Dear PEMSEA community,

Check out what’s making waves this July!

Explore the latest updates from PEMSEA and its partners as they chart bold new directions for sustainable coasts and ocean in the East Asian Seas region. This month dives into the outcomes of the 17th East Asian Seas Partnership Council (EAS PC) Meeting, held in Manila on 22–23 July 2025—where Country and Non-Country Partners came together to tackle major policy challenges in the run up to 2030 and strengthen the region’s ocean governance and blue economy efforts.

Join us in congratulating our newly elected EAS Partnership Council Officers and Co-chairs and expressing heartfelt thanks to our outgoing Chairs for their years of committed leadership.

Read about Executive Director Aimee Gonzales' call to Philippine lawmakers to fast-track the Blue Economy and ICM bills—timely legislation to protect the country’s marine wealth and secure food and livelihood for millions of people in the region.

Check out updates under the MOF/PEMSEA ODA Project, which conducted an MEP Workshop in Timor-Leste and launched the Small Grant Program, now open for proposals from community innovators tackling marine plastics in six Philippine cities and municipalities.

Learn more about the experience of empowering women in the Pasac-Guagua Watershed through the GEF/UNDP/ASEAN IRBM Project and explore how the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem (WEFE) Nexus workshop in Cavite is shaping sustainable solutions in river basin management.

Now in its third year, the IRBM Project enters a pivotal phase in advancing integrated river basin management across Southeast Asia. “Midpoint Momentum”, the seventh edition of the project’s newsletter, highlights key developments – notably the review of the implementation progress at the Third Regional Steering Committee Meeting, including the completion of the Mid-term Review, the conduct of the orientation workshop on the REWEFe Toolkit for the ASEAN Member States, the official project launch in Viet Nam and the development of solutions templates to support IRBM pilot project planning and implementation.
 

This issue also features field stories, such as the Women of the Wetlands in the Pasac-Guagua Watershed, and announces the launch of the IRBM e-Portal on PEMSEA’s Seaknowledge Bank.
 

From establishing coordination mechanisms at the local, national, and regional levels to designing scalable solutions template for river basin-level implementation, the IRBM Project continues to accelerate momentum – strengthening regional collaboration, deepening stakeholder engagement, and enhancing capacity and knowledge sharing across the ten ASEAN Member States.

Dear PEMSEA community,

June is a celebration of the ocean and the environment!

This month, we celebrated three important events: World Environment Day, World Ocean Day, and the UN Ocean Conference held in Nice, France!

In the Philippines, PEMSEA, through the MOF/PEMSEA Project on Reducing Marine Plastics in the East Asian Seas Region mobilized coastal clean-ups across six towns and cities in the Philippines in celebration of World Ocean Day.

At the UN Ocean Conference 3 (UNOC3) in Nice, France, PEMSEA Executive Director Aimee Gonzales, joined eight regional partners in formally launching the East Asian Seas Regional Marine Protected Area Collaborative Network and spoke in a high-level discussion on blue carbon partnerships aboard the Norwegian tall ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl.

In Bali, Indonesia, the GEF/UNDP/ASEAN Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) Project held its Third Regional Steering Committee Meeting back to back with the 25th Annual Meeting of the ASEAN Working Group on Water Resources Management. Prior to the governance meetings, an orientation workshop introduced the Rapid Evaluation of the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (REWEFe) Nexus Toolkit to river basin stakeholders from seven ASEAN member states.

In Haikou, China, representatives from nine countries convened for the second PEMSEA Blue Carbon Technical Working Group Meeting to discuss the regional framework and national initiatives and standards for protecting vital blue carbon coastal ecosystems. Meanwhile, in Manila, Ms. Jessie Lee, PEMSEA's Technical Adviser on Marine Plastic Pollution  participated in the Seventh Meeting of COBSEA’s Working Group on Marine Litter, reinforcing collaborative action in combating marine plastic pollution in the region.

In Bangkok, Thailand Ms. Nancy Bermas represented PEMSEA in the Second Southeast Asia Environmental Systems Regional Workshop and Dialogue. In Busan, RoKorea, check out the 1st KIOST-KMI Special Seminar where regional experts  shared valuable research on blue carbon ecosystems and fisheries management.

Finally, to help democratize access to global climate dialogue, PEMSEA joined global partners in launching the fifth edition of the COP30 Virtual Ocean Pavilion. The platform aims to connect stakeholders and raise visibility on ocean issues ahead of COP30 in Belém, Brazil.

Dear PEMSEA community,

For the month of May, PEMSEA is proud to share significant developments that highlight both our expanding influence in regional ocean governance and the personal journeys that drive our mission forward.

We celebrate a major milestone as former PEMSEA Executive Director Raphael P.M. Lotilla takes on his new role as Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and thank the outgoing DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga for her dedicated service to improve environmental governance and coastal resilience.

This month also saw PEMSEA Executive Director Aimee Gonzales participate in the prestigious Nikkei Forum Future of Asia, where leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region gathered to address the growing crisis facing our oceans. We also remember Dr. Li Haiqing, former EAS Partnership Council Intergovernmental Session Chair , whose vision and leadership helped shape PEMSEA's governance framework.

Meanwhile, we continue building partnerships for the future, as seen in our exploratory meeting with the Local Government Academy to strengthen coastal management training for Philippine local government units.

Finally, we're excited to feature a fresh perspective from our own Training and Capacity Development Assistant, Jean Francesca Cortez, who shares her journey from being intern to sitting where ocean policy decisions are made. Her story illustrates how PEMSEA creates pathways for young professionals to contribute meaningfully to regional cooperation, proving that passion and commitment matter as much as credentials in building a sustainable ocean future.

Dear PEMSEA community,

April is packed with exciting progress and developments across the region!

PEMSEA is making waves at the 10th Our Ocean Conference in Busan by organizing a side event that brought together regional partners committed to support governments in meeting their 30x30 conservation targets while enhancing protection of our valuable marine ecosystems.

Looking toward the future, PEMSEA's Executive Committee (EC) Meeting in Busan endorsed plans to extend our Sustainable Development Strategy implementation to 2030. The EC also noted progress on our regional Blue Carbon Program and finalized the timeline for upcoming Partnership Council elections.

We're also proud to announce the release of "Threads of Resilience," the sixth edition of our Integrated River Basin Management Project newsletter. This issue tells inspiring narratives of women from the Sasmuan Pampanga Coastal Wetlands alongside the impactful work of female environmental leaders driving change across Southeast Asia and critical conservation needs for key project sites, including Indonesia's Ciliwung River.

Other important developments include the PNLG Executive Committee's announcement of upcoming elections and General Assembly in Jakarta, the successful launch of the GEF/UNDP/ASEAN Integrated River Basin Management Project in Viet Nam, and regional training initiatives to enhance blue carbon knowledge and integrated coastal management strategies in Xiamen, China.

"Threads of Resilience” marks the sixth edition of the Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) Project's newsletter, spotlighting inspiring narratives of women and advancements in project implementation.

This issue features threads of resilience in the stories of women from the Sasmuan Pampanga Coastal Wetlands of the Pasac-Guagua Watershed in the Philippines, alongside the impactful work of women leaders driving environmental change across Southeast Asia. It also highlights the need to conserve key project sites, including the Ciliwung River in Indonesia.

Key project activities and milestones from the first quarter of 2025 include the ongoing formulation of a framework and solutions template for pilot project development in the seven priority river basins, Lao PDR's approval of the 2025 Work Plan and State of the River Basin Report for the Nam Tha River Basin, and stakeholder validation workshops for the State of River Basin Reports for the Imus-Ylang Ylang and Rio Grande Rivers, as well as the Pasac-Guagua Watershed.

These interconnected efforts are key components of a strengthening web of partnerships and collaboration within the ASEAN region.

Dear PEMSEA community,

On International Women’s Day, the world unites in a bold call for action to advance the rights of women and girls. This year carries special significance as it marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action—yet deep gender inequalities persist. #IWD2025 serves as a moment to demand progress and reaffirm commitments to building a more equal world for all.  

For over a century, International Women’s Day has been a platform for celebrating achievements, raising awareness of discrimination, and taking action toward gender parity. Since 1911, it has belonged to all who champion equality, embracing diverse efforts to drive change.  

This month, we highlight the leadership of five women as examples of implementing gender responsive actions on the ground. We also take a look at the 2025 Marine Environment Protector (MEP) Program Workshop where we partner with local organizations in addressing marine plastic pollution; celebrate the successful conclusion of the GloFouling Partnerships Project. Meanwhile, efforts to protect our coasts  continue to gain recognition as  PEMSEA is honored by Cavite State University in the Philippines as a valued partner in sustainability.

Dear PEMSEA community,

As we step into a new month, we are thrilled to share some remarkable milestones and collaborative efforts that highlight PEMSEA’s ongoing commitment to environmental sustainability.

The month began with PEMSEA receiving recognition from the DENR-EMB for the strong collaboration particularly through the MOF/PEMSEA ODA Marine Plastics Project in the Philippines. In the Arafura and Timor Seas, representatives from Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Timor-Leste came together in Australia to tackle the ghost net crisis.

Discover how the IRBM Project is fostering transparency and accountability with its new Grievance Redress Mechanism, empowering voices to be heard. Learn more about the data-driven efforts in the Philippines and Timor-Leste, where beach monitoring is shaping policies to tackle marine plastics.

And don’t miss the update from PEMSEA’s inaugural Blue Carbon Technical Working Group meeting, where stakeholders across the region came together to advance the Blue Carbon Roadmap and set the direction of the program.

"Steering the Flow" is the fifth edition of the Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) Project's newsletter, highlighting key milestones and meetings for the last quarter of 2024 and the beginning of 2025. From the IRBM Project's participation in the 2024 East Asian Seas Congress and The Pavilion for People at the 2025 World Economic Forum, to the launch of the State of River Basin Guidebook and the ongoing assessment of the interplay between water use conflicts and the water-energy-food-ecosystem security nexus in ASEAN river basins — the IRBM Project is set to steer the governance and management of priority river basins in ASEAN Member States.