UNEP/GEF South China Sea Project

The Tenth Meeting of the Regional Scientific and Technical Committee will be convened in Pattaya from 17th-19th December 2008. This meeting is aimed at reviewing the terminal evaluation of the South China Sea project and progress to date with respect to the development of a GEF project for the implementation of the regional Strategic Action Programme for the South China Sea.

The Fourth Mayors’ Round-Table meeting will be convened in Nha Trang, Viet Nam from 2nd-5th December 2008.

A range of lessons learned from the UNEP/GEF South China Sea Project’s network of coastal habitat demonstration sites and pollution pilot activities were identified in 2007 as being worthy of documentation for sharing between and among other projects. Following this a total of nine lessons learned on habitat and pollution management in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand were documented during the first half of 2008.

A large number of national language reports and publications have been produced as part of the South China Sea Project. These outputs are a valuable information resource on mangroves, coral reefs, seagrass, wetlands, fisheries, and land-based pollution in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand.

The Partnership Forum for the Implementation of the Strategic Action Programme for the South China Sea will be convened in Siem Reap, Cambodia from 16th – 17th October 2008. The participation of individuals in this forum is by invitation only.

The Technical Workshop for the Implementation of the Strategic Action Programme for the South China Sea will be convened in Siem Reap, Cambodia from 13th – 14th October 2008. Please contact the Project Co-ordinating Unit or Mr. Koch Savath of the Ministry of Environment, Cambodia for any additional information regarding the organisation of this workshop.

The reports from recent bilateral and regional meetings of the UNEP/GEF South China Sea Project.

Finalisation of the Revised Strategic Action Programme for the South China Sea The Ninth Meeting of the Regional Scientific and Technical Committee and Eighth Meeting of the Project Steering Committee were convened in Viet Nam from 20th-22nd August and 25th-26th August, respectively. Both committees gave careful consideration to: activities and achievements of the demonstration sites and pilot

The PCU recently received two videos from the Fanchenggang mangrove demonstration site in China. These have been loaded to the South China Sea Project video library.

The Eighth Meeting of the Project Steering Committee for the UNEP/GEF project entitled “Reversing Environmental Degradation Trends in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand” will be convened in Hanoi, Viet Nam from 25th - 26th August 2008, inclusive. Documentation for the meeting can be accessed by clicking here. Focal points are encouraged to contact the Project Co-ordinating Unit should they require any further information or guidance regarding the organisation of the meeting. Meeting documents have also been distributed to participants via e-mail and will be available to participants in the meeting in hard copy format.