Zhuhai, Guangdong, PR China — As part of the country's annual Ocean Day celebrations, various marine activities were held in major coastal cities throughout PR China. Zhuhai in Guangdong Province, provided the major venue for activities on the China Ocean Day.Celebrations included a major opening ceremony on 18 July with more than one thousand participants composed of key officials from around the country, as well as a key member of the State Council, Mr. Wang Yang; the deputy speaker of the People's Assembly, Mr.

Quezon City, Philippines — Several award-winning climate change and marine and coastal management experts are expected to hold dynamic discussions and workshops during the 2nd EAS Youth Forum, one of the special events of the East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress 2009. Among these are: Dr. Felino Lansigan of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB); Dr. Beverly Goh of the National Institute of Education of Singapore (NIE); Dr. Laura T. David of the University of the Philippines – Marine Science Institute (UP MSI); Dr.

Quezon City, Philippines — The 2nd EAS Youth Forum, one of the special events of the East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress 2009, will feature the Legislators Hour, where participants will get a rare chance to meet and speak with their countries' environment ministers and legislators.According to Prof. Raphael P.M. Lotilla, Executive Director of the PEMSEA Resource Facility, "Some youths may feel that they are incapable of significantly contributing to efforts being done to address climate change and the degradation of the marine and coastal environment.

Quezon City, Philippines — The East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress 2009 National Organizing Committee, chaired by Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Jose L. Atienza, Jr., held its second meeting to discuss progress of preparations for the successful conduct of the event. The committee welcomed updates as reported by Prof. Raphael P. M.

Quezon City, Philippines — With the East Asian Seas region's coastal and marine resources seriously degraded, countries are looking to marine protected areas (MPAs) as critical tools in their recovery. The Philippines alone has over 500 MPAs. Linking these together into a coherent network can offer optimum protection for the full range of habitat types and species and their movements, and including important routes for migratory species, such as shared fisheries stocks, and ecological corridors across ocean basins.

Tagaytay City, Philippines — The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) and PEMSEA signed a Letter of Cooperation (LOC) on 13 August in Tagaytay City, Philippines, to formalize their partnership in promoting the conservation and sustainable use of coastal and marine biodiversity and resources in the Seas of East Asia."Joining hands with PEMSEA on this endeavor is an important activity of the Centre as the partnership is in line with our goal of working with various groups and sectors to promote biodiversity conservation in the ASEAN region," Mr. Rodrigo U.

Toyama, Japan — With the financial support from UNEP Division of Environmental Policy Implementation, NOWPAP successfully convened the Brainstorming Workshop on Marine and Coastal Biodiversity on 17 September 2009 in Toyama, Japan.The workshop was well-attended by experts from all four NOWPAP member states and representatives from NOWPAP partners (COBSEA, PICES and YSLME) as well as other international organizations and projects such as Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN), Census of Marine Life (CoML), Helsinki Commission (HELCOM), IUCN (International Union for Conservatio

Hirado, Japan — With the kind financial support offered by the Japanese government, NOWPAP is going to organize its 2010 International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) and Workshop on Marine Litter Management in Hirado City (Japan) from 26 to 28 March 2010.

 

Toyama, Japan — The 14th NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meeting was held from 8 to 10 December 2009 in Toyama, Japan.

 

Representatives of NOWPAP member states (China, Japan, Republic of Korea and Russian Federation) participated in this annual meeting. Representatives from UNEP and from NOWPAP partners (COBSEA, PICES, and YSLME) also attended the meeting.

 

Manila, Philippines — The Secretariat of Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) and the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the purpose of sharing of knowledge, information, tools, and best practices in support of achieving the goals of the CBD, in particular the implementation of the Jakarta Mandate and the programme of work on marine and coastal biological diversity, through Integrated Coastal and Marine Area Management.In the MoU, the two agencies mutually agree to collaborate in activities