PR China SOA-PEMSEA's Bohai Sea Project Conducts Mid-term Assessment

Liaoning Province, PR China — On 15-16 September 2010, the State Oceanic Administration of PR China and PEMSEA conducted the Bohai Sea Project's mid-term project assessment and planning workshop. The Bohai Sea project focuses on pollution reduction and investment through integrated riverbasin and coastal area management. The workshop was held in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, PR China.

 

Participants to the workshop included representatives from the State Oceanic Administration led by Dr. Zhang Zhanhai, national technical expert Dr. Wen Quan, host Liaoning Ocean and Fisheries Bureau led by Mr. Zhan Dejiang, PEMSEA Resource Facility's Dr. Andre Uychiaoco, and project implementers from five river basins (Daling River, Hai River, Luan River, Xiaoqing River and Guangli River).Most of the local teams tasked to develop pollution reduction investment plans have already organized project institutional arrangements that reached out to other bureaus (e.g., environmental protection bureaus) and have secured local government financial resources for the project. Challenges to project implementation raised by participants included inadequate technical capacity and time, how to harmonize seawater quality standards with the adjacent river water quality standards, and difficulties in investment planning given the confidentiality of local government financial data and recently-issued (June 2010) restrictions on local government investment corporations. The workshop recommended: (1) pollution reduction plans that considered the entire river basin and long-term targets; (2) the strengthening of relationships with other local sectoral bureaus and relevant projects; (3) organization of an electronic group to share relevant resource materials and facilitate quick communication; and (4) the conduct of a series of hands-on training workshops on total allowable pollutant loading, pollution reduction cost-benefit analysis and pollution reduction planning and investment financing beginning in November 2010.PEMSEA, in cooperation with the State Oceanic Administration of PR China and its China Institute of Marine Affairs in Beijing, is facilitating capacity-building assistance to support the pollution reduction efforts in the five river basins, consistent with the objectives of the Bohai Sea Sustainable Development Strategy.