Senior NOWPAP Coordinator, Dr. Lev Neretin, attended Sustainable Ocean Initiative (SOI) Global Dialogue with Regional Seas Organizations and Regional Fisheries Bodies on Accelerating Progress Towards the Aichi Biodiversity Targets co-organized by the Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Environment. The meeting was held in Seoul, Republic of Korea on 26 - 29 September 2016. The Dialogue brought together regional bodies to share lessons learned on regional-scale cooperation and scientific mechanisms to implement and make progress towards achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in marine and coastal areas. NOWPAP Senior Coordinator contributed to discussions addressing implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and opportunities for global processes and initiatives to better support regional-level collaboration and implementation of the Strategic Plan, the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the SDGs.
Following the SOI Dialogue, NOWPAP Senior Coordinator and NOWPAP Programme Officer, Dr. Liu Ning, had bilateral meetings with the NOWPAP Focal Points in the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and the Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation. The agenda included discussion of further development of NOWPAP activities and preparation for the 21st NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meeting. They also had a day-long meeting with the MERRAC Secretariat and were introduced to activities of its hosting institution, Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering (KRISO). The meetings ended with a visit to Korea Maritime Institute.
Dr. Lev Neretin and Dr. Liu Ning together with the MERRAC Director, Dr. Kang Seong-Gil and the Senior Researcher of CEARAC, Dr. Yoshida Takafumi, represented NOWPAP at the 18th Global Meeting of the Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans held in Incheon, Korea on 30 September to 1 October 2016. The meeting addressed implementation of Regional Seas activities in the context of delivering on Sustainable Development Goals and Regional Seas Strategic Directions 2017-2020. Final report of the meeting will be available on the UN Environment website during the next couple weeks. NOWPAP held a range of bilateral meetings during this event, including with the East and North-east Asia Office of ESCAP on joint activities addressing development of marine protected area network in the NOWPAP region.
Senior Researchers of NOWPAP CEARAC, Dr. Genki Terauchi and Dr. Yoshida Takafumi, will represent NOWPAP at the 2016 Annual Meeting of PICES that marks 25th anniversary of the organization. Dr. Terauchi will address Science Board of PICES and discuss priorities for joint NOWPAP and PICES activities in line with the proposed in 2015 by a working group PICES-NOWPAP Framework for Scientific Cooperation in the North Pacific Ocean.
