Is Life Because

PEMSEA ANNUAL REPORT 2017 Because the SEA is Life PEMSEA Annual Report 2017 1 BECAUSE THE SEA IS LIFE Cover photo by PEMSEA/J. Castillo 2Photo by PEMSEA/J. Cabriles PEMSEA ANNUAL REPORT 2017 Because the SEA is Life Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) BECAUSE THE SEA IS LIFE Because the Sea is Life: PEMSEA Annual Report 2017 This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non-profit purposes or to provide wider dissemination for public response, provided prior written permission is obtained from the PEMSEA Executive Director, acknowledgment of the source is made and no commercial usage or sale of the material occurs. PEMSEA would appreciate receiving a copy of any publication that uses this publication as a source. No use of this publication may be made for resale, any commercial purpose or any purpose other than those given above without a written agreement between PEMSEA and the requesting party. Published by Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA). Printed in Quezon City, Philippines PEMSEA. 2018. PEMSEA Annual Report 2017. Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA), Quezon City, Philippines. 64p. ISBN 978-971-812-044-6 The activities described in this report were made possible with the generous support from our sponsoring organizations - the Global Environment Facility (GEF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and The World Bank. The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of PEMSEA Country Partners and its other participating organizations. The designation employed and the presentation do not imply expression of opinion, whatsoever on the part of PEMSEA concerning the legal status of any country or territory, or its authority or concerning the delimitation of its boundaries. PEMSEA Resource Facility P.O. Box 2502, Quezon City 1165, Philippines Tel: (+632) 929-2992 Fax: (+632) 926-9712 Email: [email protected] www.pemsea.org PEMSEA ANNUAL REPORT 2017 Table of Contents 25 YEARS OF PARTNERSHIPS 2 A history of collaborations 4 From words into action: Message from the Council Chair and Executive Director 6 Partners in progress 7 • A National Ocean Policy for Timor-Leste 7 • ICM as national strategy in the Philippines 8 THE ICM APPROACH 13 A practical system 14 Major thrusts of the SDS-SEA 17 Nations at work 18 • Landmark legislation in Cambodia 18 • Managing water of every color in Lao PDR 21 THE GLOBAL AGENDA 23 Worldwide goals, local actions 24 • A better business model 25 Investing in the ocean 25 The Blue Economy Forum 27 Financing a vision 28 Going local 29 • Tracking progress, the high-tech way 30 A sustainability report card 31 EMPOWERMENT 37 Centers of learning 38 • A mentor’s perspective 39 Teaching the ropes 40 • ‘We are only borrowing resources’ 41 Training the trainers 42 Coastal management on the ground 43 MAKING CONNECTIONS 45 Blue carbon 46 • Better management towards SDGs 46 Living rivers 47 • Cleaning up Manila Bay 49 • Water resources development in Myanmar 50 Green ports 50 BETTING ON TOMORROW 53 Where are we now? 54 Who will carry on? 54 • The last straw 55 Where do we go from here? 57 • Diversifying funding options 58 • Ensuring accountability 58 Our Organization 59 Financial summary 61 1 BECAUSE THE SEA IS LIFE 25 YEARS OF PARTNERSHIPS PEMSEA brings together country and non-country partners to collaborate on coastal and marine conservation in East Asia, with results ranging from specific trainings in support of implementing integrated coastal management, to historic national policy 2 Photo by PEMSEA/J. Castillo PEMSEA ANNUAL REPORT 2017 he year 2018 marks a quarter of a century of PEMSEA serves as an arena for regional collaboration, meaningful, far-reaching work for Partnerships in among these countries as well as with other regions TEnvironmental Management for the Seas of East and interest groups around the world, on sustainable Asia (PEMSEA)—25 years of empowering communities, resource use. It helps governments work together building local government’s capacity, and developing on global environmental concerns; strengthens strategies for people, resources, and actions to come linkages among international agencies, NGOs, funding together in support of the sustainability of the oceans institutions, and other entities; develops opportunities and coasts, anchored on the principles of integrated for investment and financing; and engages with coastal management (ICM). the local communities, the business sector, and the academe. The Seas of East Asia, also called the East Asian Seas (EAS), are a global center of marine biodiversity, home PEMSEA upholds its vision of HOPE—Healthy Oceans, to almost a third of the world’s mangroves, and a third People, and Economies—achieved through its mission of the planet’s seagrass beds and coral reefs. With a of fostering and sustaining healthy and resilient combined coastline of over 230,000 km, it is a center oceans, coasts, communities, and economies across of economic growth, home to the mammoth industries the Seas of East Asia, through integrated management and resource bases of China and Japan, and a major solutions and partnerships. link for 90 percent of international shipping trade. Covering the waters of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, It carries out this mission through advisory and the People’s Republic (PR) of China, the Democratic project services, knowledge and capacity building People’s Republic (DPR) of Korea, Indonesia, Japan, for organizations, certification services for coastal Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), Malaysia, management and performance, and facilitation and the Philippines, the Republic of (RO) Korea, Singapore, secretariat work for the partnership and on coastal Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam, it is home to 2.1 and ocean investment efforts. billion people. 3 BECAUSE THE SEA IS LIFE A history of collaborations In 1993, the seeds for what would become PEMSEA were planted with the project on Prevention and Management of Marine Pollution in the East Asian Seas, launched by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and executed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Thus followed years of working together on all fronts, as well as a holistic approach to ICM. The project’s second phase led to the official birth of PEMSEA, which would cover six large ecosystems and 12 countries to adopt the landmark Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA). PEMSEA’s mandate would be reinforced and expanded through the years, capped by its role as implementing partner of the five-year GEF-funded Project on Scaling Up the Implementation of the SDS-SEA, until 2019. PEMSEA continues to work with 11 country partners and 22 non- country partners, comprising the East Asian Seas (EAS) Partnership Council, to achieve its strategic targets. The Partnership Council governs PEMSEA and determines it strategic directions, programs, and policies through the SDS-SEA. An Executive Committee ensures that the decisions of the council are implemented. It guides the PEMSEA Resource Facility (PRF), the coordinating facility working with the country and non-country partners to aid countries in the application of ICM. The SDS-SEA post-2015 target is 25 percent coverage of the region’s coastline and contiguous watershed areas with ICM programs by the year 2021. Photo by PEMSEA/J. Zaldivar 4 PEMSEA ANNUAL REPORT 2017 5 BECAUSE THE SEA IS LIFE From words into action Message from the Council Chair and Executive Director Dr. Antonio La Viña and Ms. Aimee Gonzales e are pleased to share PEMSEA’s Annual In 2017 we also conducted extensive capacity building WReport for 2017. for various stakeholders and local government networks. These activities were deemed critical to The year 2017 was a transition year for the strengthen capacity to carry on the implementation of oceans. The year before, 2016, was a big year integrated management solutions, from institutional on commitments to protect and manage the arrangements to addressing specific issues on oceans, and 2017 was the year to start translating climate adaptation to conservation financing, the rhetoric into action on the United Nations especially at the local government level. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on all levels—global, regional, national, and local. We firmly believe in the importance of sharing PEMSEA began putting together a comprehensive knowledge and best practices, and learning and implementation plan for the Sustainable managing adaptively on the ground. The theories Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia and training manuals mean little, unless they are (SDS-SEA), as well as developing a monitoring tool adapted on the ground and are impacting people’s to track our performance and assess progress in lives. Some progress is evident from our partners’ and implementing our collective commitment to protect, stakeholders’ experiences in developing policies and manage, restore, and sustain the Seas of East Asia. practical solutions, for example, to plastics pollution. We still have a long way to go, as the problems Some of PEMSEA’s notable actions include are complex and the situation is dynamic and ever strengthening SDS-SEA implementation through changing, especially with climate change and growing the codification of integrated coastal management populations. Better monitoring and tracking is needed (ICM)/coastal and marine protection at the national to account for positive changes in the water, and levels; promoting the blue economy as alternative in the lives of coastal communities. Through these business model; raising awareness on innovative collaborative efforts in the East Asian region, we hope financing on ocean and coastal initiatives; and that we can help secure healthy oceans, resilient working on programmatic, operational, and communities, and sustainable blue economies, and financing options to ensure PEMSEA’s sustainability. truly move as one with the global ocean agenda.

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