Koh Rong Samloem, Preah Sihanouk Province, Cambodia — A hands-on training course organized by the Regional Fisheries Livelihoods Programme for South and Southeast Asia (RFLP) has helped raise awareness and understanding amongst Cambodian government, marine police and navy personnel of the importance of fisheries resource management.

 

Beijing, PR China — PEMSEA's transformation into a self-sustaining international organization was a major topic of discussion during the recently concluded Executive Committee meeting in Beijing, PR China.

 

Quezon City, Philippines — As a signatory to the Putrajaya Declaration and the Haikou Partnership Agreement, the Philippines has committed to develop and adopt a national coastal and ocean policy and contribute to the target of scaling up ICM to cover 20 percent of the region's coastline. These two objectives have been adopted by PEMSEA participating governments as two measurable milestones in implementing the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia over the next 5 years.

 

Quezon City, Philippines — PEMSEA welcomes its new librarian, Mr. Michael Villanueva. Michael is responsible for the maintenance and update of the PEMSEA's library databases, as well as the management of the library’s collection of books and periodicals. Michael also provides current awareness services for the PEMSEA Resource Facility.

 

Quezon City, Philippines — PEMSEA released a new issue of Tropical Coasts that expounds on the challenges and good practices in water supply and management. The new issue features the discussions held during the International Conference on Sustainable Coastal and Ocean Development during the East Asian Seas Congress in Manila, Philippines, on 23-27 November 2009.

 

Orion, Bataan, Philippines — On a normal day, these fishers are offshore making a living, today they are shaping their future.

 

"This is our primary source of livelihood. If we do not take care of it, there might be a time when we will have nothing to eat," says Mr. Laudico Perez, SUGPO President.

 

Chonburi, Thailand — East Asia's and probably the world’s first provincial-level oil spill contingency plans were recently launched in Thailand’s Chonburi province and in the two Vietnamese southern provinces of Tra Vinh and Ben Tre. Professor Raphael P.M. Lotilla, PEMSEA Executive Director, emphasized their significance since 80 percent of oil spills are classified as small (below 7 tons) and require localized response while major oil spills almost always require the involvement of local governments.

 

Manila, Philippines — Last 23 February 2011 saw a gathering of local government representatives surrounding Manila Bay for a workshop entitled "ICM Implementation and Opportunities for Public-Private Partnerships (PPP): Supporting the Implementation of the Operational Plan for the Manila Bay Coastal Strategy." The event was attended by more than 60 participants.

 

Seoul, RO Korea — On April 12, 2011 (Tuesday), KEI Department of Water and Environment held a seminar titled, “Water Recycling and Integrated River Basin Management Plan for the Management of Urban Streams.” For this seminar, KEI invited Professor Eun-Sung Jung from Seoul National University of Science and Technology, and around 10 researchers from KEI participated in the event.

 

Chonburi, Thailand — "Learning by doing" and "learning by seeing" are strategies that have been employed effectively for promoting integrated coastal management (ICM) in Chonburi, Thailand.

 

Starting from a demonstration area covering five municipalities in 2001, and through consistent awareness and capacity building and visits to other ICM sites, ICM implementation in Chonburi, Thailand has scaled up gradually to cover all 26 coastal local governments in 2009, and eventually the entire province, with a total of 99 local government members, in 2010.