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.

Manila, Philippines — While the health of the oceans is vital to all of humanity, it is the world's poorest people, the majority of the world's coastal inhabitants, who are most vulnerable to ocean degradation. Oceans are their primary source of food, crucial to their livelihoods, and a major force in shaping their cultures. Oceans are their life. Yet, as described by Andrew Hudson, head of UNDP's International Waters program, oceans are under assault.

Laguna, Philippines — Biodiversity conservation projects of youth, corporations, and media in the ASEAN region now stand a chance to be recognized through a regional awards program launched by the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) and the ASEAN Foundation.The ASEAN Champions of Biodiversity is a recognition program for ongoing projects on biodiversity conservation and advocacy in Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam.

Manila, Philippines — Local government units, fisher communities and service providers protecting and managing their coastal and marine resources will find a useful guide in measuring the effectiveness of their initiatives, especially in marine protected area (MPA) management, and planning succeeding programs, in the second edition of the Coral Reef Monitoring for Management Guidebook.The guidebook-manual, first printed in 2001, was initially distributed by the Coastal Resource Management Project of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Sihanoukville, Cambodia — In an effort to promote sustainable management of coastal areas, more than 50 key agency representatives from the four coastal provinces and the national government and the Ministry of Environment gathered in Sihanoukville for a five-day training workshop on ICM, as well as to discuss how better integration of initiatives across sectors and ecosystems would facilitate effective coastal management.The five-day training workshop consisted of modules on ICM concepts and principles, and how ICM helps to achieve sustainable development of coastal areas.

Manila, Philippines — The Governments of the Republic of the Republic of the Philippines and the People's Republic of China signed late last year the Joint Action Plan for Strategic Cooperation between the two countries which provides, among others, that "the two sides shall continue to participate in regional/international initiatives/collaboration to promote sustainable development such as the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA)."

 

Pyongyang, DPR Korea — Prof. Raphael P.M. Lotilla, PEMSEA Executive Director, visited Pyongyang, DPR Korea, upon the invitation of the Director General of the General Bureau for Cooperation with International Organizations (GBCIO) of the Ministry of Foreign Trade on 15-19 June 2010. The purpose of the visit was to review DPR Korea's progress and achievements with regards to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA).

 

Quezon City, Philippines — During the East Asian Seas Congress 2009, seven workshops under the "Coastal and Ocean Governance" underscored the importance of coasts and oceans as life-support systems while covering central- and local- level initiatives related to the development and implementation of ocean and coastal governance and the economic contribution of marine activities in East Asia.