The 9th Focal Points Meeting of the Pollution Monitoring Regional Activity Centre (POMRAC) was held on 25-26 October 2011 in Khabarovsk, Russia. POMRAC focal points and experts participated in the meeting where current activities were reviewed and workplan for the 2012-2013 biennium were suggested for final approval by the 16th NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meeting to be held in December 2011. The main activities for the next biennium will be, among others:
Regional overview of persistent toxic substances (PTS) in the coastal environment of the NOWPAP region;
Second “State of Marine Environmental Report” for NOWPAP region, with more focus on socio-economic issues, climate change and issues of biodiversity conservation;
Regional Overview on “Applications of ecosystem valuation, marine spatial planning and ecosystem-based management in the NOWPAP member states”;
Regional guidelines for integrated coastal planning/management.
Implementation of NOWPAP contributes to the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA) in the Northwest Pacific region.