Marine scientists and policymakers from China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Russia gathered in the 18th Focal Points Meeting of the Data and Information Networking Regional Activity Center (DINRAC) virtually on 15 January 2021 to discuss how to improve further the information and data exchange on marine and coastal environment.
DINRAC has been collating and recording environmental data and information and making them available for specialists, administrators, decision-makers, and the general public in the past three decades. Currently, DINRAC maintains 19 thematic databases that contain 4,441 records of data. The databases include Marine Environmental Data, Contaminants and Nutrients, Marine Protected Areas, Oil Spill Accidents, Hazardous and Noxious Spill Accidents, and Endangered Species. DINRAC has also developed web-based Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to demonstrate issues like oil spill accidents, marine protected areas, and endangered species in the region. DINRAC has been facilitating the Member States to share their major marine environmental data annually. The 18th Focal Points Meeting recognized the progress made in updating the databases and Geographic Information Systems, Annual Summary of Major Marine Environmental Data Available in the Member States, and requested the NOWPAP Reginal Coordinating Unit and other Regional Activity Centers to facilitate data and information exchange.
The participants have also discussed how to advance the project on collecting data and information on species filed in the Red Lists of the NOWPAP Member States. To better understand the status of endangered species, raise public awareness, and contribute to the conservation of biodiversity, marine scientists from the region have surveyed the presence and endangered status of species on the IUCN red list since 2014. In 2021, the project will be led by a Chinese expert and focus on species not only on the IUCN Red List but also on the verge of extinction.
Furthermore, the meeting reviewed the report on sea reclamation state and management in the NOWPAP region. The report has summarized the reclamation history in the region, pros and cons of reclamation, ecological protection, and restoration. The analysis provided recommendations for policymakers for future reclamation activities.
One of the key focuses of the meeting was to brainstorm the future directions of DINRAC. The participants discussed how to further strengthen regional cooperation on data analysis related to marine ecological protection and restoration, enhance awareness of youth groups, and possible data collection on blue carbon.
