A Regional Framework for Cooperation: Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA)

East Asian countries, many of which depend on marine related activities for a large part of their gross domestic product, are faced with many acute coastal environmental problems. These environmental issues are not the problem of just one or two of these countries, but must be approached by the East Asian region as a whole. For this purpose, the PEMSEA initiative facilitates a joint vision to resolve environmental issues as a region, while assisting countries to build strategies and action plans to achieve that vision.

The Link Between Coastal Management and Economic Development in East Asia

Eleven governments in East Asia formed the Regional Program on Building Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of South East Asia (PEMSEA), in collaboration with the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and are now collectively addressing the marine environmental problems of the Seas of East Asia, by focusing on areas of common concern and building capacities to tackle environmental issues of the region.
These countries are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, all of which border the Seas of East Asia, and have always relied on the vast resources of the ocean for food supply, livelihood, medicine, energy minerals, transport and recreation. Geographically, these countries semi-enclose five large marine ecosystems; the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, the South China Sea, Sulu-Celebes Sea and the Indonesian Seas.
The Seas of East Asia play a significant role in the economy of the region. The estimated total values of the seas and oceans in the region come close to $US13 trillion in terms of goods and services, and the coral reefs in the South Asian Seas generate an estimated value of $US112.5 billion per year in tourist dollars. Maritime trade has increased from 15% of the regional GDP in 1970, to over 50% in 1995, as exports have grown by 10% per annum (World Bank, 1998). Half of the world's merchant fleets sail through the Malacca and Lombok Straits, and nine out of twenty of the world's largest maritime ports are currently located in the region, particularly within the shipping corridor between Singapore and Japan.
However, it is well recognized that coastal and marine environmental conditions in most parts of the region are in a severe state of degradation. Environmental stresses have begun to impact on human health and reduce the capacity of the resource systems, which is subsequently impeding economic growth. Many cases are reported in this region where less than 10% of sewage is treated, and already there are more than 250 million reported cases of gastroenteritis and upper respiratory tract infections as a consequence of people who are in contact with seawater. Widespread red tide outbreaks are the cause of several million dollar losses in the fishing and aquaculture industries each year, and in the Philippines and Thailand, for example, not only have more than half of their mangrove forests have been lost, but much of their sea-grass beds have been wiped out by bottom trawling and pollution. While the actual cost of recovery is not yet fully understood, the World Bank has reported that remedial measures require slightly less than 1% of the gross domestic product (GDP) for the region, which is expected to increase to an annual cost of 1-1.5% of the regional GDP by 2020.
Above all, the situation is particularly worrisome with respect to environmental and natural resource use across national or administrative boundaries. While specific and localized environmental issues have been addressed in some countries, trans-boundary issues are often nobody's business. Consequently, the net impacts of trans-boundary environmental degradation have started to take their toll on the functional integrity of not only the shared resource systems, but also the resource systems within national boundaries.
At the Singapore Summit held in November 2000, the ASEAN and North East Asian leaders favorably considered a new economic realignment for the nations of the region, a collective effort that recognizes the regions economy and environment as being two sides of the same coin. Protection of the environment is an indispensable part of social and sustainable economic development. Environmental management should therefore form an inseparable part of a regional program of action for the new East Asian Economy.

The Aims and Activities of PEMSEA

A number of international environmental conventions and agreements have been enacted over the past years. Of specific relevance to the protection and management of the coastal and marine areas are the United Nations (UN) Conference on the Law of the Sea, Chapter 17 of the UN Conference on Environment and Development, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biodiversity, and other specific international conventions and protocols of IMO and the United Nations Environment Program. The implementation of these conventions, however, is an even greater challenge than their ratification, and in many countries of the region effective implementation of these global instruments is lacking.
In response to this situation, PEMSEA has confirmed its niche among the countries of the East Asian Economy (ASEAN+3) and has established it's aims to build a multi-country, multi-shared vision for the Seas of East Asia, along with supporting strategies and environmental action programs for attaining that vision. A functional regional framework is the ultimate target of PEMSEA, which among other mechanisms will incorporate integrated implementation of international environment instruments such as the Global Program of Action, Climate Change Convention and the Biodiversity Convention.

PEMSEA activities focus on;

• Enabling local governments to effectively manage coastal and marine resources and their environment through strengthening local capacity in the integrated planning and management of their coastal areas, in collaboration with civil society and other stakeholders.
• Promoting multi-country and multi-agency cooperation in managing sub-regional sea areas and marine pollution hotspots through shared visions, strategies and common action programs.
• Developing management related methodologies, techniques, working models and standards to strengthen practical efforts in the field.
• Providing policy support and scientific advice to decision-makers.
• Identifying and demonstrating the synergies and linkages between related international instruments and facilitating their integrated implementation.
• Creating environmental investment opportunities, sustainable financing mechanisms and institutional arrangements for implementing marine environment related international conventions.

In implementing its long-term development objectives and activities, PEMSEA intends to establish a "Regional Ocean Think-Tank" for the Seas of East Asia to brainstorm specific policy issues of common concern. It will create a "Multidisciplinary Expert Group" comprising of senior regional and international experts to provide sound scientific advice to the region, and invite regional experts to serve as senior advisors to the Regional Program. Furthermore, in order to build a critical mass of regional experts, PEMSEA will also institute a "Regional Task Force" to provide interdisciplinary technical and scientific services to the region through PEMSEA activities.

Integrated Coastal Management Initiatives in APEC Countries