Laguna, Philippines — Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, United Nations (UN) Assistant Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will visit the Philippines from May 28 to June 1 to launch the UN Decade on Biodiversity for Southeast Asia and grace the awarding ceremonies of the first ASEAN Champions of Biodiversity Awards.

 

Danang City, Viet Nam — Thirty one (31) individuals from the national government agencies, local government units and academic and research institutions from eight (8) countries, namely, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Lao PDR, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam participated in the Regional Training Course on Integrated Coastal Management (Course 1) conducted at Danang University Learning Center, Danang, Viet Nam from 10-13 May 2011.

 

Pyangyang, DPR Korea — Recognizing the need and significance to implement the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA) through ICM in DPR Korea, PEMSEA and the General Bureau for Cooperation with International Organizations (GBCIO), and with financial support from the Swedish International Agency (SIDA), have agreed to undertake a number of activities, including holding a "National Training of Trainers ICM Course/and ICM Course 1 Manual Translation."

 

Batangas City, Philippines — Timely and significant, the Batangas Environment Protection Council (BEPC), the multisectoral governing body for the integrated coastal management (ICM) program in Batangas Province, was convened in Hotel Pontefino, Batangas City, on 17 June 2011 to discuss the current initiatives as well as future directions of the ICM program in the Province.

Dalian, PR China — Forty-one government officials responsible for managing pollution and assisting technical experts from China, RO Korea, Philippines, Indonesia, DPR Korea and Japan met to discuss "Total Allowable Pollutant Load Allocation in River Basins and Coastal Areas of East Asia" for the 6th Twinning Workshop on on Integrated River Basin and Coastal Area Management (IRBCAM) held on 18-20 May 2011 in Dalian City, PR China.

Koh Rong Samloem, Cambodia — The Regional Fisheries Livelihoods Programme for South and Southeast Asia (RFLP) recently provided training on marine survey techniques for the officials of the Cambodian Fisheries Administration (FiA) to help ensure better monitoring of marine resources in Community Fisheries.

 

Twelve officials from the FiA Cantonments of Kampot, Koh Kong and Kompong Som as well as the Marine Inspectorate and FiA line departments were trained in a variety of marine survey techniques during the eight-day course held in Koh Rong Samloem on 23-30 May 2011.

 

Laguna, Philippines — From mobilizing students to educate their fellow youth on the values of biodiversity to supporting forest research to gather information on the impact of climate change on forests, the winners of the first ASEAN Champions of Biodiversity awards are championing the web of life in their own spheres of influence.

 

Seoul, RO Korea — PML continues to strengthen relationships with East Asian partners through a recent high-level visit to Korea.

 

Last week Prof. Stephen de Mora (Chief Executive of PML) attended the Partnerships in the Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA)’s 4th East Asian Seas Partnership Council Meeting. In this meeting discussions were focused on the future programme and operational policies of the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia.

 

Toyama, Japan — A NOWPAP representative attended the Eco-life Act meeting and delivered a congratulatory address on 19 June 2011 in Toyama.

 

The Eco-life Act campaign in Toyama started in 2007, encouraging ordinary citizens to take environmental friendly actions in their daily life. NOWPAP has been involved in the campaign through participating in the annual meetings where outstanding individuals were awarded by the governor of Toyama Prefecture for their excellent performance in practicing eco-life.

 

Nagoya, Japan — NOWPAP will host the 13th Global Meeting of Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans (GMRS) in Busan, Republic of Korea, on 3-5 October 2011.

 

The focus of this annual meeting will be on the implementation of the Global Programme of Action (GPA) to protect the marine environment from land-based activities. Previous GMRS meetings in recent years were held in Bergen (Norway), Bangkok (Thailand), Guayaquil (Ecuador) and other locations, hosted by individual Regional Seas programmes.