Since NOWPAP launched the marine litter activity in 2005, its efforts on dealing with this global problem have been continuously strengthened and started to attract attention outside the region. In the 2007 International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) report, recently published by the Ocean Conservancy, in addition to reflecting data from Korea and Japan, China and Russia (who jointed the ICC campaign recently) have been also praised for their participation in this international effort in Shanghai and Vladivostok. The report says that “2007 … also marked the second year of China’s involvement with the ICC efforts. … Russia also took part in the cleanup for the first time since 2003 … ICC events in both Russia and China in 2007 were organized due to the efforts of the Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP) of UNEP. With the NOWPAP assistance, clean-up campaigns will be continued in the region in 2008-2009 and beyond”.
