Two Workshops on Marine Biodiversity

With the financial support from UNEP Division of Environmental Policy Implementation, NOWPAP successfully convened the Brainstorming Workshop on Marine and Coastal Biodiversity on 17 September 2009 in Toyama, Japan. Workshop was well-attended by experts from all four NOWPAP member states and representatives from NOWPAP partners (COBSEA, PICES and YSLME) as well as other international organizations and projects such as APN (Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research), CoML (Census of Marine Life), HELCOM (Helsinki Commission), IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), UNU-IAS (UN University – Institute of Advanced Studies), OBIS (Ocean Biogeographic Information System), and WWF-Japan. Among several possible projects related to biodiversity (BD) conservation in the NOWPAP region, the following were recommended for the next NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meeting in December 2009 for consideration and approval: •   Assessment of the current status of BD in the NOWPAP region. •   Assessment of climate change impacts and other factors on marine and coastal ecosystems.     •   Establishing networks of marine protected areas (MPAs), including taking into account typical habitat representation. •   Developing a regional programme to deal with marine invasive species. The brainstorming workshop was held back-to-back with the First Workshop on Marine Biodiversity in the Northwest Pacific Region on 16 September where participants were briefed on the current situation in the region and planned activities of NOWPAP member states in relation to biodiversity conservation.