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.

 

Quezon City, Philippines — The International Center for the Environmental Management of Enclosed Coastal Seas (EMECS) is now the newest Non-Country Partner of PEMSEA. The Executive Committee of the East Asian Seas Partnership Council approved the application of EMECS to become a partner in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA) and assist during its second EC Meeting on 15 March.EMECS is a non-profit organization based in Kobe, along the Seto-Inland Sea, in Japan.

Mindoro, Philippines — The Local Government of Puerto Galera launched one of its major projects, the Sewage Collection and Treatment System, on 8 August with a motorcade participated in by municipal and barangay (village) officials. the PhP100-million project aims to address marine pollution problems in Barangay Sabang.

 

Tokyo, Japan — The Centre for Marine Environmental Research and Innovative Technology (MERIT) in Hong Kong has been designated as a PEMSEA Regional Center of Excellence (RCoE) in Marine Pollution.

Quezon City, Philippines — The latest issue of the Tropical Coasts features the programs and activities of local governments in addressing disaster risk reduction (DRR), as well as mainstreaming DRR into integrated coastal management (ICM).Titled "Addressing Coastal Security Through Natural and Man-made Hazards Prevention and Management", the issue also highlights the 2007 Forum of the PEMSEA Network of Local Governments for Sustainable Coastal Development (PNLG) held in Danang, Viet Nam, on 5-7 September 2007.

Quezon City, Philippines — As part of the PEMSEA participating countries' commitment to place 20 percent of the region's coastline under an integrated coastal management (ICM) program by 2015, as well as to increase the number of ICM practitioners and allied experts in the region, a new ICM model training course has been developed and will soon be rolled out for national and regional training.Over the past 14 years, more than 2,000 individuals have benefited from ICM training, organized and conducted by the GEF/UNDP/PEMSEA regional programme in partnership with participating governments as

Guimaras Province, Philippines — Guimaras has proven that a committed leadership and supportive stakeholders can accelerate the preparation process for integrated coastal management (ICM). Barely four months after the conduct of the initial site evaluation process, which established Guimaras as a PEMSEA ICM parallel, the Province was able to develop its three-year work programme delineating the key activities for 2008-2010. Importantly, the necessary human resource and budgetary allocations for the ICM program were also identified, consistent with the three-year plan.

 

Tokyo, Japan — The PEMSEA/Japan Joint Seminar, entitled "Integrated Coastal Management in the Seas of East Asia" was held on 18 July in Tokyo, Japan. The Seminar was hosted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) and the Ocean Policy Research Foundation (OPRF) and co-organized with PEMSEA.