NOWPAP Progress

1. Developing a project proposal on conservation of biological diversity in the NOWPAP region

2. Progress Meeting of the development of a Near Real-Time Monitoring System for Marine and Coastal Eutrophication Using Google Earth Engine

3. A virtual Meeting of NOWPAP on the development of the State of Marine Environment Report (SOMER-3)

Upcoming events

NOWPAP Progress

Developing a project proposal on conservation of biological diversity in the NOWPAP region

A group of marine scientists from the Northwest Pacific Region gathered online on 18 May 2021, discussing how to develop a detailed project proposal for a bigger intervention to strengthen the efforts of the NOWPAP Member States in conserving biological diversity in the NOWPAP region.

The marine biodiversity of the NOWPAP region is rich and unique. Subtropical, temperate, and cold-water marine life cohabit in this region due to the movement of warm and cold ocean currents. However, the high population density and intensive economic activities have imposed enormous pressures on the marine environment.

Conservation of marine and coastal biodiversity is recognised as one of the main themes of the Northwest Pacific Action Plan adopted in 1994. In the past decades, the NOWPAP Regional Activity Centers have studied marine invasive species, assessed threats on marine biodiversity, marine protected area, seagrass, etc., and identified eutrophication, non-indigenous species, and habitat alteration are among major pressures on biodiversity in the region.

The meeting participants proposed examining the status and trends of indicator species, which will help understand the ongoing biodiversity changes and future requirements for biodiversity conservation. They also recommended researching the quantified extent and condition of important habitats of indicator species and the effectiveness of response measures.

The meeting suggested aligning the project proposal with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) post-2020 Biodiversity framework, the United Nations Decades on Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021 - 2030), Ecosystem Restoration (2021 - 2030) and other relevant frameworks and global goals and targets. The meeting has also discussed the contents of the project proposal, structure of components, approaches and potential schedule to develop the project proposal.

Progress Meeting of the development of a Near Real-Time Monitoring System for Marine and Coastal Eutrophication Using Google Earth Engine

The Northwest Pacific Region Environmental Cooperation (NPEC), the host organisation of the NOWPAP Special Monitoring and Coastal Environmental Assessment Regional Activity Centre (CEARAC), organised an online Progress Meeting on the development of a Near Real-Time Monitoring System for Marine and Coastal Eutrophication Using Google Earth Engine (GEE) on 7 May 2021.

After the kick-off of the project (GEO-GEE Eutrophication Watch Project, in short) in 2020, the project members gathered several times online and reviewed the progress. This meeting of 7 May 2021 was attended by representatives of the Nagoya University, NPEC, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, GOOGLE, Limited Liability Company (LLC), the Northwest Pacific Action Plan (UNEP-NOWPAP), and the Japan Association for UNEP.

The meeting thoroughly discussed that effective monitoring of eutrophication status based on a long-term consistent chlorophyll-a concentration dataset blended from a different satellite is necessary, and NPEC had worked on developing a procedure of ingesting the Level 2 ocean colour data of MODIS on Aqua and SGLI on GCOM-C into the Google Earth Engine. The project members agreed that establishing a standardised workflow to ingest Level 2 data starting from the NOWPAP sea area is a priority, which then can be expanded to other parts of the world ocean.

A virtual Meeting of NOWPAP on the development of State of Marine Environment Report (SOMER-3)

The NOWPAP Pollution Monitoring Regional Activity Centre (POMRAC) organised a virtual workshop on 8 April 2021, to discuss the structure and implementation process of the SOMER-3 Report. Regular assessment of the environmental status and trends within the NOWPAP region is one of the key components of the NOWPAP Programme of Work.

The major goal of SOMER-3 is to present the integrated assessment of environmental problems, status and trends related to the existing and changing natural and socio-economical conditions in the NOWPAP region.

Previous SOMER and SOMER-2 were structured to reflect contemporary environmental issues and snapshots of environmental status and trends. It was suggested that SOMER-3 could reflect both the national visions on the marine and coastal environmental problems and, regionally, an integrated approach realized in the NOWPAP findings and publications.

The necessity of a joint analysis of national approaches is determined by the significant progress in the environmental planning in the NOWPAP Member States (e.g. Basic Ocean Plans in Japan or Comprehensive Plans for Marine Environment in Korea). National visions have some features which will be useful to take into account at further regional cooperation. The main reason for such a comparative analysis is to enhance the practical use of NOWPAP outcomes and recommendations by the national authorities.

The second major part of SOMER-3 should reflect the regional NOWPAP visions on the region's major ecological problems. Therefore, it will have five subchapters aligned with five Ecological Quality Objectives (EcoQOs) related to the groups of major ecological problems outlined by the NOWPAP RACs activities earlier. Subchapters of this part are supposed to be based on the published outcomes and achievements of NOWPAP RACs. Therefore, RACs will be invited to provide extended summaries of their outcomes to the relevant issues and participate in the preparation of subchapters.

Meeting agreed with POMRAC proposals in general but stressed the necessity to clarify the RACs participation mode in SOMER-3 preparation.

National experts for the preparation of national inputs for the first part of SOMER 3 and participation in the second part are nominated, and the contracting process is going on. Additional work is needed to elaborate on the mode of the RACs participation.

Upcoming Events

• The Expert Group Meeting on oil fingerprinting of Marine Environmental Emergency Preparedness and Response Regional Activity Center of Northwest Pacific Action Plan (MERRAC NOWPAP) will be held on 5 July 2021 virtually.

• The Expert Group Meeting on the illegal discharge of NOWPAP MERRAC will be held on 6 July 2021 virtually.

• The 23rd NOWPAP MERRAC Focal Points Meeting and 15th Competent National Authorities Meeting will be held online from 7 to 8 July 2021.

• The 18th Focal Points Meeting of Special Monitoring & Coastal Environmental Assessment Regional Activity Centre (CEARAC) will be held on 24-25 August 2021 virtually.

• The 2021 NOWPAP - Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting among China, Japan, and Korea (TEMM) Joint Workshop on Marine Litter Management and the NOWPAP Marine Litter Focal Points Meeting will be held online on 15-16 September 2021.

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