The 12th NOWPAP CEARAC Focal Points Meeting (FPM) was held on 2-3 July 2014 in Toyama, Japan. About 15 people including focal points from the NOWPAP member states, representatives of NOWPAP RCU and RACs as well as representatives of North-East Asian Subregional Programme for Environmental Cooperation (NEASPEC) and the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) attended the meeting and reviewed the results and the progress of CEARAC activities for the 2012-2013 and 2014-2015 bienniums.
At first, CEARAC Secretariat reported the outcomes of CEARAC activities in 2012-2013. There were 3 major projects implemented: research on existing marine protected areas (MPAs) in the NOWPAP region; eutrophication assessment in selected sea areas in the NOWPAP region with the revised NOWPAP Common Procedure; and organization of the NOWPAP-PICES Joint Training Course on Remote Sensing Data Analysis.
Next, the Secretariat reported the workplan of activities in the 2014-2015 biennium, focusing on pilot assessments on the impacts of major threats to marine biodiversity; trial application of the screening procedure of the NOWPAP Common Procedure for eutrophication assessment; and case studies on seagrass mapping.
Along with its responsibilities (monitoring and assessment of marine, coastal and associated freshwater environments in the NOWPAP region, and development of monitoring and assessment tools/programs), CEARAC plans to develop a new assessment tool to evaluate marine environment for marine biodiversity conservation in the NOWPAP region in the future.
So, as its initial step, relevant data availability in the four member states will be investigated in 2014-2015 by implementing planned activities. For eutrophication assessment, CEARAC will expand the assessing areas to the entire NOWPAP region. It is expected that the seagrass mapping project will reveal the status of this significant habitat in the region. During the extensive discussion, the meeting provided the Secretariat with constructive suggestions for more efficient and effective implementation of each activity.
