty, on 26 May 2011 the Russian Government has issued a Resolution resuming its commitment to annual contributions to the NOWPAP Trust Fund at a scale agreed by the Intergovernmental Meeting.

 

With this commitment, financial sustainability of NOWPAP will be improved significantly, allowing to start new activities to address marine and coastal environmental issues of a regional concern.