For nearly three decades the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has fostered regional cooperation on behalf of the marine and coastal environment. It has accomplished the cooperation by stimulating the creation of 'Action Plans'- prescriptions for sound environmental management- for each region. Now, there are more than 140 coastal States and Territories participating in 13 Regional Seas Programmes established under UNEP auspices. Five partner programmes are also fully operational.
The Action Plan for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Northwest Pacific Region (NOWPAP) is one of the 'Action Plans' which was adopted at the First Intergovernmental Meeting (IGM) in Seoul, Republic of Korea, September 1994, attended by People's Republic of China, Japan, Republic of Korea and Russian Federation.

The overall goal of the NOWPAP is "the wise use, development and management of the coastal and marine environment so as to obtain the utmost long-term benefits for the human populations of the region, while protecting human health, ecological integrity and the region's sustainability for future generations".

NOWPAP also has three subsidiary and complementary goals as follows: i) the control, halting and prevention of any further degradation and deterioration of the coastal and marine environment and its resources; ii) the recovery and rehabilitation of coastal and marine environments that have been degraded and which still have the potential for such a recovery; and iii) the long-term sustainability of coastal and marine environmental quality and resources as assets for the present and future human populations of the region.

In order to achieve its goals, NOWPAP has been targeting 7 prioritized projects:

7 Prioritized Projects

NOWPAP1	Establishment of a comprehensive data base and information management system
NOWPAP2	Survey of national environmental legislation, objectives, strategies and policies
NOWPAP3	Establishment of a collaborative regional monitoring programme
NOWPAP4	Development of effective measures for regional cooperation in marine pollution preparedness and response
NOWPAP5*	Commence the establishment of regional activity centers and the network
NOWPAP6**	Public awareness of the marine coastal, and associated freshwater environment
NOWPAP7***	Assessment and Management of Land-based activities

* The establishment of four Regional Activity Centres (RACs) has been completed.
** Added in the Forth IGM in April 1999
*** Added in the Sixth IGM in December 2000

NOWPAP Members have been working hard for effective implementation of these projects under the establishment of four Regional Activity Centres (RACs).The role of each RAC increased following the decision by the Seventh IGM (Vladivosok, Russia, March 2002), where the countries agreed that NOWPAP needs a structural evolution towards a RAC-based rather than an Activity-based structure. The RACs present their progress on implementation of their designated activities to the IGM. The IGM reviews and approves the RAC workplans and budgets.

NOWPAP's Regional Coordinating Unit (RCU), co-hosted by Japan and the Republic of Korea, is in charge of the coordination of all activities undertaken by the RACs.

The activities agreed upon as part of the implementation of NOWPAP are financed principally by contributions from the member Governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations, to the NOWPAP Trust Fund.