News

At the expert meeting held on 7-9 November 2006 in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the Russian Federation, participants from the NOWPAP member states discussed a draft Regional Oil and Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) Spill Contingency Plan in order to address the increasing regional concern of HNS spills in the marine environment.   The decision on the development of such contingency plan was made in June 2006 by the 9th Focal Points Meeting of the NOWPAP Marine Environmental Emergency Preparedness and Response Regional Activity Center (MERRAC).

Joining hundreds of delegates from governments, international and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academic institutions and others, NOWPAP participated in the 2nd Intergovernmental Review Meeting (IGR-2) of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities (GPA) which was held on 16-20 October 2006 in Beijing.  During the meeting, presentations on NOWPAP marine litter initiative and on NOWPAP contribution to GPA were delivered at the Workshop on Global Partnership for Marine Litter and the China Forum respectively.

As a part of new NOWPAP project – Marine Litter Activity (MALITA) – international beach cleanup was organized on 30 September 2006 in Sakata city (Yamagata Prefecture, Japan). More than 100 people from China, Japan, Korea and Russia participated in the beach cleanup and a workshop held on the previous day.

NOWPAP member states – China, Japan, Korea and Russia – adopted the Regional Oil Spill Contingency Plan (RCP) and signed the MOU for this Plan in 2005. According to the decision of the 10th NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meeting (held in Toyama, Japan, in November 2005), the geographical coverage of the RCP has been expanded in order to cover the areas of production and transportation of oil and gas along the Sakhalin Island.

A new NOWPAP project – Marine Litter Activity (MALITA) - is being implemented after its approval by the 10th NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meeting.  One of MALITA objectives is to encourage and assist NOWPAP member states to participate in the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) which is being held worldwide for about 20 years. While Japan and Korea have joined the ICC since 1990 and 2001 respectivley, Russia and China are encouraged to join too.

NOWPAP has been actively participating in the creation of Yellow Sea Partnership initiated by the YSLME project earlier this year. This partnership is aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of members’ environmental conservation activities, building up awareness of the problems faced by the Yellow Sea ecosystem and seeking support from all sectors for solving the problems.

Implementing the decisions of the 10th NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meeting (IGM), the four Regional Activity Centres (RACs) of NOWPAP have recently convened their Focal Points Meetings. The detailed work plan for the 2006-2007 biennium has been developed by each RAC.

As one of the important steps in implementing the NOWPAP Marine Litter Activity, the 1st NOWPAP Workshop on Marine Litter was held on 8-9 June 2006 in Incheon, the Republic of Korea, with kind sponsorship from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries and the Incheon Metropolitan City. The workshop brought together participants from all NOWPAP member states, UNEP Regional Seas Programme, International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA), UNDP/GEF Project on Reducing Environment Stress in the Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem (YSLME), as wel

The 10th NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meeting had been held successfully in Toyama, Japan on 24-26 November 2005.  36 participants from NOWPAP member states, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), NOWPAP Regional Activity Centres (RACs) and Regional Coordinating Unit (RCU) attended the meeting.

NOWPAP has developed a cooperative relationship with PEMSEA since NOWPAP Regional Coordinating Unit became operational in April 2005. Beginning with information exchange from both sides, NOWPAP has been introduced by PEMSEA in its on-line electronic newsletter and was invited as a member of the Advisory Committee of PEMSEA East Asian Seas Congress to be convened on 12-16 December 2006 in Beijing, People’s Republic of China.

Seeking cooperation with other international players in the Asia-Pacific region for the protection and sustainable use of marine and coastal environment and resources, NOWPAP is building a partnership with YSLME project in which NOWPAP member states China and Korea participate. Both sides realize that there are potential areas where NOWPAP and YSLME project could contribute and complement each other during the course of the implementation of their activities. At the initial stage, NOWPAP has been invited for meetings and workshops convened by YSLME project to share and exchange information.

The NOWPAP Intersessional Workshop was held on 25-26 July 2005 in Seoul, Republic of Korea. As decided at the 9th Intergovernmental Meeting (9th IGM, Busan, Republic of Korea, 2004), the Intersessional Workshop was attended by high level NOWPAP representatives who discussed a number of issues ranging from new directions of work for the NOWPAP Regional Activity Centers and initiation of the marine litter activity to the sustainable contributions to the NOWPAP Trust Fund.