The 14th NOWPAP CEARAC Focal Points Meeting (FPM) was held on 7-8 April 2016 in Toyama, Japan. 12 people including focal points from the four NOWPAP member states, representatives of NOWPAP RCU and other RACs and a representative of the Ministry of the Environment, Japan attended the meeting to review the results of the past activities of CEARAC for 2014-2015 and to discuss the planned activities for 2016-2017.
At first, the Secretariat of CEARAC reported the results of the past biennium, focusing on three major projects: Pilot assessment of the impacts of major threats to marine biodiversity in the selected sea areas in the NOWPAP region; Trial application of the screening procedure of the NOWPAP Common Procedure for eutrophication assessment; and Case studies on seagrass mapping in the selected sea areas in the NOWPAP region. These projects have been behind schedule, and the Secretariat explained remained work to be done in 2016.
Next, the Secretariat explained the current activities. There are two major projects to be implemented for the 2016-2017 biennium: Development of a draft common procedure for assessment of the impacts of major pressures on marine biodiversity in the NOWPAP region and Feasibility study towards assessment of seagrass distribution in the NOWPAP region.
The Secretariat focuses on eutrophication, invasive non-indigenous species (NIS) and habitat alteration as major pressures on marine biodiversity in the NOWPAP region. Taking the experiences and obtained knowledge from the past CEARAC activities into account, the meeting suggested the Secretariat to consider assessment indicators and methodologies and to conduct literature review on specific impacts of the pressures on marine biodiversity at the same time.
The meeting also advised the Secretariat to accumulate information from satellite imageries for accurate analysis and to investigate scientific knowledge on seagrass distribution in each NOWPAP member state.
Based on the provided suggestions, the Secretariat implements planned activities. The progress of them will be reviewed in the 15th FPM to be held in autumn 2016.
