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A representative of NOWPAP RCU participated in the 3rd Workshop of the Yellow Sea Partnership (YSP) in Changwon, the Republic of Korea on 2 November 2008. The meeting was attended by about 30 people from more than 20 organizations. Participants shared with each other the information on activities that have been implemented or being planned in relation to the protection of the Yellow Sea. The meeting participants heard 12 short presentations focusing on regional efforts and local actions taken in the Yellow Sea region and beyond.
The 13th NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meeting was held on 20-21 October 2008 in Jeju, Republic of Korea. The meeting was attended by representatives of the NOWPAP member states (China, Japan, Korea and Russia), UNEP (Marine Ecosystems Unit and Division of GEF Coordination) and NOWPAP partners (COBSEA, PEMSEA and YSLME). Although not able to dispatch representatives to the meeting in person, IOC/WESPAC and PICES sent written statements to the meeting for enhancing cooperation with NOWPAP.
The NOWPAP Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter (RAP MALI) is being implemented since March 2008, after its approval by the four NOWPAP member states. The 2008 NOWPAP International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) and Training Workshop were held in Vladivostok, Russian Federation on 26-28 September, as one of RAP MALI activities.
As one of the activities of the NOWPAP Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter, an International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) campaign was held in Dalian, People’s Republic of China on 11 September 2008. This event brought several hundred volunteers from local governmental agencies, industries, universities and non-governmental organizations together with international participants representing Japan, Ocean Conservancy and NOWPAP Regional Coordinating Unit.
The 2nd Joint NOWAP Oil Spill Exercise was conduced on 2 September 2008 in Qingdao, China. This exercise was jointly organized by China Maritime Safety Administration and the Korea Coast Guard as one of the activities under the NOWPAP programme of work for 2008. The purpose of having this joint activity was to check the coordination between Chinese and Korean authorities in dealing with oil spill emergency preparedness and response.
In May-June 2008, three NOWPAP Regional Activity Centres (DINRAC, MERRAC and POMRAC) held their Focal Points Meetings (CEARAC Meeting has been held in March 2008). All four NOWPAP Regional Activity Centres (RACs) have reviewed their progress and agreed on new projects for 2008-2009 biennium.
On 31 May 2008, Ms. Angela Cropper, Deputy Executive Director of UNEP, visited NOWPAP RCU office in Toyama where she exchanged opinions and ideas with RCU staff members after being briefed on NOWPAP activities.
While in Toyama, she paid a courtesy visit to Governor of Toyama Prefecture and Mayor of Toyama City to express appreciation for their support for the operation of NOWPAP RCU Toyama Office.
NOWPAP has recently increased exchange with partners through participation in a number of international meetings and workshops.
On 7-10 April 2008, NOWPAP activities were presented at the 4th Global Conference on Oceans, Coasts and Islands (attended by over 400 patricians from 70 countries). NOWPAP is trying to bring interested partners, such as PEMSEA, to share their experience in Integrated Coastal and River Basin Management (ICARM), and have received positive response.
Since NOWPAP launched the marine litter activity in 2005, its efforts on dealing with this global problem have been continuously strengthened and started to attract attention outside the region. In the 2007 International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) report, recently published by the Ocean Conservancy, in addition to reflecting data from Korea and Japan, China and Russia (who jointed the ICC campaign recently) have been also praised for their participation in this international effort in Shanghai and Vladivostok.
The book “Securing the Oceans: Essays on Ocean Governance – Global and Regional Perspectives” was launched by PEMSEA (one of the NOWPAP partners) during the 4th Global Conference on Oceans, Coasts and Islands held on 7-11 April 2007 Hanoi. The book is envisaged to further stimulate and strengthen the pursuit of sustainable ocean development so as to secure the ocean and its resources for our future generations.
To share data and information, NOWPAP is working with COBSEA (Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia) to build a website linkage between the East Asian Seas Knowledgebase established by COBSEA and NOWPAP databases. Initial NOWPAP input has been already reflected in the Knowledgebase. In the nearest future, the databases developed by the NOWPAP Data and Information Network Regional Activity Centre(DINRAC) will be further linked which will allow wider audience to access the data and information.
On 6-8 March 2008, the 6th Focal Points Meeting of CEARAC (Coastal Environmental Assessment Regional Activity Center of NOWPAP) has been held in Toyama, Japan. In conjunction with the Focal Points Meeting (FPM), the First Coastal Environmental Assessment Workshop was organized on 7 March.
During the FPM, the future CEARAC activities in 2008-2009 biennium were discussed.
The “UNDP/GEF Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem (YSLME) Project” aims to facilitate protection and sustainable use of marine and coastal resources in the Yellow Sea.
To achieve this objective, the Project has identified management actions in its preparation of the Strategic Action Plan (SAP).
It is expected that implementing the management actions will mitigate environmental problems in the Yellow Sea and improve its diverse ecosystems.
China, Japan and Russia joined hands in fighting the worst ever oil spill incident in the Korean history after activating the NOWPAP Regional Oil Spill Contingency Plan on 10 December 2007. With the assistance from the NOWPAP Marine Environmental Emergency Preparedness and Response Regional Activity Centre (MERRAC) and NOWPAP Regional Coordinating Unit, China has sent a ship with experts and sorbents on board and Japan dispatched a team of experts to join the international efforts to help clean-up the oil spilled off the coast of Taean, Republic of Korea.
In response to the worst oil spill disaster in the Republic Korea occurred in the morning of 7 December 2007, the NOWPAP Regional Oil Spill Contingency Plan has been activated following a request of the Korean government.
The 9th Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting (TEMM) was convened on 5-6 December 2007 in Toyama, Japan. TEMM is a regional mechanism among the three environment ministers of the People’s Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea. In the Joint Communique released after the meeting, the three countries expressed their appreciation for the joint efforts made within the framework of NOWPAP and its Marine Litter Activity while recognizing the importance of further collaboration on marine litter and other areas related to marine and coastal environmental protection.
The UNDP/GEF Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem project has just recently published the Analysis of Environmental Status and Trends for the Yellow Sea. The three-volume publication contains the National Reports of China and Korea and the Regional Synthesis. The reports provide a comprehensive outlook on biodiversity, pollution, fishery and ecosystem in the Yellow Sea.
After more than two years since its inception, NOWPAP Marine Litter Activity (MALITA) is progressing to the end with success. At a meeting held on 20-21 November in Toyama, Japan, the NOWPAP Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter (RAP MALI) was finalized. The finalization of RAP MALI is one of the import outcomes of the NOWPAP MALITA. NOWPAP will continue to deal with marine litter issues once the member states approved the RAP MALI in the near future.
The 12th Intergovernmental Meeting of the Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP) was held on 23-25 October 2007 in Xiamen, the People’s Republic of China. Representatives of the NOWPAP member states (China, Japan, Republic of Korea and Russian Federation), UNEP Regional Seas Programme and NOWPAP partners (COBSEA, IOC/WESTPAC, PEMSEA and YSLME) participated in the meeting. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea attended the meeting as an observer.
As part of the NOWPAP Marine Litter Activity, an International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) campaign was organized on 29 September 2007 in Busan with kind sponsorship of Korean Ministry of Maritime and Fisheries (MOMAF). It was the second time that NOWPAP has organized such event in 2007 to promote ICC in the region. Participants in the campaign and an associated workshop were from NOWPAP member states, from several countries participating in the Coordinating Body for the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA), from COBSEA secretariat, and from YSLME project.
An activity on ICARM has been recently launched by NOWPAP at a workshop in Toyama, Japan. Working with other NOWPAP Regional Activity Centres (RACs), the NOWPAP Pollution Monitoring RAC (POMRAC) is leading this activity and will invite PEMSEA to share their rich experiences in this field.
NOWPAP Special Monitoring and Coastal Environmental Assessment Regional Activity Centre organized the first NEAR-GOOS - NOWPAP Joint Training Course on Remote Sensing Data Analysis at Nagasaki University (Japan) on 3-7 September 2007, jointly with IOC/WESTPAC.
23 trainees - postgraduate students and professional researchers from 8 different countries - learned the status of ocean remote sensing techniques and applications of remote sensing data for monitoring and assessment of marine and coastal environment.
The course consisted of lectures by specialists and hands-on practical ses
NOWPAP RCU hosted and organized the second Workshop of the Yellow Sea Partnership (YSP) on 1 October 2007 in Busan, Republic of Korea. The workshop was attended by representatives of YSP members including UNEP Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP), UNDP/GEF Yellow Sea Large Ecosystem (YSLME) Project, Birds Korea, European Union-China Biodiversity Project, the Nature Conservancy (China) and the Yellow Sea Eco-region Support Project. The meeting reviewed the activities carried out by the YSP members and discussed joint activities for the future.
An International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) was successfully organized on 28 June 2007 in Rizhao city, China, with kind sponsorship of the State Environmental Protection Administration of China and Rizhao municipal government. It was the first time the ICC was formally introduced to the newly emerging city as NOWPAP is advancing the implementation of its Marine Litter Activity launched two years ago.
In order to review the progress on implementation of NOWPAP activities and prepare workplan and budget for 2008-2009, both MERRAC (Marine Environmental Emergency Preparedness and Response Regional Activity Centre) and DINRAC (Data and Information Network Regional Activity Centre) organized their focal points meetings on 14-18 May 2007 in Daejeon, Republic of Korea and on 24-25 May 2007 in Beijing, People’s Republic of China, respectively.
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Implementation of NOWPAP contributes to the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA) in the Northwest Pacific region.