Opening Ceremony

President Fidel V. Ramos, Former President of the Government of the Philippines

As chair and one of the co-founders of the Baoa Forum for Asia (BFA), former president Ramos continues to espouse his framework of governance founded on a five-point program that includes people empowerment, environmental protection and economic cooperation. President Ramos also provided input to the development of a long-term strategy on water and environment policy through the World Commission on Water for the 21st Century and the World Water Forums, together with 20 global opinion leaders.

He is also an experienced scuba diver and underwater photographer with hundreds of open water dives, as well as a master paratrooper and four-star general (Retired).

Theme 1 - Plenary Keynote 1 and Theme Keynote on Coastal and Ocean Governance

Prof. Tommy Koh, Ambassador-At-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore

Professor Koh chairs the Institute of Policy Studies and the National Heritage Board, and is on secondment from the Faculty of Law of the National University of Singapore. He received a First Class Honors degree in Law from the University of Singapore, a Master’s degree in Law from Harvard University and a post-graduate Diploma in Criminology from Cambridge University.

In 2006, Prof. Koh received the UNEP Champion of the Earth Award and the inaugural “President’s Award for the Environment” from President SR Nathan. He was also president of the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea (1980-1982), as well as chair of the Preparatory Committee for and the Main Committee of the UN Conference on Environment and Development from 1990 to 1992.

Theme 2 - Natural and Man-made Hazard Prevention and Management

Dr. Bhichit Rattakul, Executive Director, Asian Disaster Preparedness Center

Dr. Bhichit has over 20 years of experience in policy and management as well as disaster management, environmental education and research. He was Senior Advisor to ADPC prior to becoming Executive Director and has been coordinating the disaster preparedness programmes in Thailand supported by UNDP and The World Bank. Dr. Bhichit completed his undergraduate studies at Chulalongkorn University and his MS and PhD at Brigham Young University, USA. His experience encompasses both academic and political arenas, and was elected thrice as a Member of Parliament, as well as Governor of Bangkok and Senator. He served as Science and Technology Portfolio Cabinet member of the Royal Thai Government.

Theme 3 - Habitat Protection, Restoration and Management

Dr. Edgardo D. Gomez, Professor Emeritus, University of the Philippines (UP) - UP Marine Science Institute (MSI)

Dr. Gomez is the founding director of the UP-MSI with research specializations in coral reef ecology and rehabilitation. He is also credited for saving the true giant clam (Tridacna gigas) from extinction.

Dr. Gomez was named a laureate in the UNEP’s Global 500 Roll of Honour in 1989 and Academician by the National Academy of Science and Technology in 1993. He received the Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award in 2000. He is coordinator of the Center of Excellence for the Philippines and Southeast Asia for the GEF/WB Coral Reef Targeted Research Program and chair of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network. He is also affiliated the  Scientific Committee on Coral Reefs of the Pacific Science Association and the UN Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP).

Dr. Gomez received his PhD in Marine Biology from the University of California-San Diego, USA.

Theme 4 - Water Use and Supply Management

Dr. Torkil Jønch-Clausen, Senior Adviser, Global Water Partnership

Prof. Jønch-Clausen is currently Managing Director of DHI Water Policy, a company in the DHI Group and Adjunct Professor at the Technical University of Denmark. He received the King Hassan II Great World Water Prize, awarded by the Government of Morocco and the World Water Council, at the 4th World Water Forum in 2006.

Prof. Jønch-Clausen chairs the Advisory and Management Committees of the WMO Flood Management Programme and is a member of the World Bank Hydrology Expert Facility. He is also the first chair of the GWP Technical Committee (1996-2003), founding chair of the Danish Water Forum (2002-2009), managing director of the Danish Water Quality Institute, counselor and senior technical adviser in the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Danida and Head of the Hydrology Department of DHI.

Theme 5 - Food Security and Livelihood Management

Prof. Michael Crawford, Director and Founder, Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition, London Metropolitan University

Prof. Crawford is a leading expert in brain chemistry and human nutrition, specializing in work on dietary fats and the health benefits of Essential Fatty Acids to humans. In his 1989 book  ‘The Driving Force: Food, Evolution and the Future’ he presented significant evidence on the theory  that the modern human brain is unlikely to have developed on a savannah diet, but that  the long-chain fatty acids it is built from could have been easily found in the seafood of a littoral environment.

In 1996, he was awarded the Centenary Award from Hoffman la Roche for "outstanding contribution to the biological understanding of the significance of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and for his research on preterm and term infant brain development."

Prof. Crawford is an honorary professor at the Albert Schweitzer International University, Geneva, Switzerland.

Dr. Magdolna Lovei, Manager, Operations and Policy, Sustainable Development East Asia and Pacific Region, The World Bank

Dr. Magda Lovei is manager for Social, Environment, and Rural Development at the Sustainable Development Department of the East Asia and Pacific region of The World Bank. She is responsible for overseeing social, environment and environmental strategy, operations and programs throughout the region including oversight for cross-cutting issues such as climate change. She is a Hungarian national with a Ph.D in economics from the Budapest University Economics and an MBA in finance from the George Washington University.

Ms. Lovei has worked on environmental policy, financing, institutional, and pollution management issues at the World Bank since 1993. She has worked on several investment and policy lending operations, published numerous papers, and managed several studies and regional programs in the Africa, Asia, Europe, Central Asia, and Latin America. During 2001-2003, Ms. Lovei managed the preparation of the World Bank's environment strategy and its implementation.

Theme 6 - Pollution Reduction and Waste Management

Prof. Rudolf Wu, Director, Center for Coastal Pollution and Conservation, City University of Hong Kong

Prof. Wu is the Head of the Department of Biology and Chemistry, and also the Director of the Centre for Coastal Pollution and Conservation. With specializations in the field of marine ecology, marine pollution, ecotoxicology and mariculture, Prof. Wu has served on the task team of GESAMP, the Coastal Ocean Observations Panel of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and the Scientific Advisory Panel of the Environment Agency of the United Kingdom. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Asia Pacific.

He serves as an associated editor of Marine and Freshwater Research and Journal of Bioindicators, an editorial board member of the Australasian Journal of Ecotoxicology and has guest edited for five issues of the Marine Pollution Bulletin. He has also conducted numerous regional training for the UN, and has contributed to the second review of the Health of the Oceans commissioned by the UN.