MANILA, PHILIPPINES—Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) is glad to welcome five trainees from China, Indonesia, and Lao PDR to the PEMSEA Resource Facility (PRF) in Manila, Philippines. This is part of PEMSEA’S Traineeship Programme, which supports capacity and knowledge building regarding integrated coastal management (ICM) in the region.

 

The trainees are:

 

 

 

Palabuharantu Bay

 

The Indian Ocean holds an important place in the culture of Java, with its fierce waves often attributed to the sea goddess Nyai Lara Kidul. Queen of the sea to the south of Java, Nyai Lara Kidul is the guardian of an area of the Sukabumi Regency in West Java named in her honor, Palabuhanratu (Queen’s harbor). In their own act of guardianship, the people of the Sukabumi Regency established the Ciletuh-Palabuhanratu Geopark, a conservation area managed on the principles of protection, education, and sustainable development.

 

 

Effective management of wastewater remains a persistent problem in East Asia, with discharge of untreated wastewater from domestic, industrial and agricultural sources a common occurrence. Across Asia, a majority of sewage still finds its way to rivers, lakes and coastal zones and oceans without any treatment. The impacts on freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities have been significant, including hypoxia, loss of fisheries productivity and biodiversity, and damage to human health.

 

 

Training participants with trainers and organizers from PML, PEMSEA and UPV on Day 1 of Satellite Data Training Course.

 

Kickstarting the East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress in Iloilo, participants from 9 countries - including representatives from the PEMSEA Network of Learning Centers - joined Day 1 of the Training Course on Accessing and working with state-of-the-art satellite data for marine applications, at the University of the Philippines Visayas.

 

 

ILOILO CITY, PHILIPPINES—Some 1,000 local and international delegates attended the 2018 East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress, a triennial event widely recognized as a platform for dialogue, knowledge-exchange, strategic action, partnership building and cooperation in support of the region’s common vision of sustainable development of the Seas of East Asia. The theme for this year’s conference is “25 Years of Partnerships for Healthy Oceans, People and Economies: Moving as One with the Global Ocean Agenda.”