RO Korea — In March 2010, NOWPAP organized an International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) activity and a Workshop on Marine Litter Management. The 14th NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meeting also decided to develop a project on assessment of the current status of marine and coastal biodiversity in the NOWPAP region.NOWPAP Marine Litter Workshop and ICC in HiradoWith the kind support of the Japanese government, the NOWPAP International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) and Workshop on Marine Litter Management were successfully organized on 26-28 March 2010 in Hirado, Nagasaki, Japan.

Quezon City, Philippines — Mr. Choe Rim of the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea has joined PEMSEA for a six-month period as part of PEMSEA's Professional Upgrading Program for 2010.Mr. Choe Rim is the Division Director of the General Bureau for Cooperation with International Organizations (GBCIO), Ministry of Foreign Trade, DPRK. He is in charge of implementation of projects in trade, electricity, coal production and tourism sectors.

Beijing, PR China — The 6th Meeting of the Executive Committee (EC) of the East Asian Seas Partnership Council was held on 12-13 March in Beijing, PR China.

Manila, Philippines — November 26, 2009 marks a historical event as the representatives of East Asian countries to the Third Ministerial Forum signed the Agreement Recognizing the International Legal Personality of the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA).

Manila, Philippines — Three organizations have recently joined hands with PEMSEA. The International Union for Conservation of Nature-Asia Regional Office (IUCN-ARO), the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) and the PEMSEA Network of Local Governments for Sustainable Coastal Development (PNLG) became non-Country partners of PEMSEA during a special meeting of the EAS Partnership Council at the East Asian Sea Congress 2009.

 

Manila, Philippines — On 25 November, Coastal and Management Institute (COMI) of Xiamen University and Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) in England jointly organized the workshop "The Science in Ecosystem-based Management", a branch workshop of the Third East Asian Seas Congress 2009 hosted in Manila, Philippines, which also served as an important platform for the first cooperation between COMI and PEMSEA."The Science in Ecosystem-based Management" highlighted how the various ocean and coastal sciences are utilized to improve ocean and coastal government efficiency on the way to sustainable

Boracay, Philippines — Clear water. Blue skies. Clean air. Powder-fine sand. Picturesque and picture-perfect. The best tropical paradise this side of the world.This is Boracay, in words found in every print publication and among stories from the mouths of those who have been there.Yet paradise is far from perfect. Unknown by many, Boracay's precious marine resources are under constant stress, while its watersheds and critical habitats are giving way to man-made structures. Its ongoing development is pushing the island to reach — and exceed — its carrying capacity.

Bali, Indonesia — NOWPAP representatives recently attended the 5th Global Conference on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands held on 3-7 May 2010 in Paris, France and the 8th Intergovernmental Session of the IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific (WESTPAC) held on 10-13 May in Bali, Indonesia.At the Paris conference, the NOWPAP representative attended several sessions under the Policy, Science and Technical Symposium related to issues of interest to NOWPAP, such as ecosystem-based adaptation to impacts of climate change, biodiversity conservation, governance of large transboundary marine ecosyst

Quezon City, Philippines — Ms. Zhang Lifeng, principal staff member of the Resource and Environment Protection Department of the Xiamen Oceans and Fisheries Bureau, has joined PEMSEA for a three-month period as part of PEMSEA's Professional Upgrading Program for 2010.Ms. Lifeng is in-charge of the implementation of the Marine Environment Conservation Planning in Xiamen, which includes the monitoring of marine environmental quality and promoting ecosystem-based management in Jiulong River Basin and Xiamen Bay.During her three-month stay in the Philippines, Ms.

Tagaytay City, Philippines — Representatives from the offices of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Regions III, IV and the National Capital Region together with representatives from the provincial governments of Batangas, Bataan and Cavite have agreed to update their shared Integrated Information Management System for Manila Bay (IIMS).The group aims to encode available data by early June 2010, in time for the planned PEMSEA workshop on extracting, summarizing and depicting information from the data using IIMS.Emphasis will be placed on updating the database with da