NOWPAP links with partners are strengthened
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.
At the 2008 International Coastal Cleanup Conference on 23-25 April, NOWPAP marine litter activities and future plans were introduced to 60 attendees, including the ICC national coordinators from the US and around the world. NOWPAP publications on marine litter were distributed to participants. The Ocean Conservancy, the ICC initiator and advocate, has expressed its willingness to participate in a training workshop planned by NOWPAP in September 2008, in order to further promote the ICC campaign in the region.
Presentation on NOWPAP efforts in marine litter monitoring has been made at the meeting of the UNEP/IOC Technical Working Group (TWG) on 1-3 May 2008. TWG members discussed the first draft of the UNEP/IOC Operational Guidelines on Survey and Monitoring of Marine Litter. Experience accumulated by NOWPAP member states in marine litter monitoring will be taken into account while finalizing the UNEP/IOC Guidelines, along with expertise from OSPAR, HELCOM and other programmes.
In order to strengthen partnerships with other organizations and programmes in the region, NOWPAP participated in the 7th IOC/WESTPAC International Scientific Symposium “Nature Hazards and the Changing Marine Environment in the Western Pacific and the 12th Session of the NEAR-GOOS Coordinating Committee which took place on 21-25 May 2008. Both meetings were organized in conjunction with 7th Intergovernmental Session of the IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific on 26-29 May 2008. Presentations on NOWPAP current and future activities were delivered for strengthening further cooperation with partners.
NOWPAP members joined hands in fighting the oil spill in Korea
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. Since the response operations at the sea have come to the end
and the clean-up efforts are now focusing on the shore, NOWPAP deactivated the
contingency plan on 14 January 2008. Realizing the risk of oil spills in the
region and importance of cooperation among members, NOWPAP plans to have the
second joint oil spill exercise in October 2008 in China.
NOWPAP Marine Litter Activity is moving into next phase
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.
During the MALITA implementation, NOWPAP has convened several regional
workshops and working meetings, set up a marine litter database, compiled
regional overviews on marine litter situation and related legislation and
policies, developed a number of guidelines and brochures and launched
International Coastal Cleanup Campaigns in all the member countries. Those
outcomes will be further reflected during the implementation of RAP MALI in the
years to come
12th NOWPAP IGM held in Xiamen
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. The
meeting adopted the report of the Executive Director of UNEP on the progress in
the implementation of NOWPAP during the 2006-2007 biennium and approved the work
plan and budget for 2008-2009. The meeting approved also in principle the NOWPAP
Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter, as a major outcome of the NOWPAP Marine
Litter Activity (MALITA) which has been implemented for the last two years. The
meeting reviewed the evaluation report on the four Regional Activity Centres (RACs)
aiming at improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the RACs. A Regional Oil
and Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) Spill Contingency Plan was also
adopted at the meeting.