The first round of Regional Working Group (RWG) Meetings for each of the five Project components - Fisheries, Biodiversity, Pollution, Ecosystem, Investment - was held in April and May 2005. Each of the four natural science RWGs agreed on procedures for data and information acquisition for their component that will contribute to Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis and Strategic Action Programme development. Institutions in each country have been commissioned to collect the information that will provide knowledge on supporting or refuting the problems of their respective themes, identifying the trends of each problem over the past 10-30 years, and identifying the information gaps. The four RWGs also discussed and agreed on the basic requirements and procedures for preparing a causal chain analysis, governance analysis, and proposed some actions to address the environmental problems faced by the Yellow Sea.
Regional Working Group for Ecosystem in Geoje, ROK
The RWG-Investment Meeting discussed various issues including data information management, public awareness and participation, stakeholder involvement, national and regional co-ordinating mechanisms, financial sustainability, and socio-economic analyses of the Yellow Sea’s problems. The activities under these topics will be implemented soon. See our next newsletter for further news.
The end of the First round of Regional Working Group (RWG) meetings will be marked by the beginning of the first round of major activities that make up the YSLME Project.
This involves the commencement of specific actions based on the activities and workplans finalized by each of the working groups (Fisheries, Biodiversity, Pollution, Ecosystem, Investment) during meetings held in April and May 2005. After review and approval by the members of the Regional Scientific and Technical Panel, various contractors and/or institutions will be commissioned to undertake the specific tasks required for the production of the YSLME Project’s Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA).
The Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) is a scientific and technical assessment used by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), through which water-related environmental issues and problems of a region are identified and quantified, their causes analyzed and their impacts, environmental and economic, are assessed. It involves the identification of the causes and impacts of these problems at a national, regional, and global level and the socio-economic, political and institutional context within which they occur. The identification of the causes would specify sources, locations, and sectors. The purpose of conducting a Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) is to scale the relative importance of sources and causes, both immediate and root, of transboundary ‘waters’ problems, and to identify potential preventive and remedial actions.
The contracts to be given include commissioning of such activities as; extensive and comprehensive data collection, review and analysis; the rental of ships to conduct detailed basin-scale surveys for hydro-dynamic, physico-chemical and biological parameters; and the development of comprehensive public awareness programme.
The data and
information products acquired from these activities will be reviewed at the
2nd Round of RWG meetings to be held at the end of this year, and will be
used as the technical basis for the subsequent development of the Strategic
Action Programme (SAP) for the protection and sustainable use of the Yellow
Sea.
UNDP/GEF Yellow Sea
Project PMO - KORDI, Ansan, ROK.
T: 82-31-400-7829
F: 82-31-400-7826 E: info@yslme.org