1. Summary
The 18th NOWPAP CEARAC Focal Points Meeting (FPM) was held online on 24-25 August 2021.
FPM is a coordination and advisory body for NOWPAP CEARAC and the meeting is held annually. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, it was inevitable in 2020 to postpone the organization of the planned NOWPAP Intergovernmental meeting (IGM) and cancel the 18th CEARAC FPM. Then, the Programme of Work (PoW) of NOWPAP for the 2020-2021 biennium as well as the implementation plan of major CEARAC activities during the same term were circulated among the NOWPAP member states and CEARAC Focal Points respectively, and both of them were adopted in correspondence. Upon these agreements, CEARAC started implementing its planned activities for the 2020-2021 at a full scale in September 2020.
At the 18th FPM, there were two main agenda items for the meeting: The first one was reviewing the progress of implementation of CEARAC activities for the 2020-2021 biennium, and the second one was discussion on proposals for CEARAC activities for the 2022-2023 biennium.
2.Date and Venue
<Date> 24– 25 August, 2021
<Venue> Tower 111, Toyama City, Japan
3.Participants
– Focal Points of CEARAC — 8
– Representatives of NOWPAP RCU, NOWPAP MERRAC, and a relevant international organization — 4
[ Chair: Dr. Joji ISHIZAKA (FP of Japan); Rapporteur: Dr. Jianchao FAN (FP of China)]
4.Main Agenda Items
(1) Report of the progress of implementation of CEARAC activities for the 2020-2021 biennium (24 August)
The Secretariat reported the progress of implementation of CEARAC activities for the 2020-2021 biennium including:
– Assessment of the distribution of tidal flats and salt marshes in the NOWPAP region;
– Organization of a training course on eDNA analysis;
– Update of HAB database and HAB reference database;
– Case studies of estimating seagrass blue carbon in selected sea areas in the NOWPAP region;
– Improvement of the NOWPAP Eutrophication Assessment Tool (NEAT) for assessment and monitoring of eutrophication using satellite chlorophyll-a; and
– Organization of the 5th NOWPAP training course on remote sensing data analysis
Without a clear prospect for the end of COVID-19 pandemic at the time of the 18th FPM, the Secretariat suggested postponing the planned eDNA training course to the 2022-2023 biennium as well as organizing the 5th training course in a webinar format in December 2021 instead of the planned face-to-face one. The Secretariat also proposed some revisions in the workplans of the on-going activities based on the current situation, and after the thorough review, the meeting adopted the reports of the current work.
(2) Proposals for the 2022-2023 biennium (24 August)
Based on the progress of the current work, the Secretariat introduced proposals on CEARAC activities for the 2022-2023 biennium including:
– Implementation of pilot studies at significant tidal flats in the NOWPAP region;
– Organization of a training course on eDNA analysis (postponed from 2020-2021);
– Update of Cochlodinium website;
– Construction of a seagrass blue carbon network in the NOWPAP region;
– Development of a cloud-based bio-optical database for satellite water quality monitoring in the NOWPAP coastal waters; and
– Development of remote sensing data analysis training programs and organization of training courses
Same as the above, with no clear idea for when COVID-19 pandemic ends, the meeting provided advices on alternatives when a face-to-face meetings and/or events cannot be held. With more questions on budgets and others, the meeting adopted the proposals by the Secretariat and agreed to submit them to the NOWPAP IGM for its approval.
5.What’s next?
The 24th NOWPAP IGM is planned to be held online at the end of 2021, where the entire reports of NOWPAP activities for the current biennium (2020-2021) and proposals for the next biennium (2022-2023) will be reviewed and discussed.
