INVITATION
for
FreshCo Songkhla Workshop
Linking Management of Catchment and Coastal Ecosystems.
B.P. Samila Hotel
Songkhla, Thailand
27-30 January, 2003
Introduction As a partner of the FreshCo partnership, you are hereby cordially invited to propose participants for the Songkhla Workshop on Linking Management of Catchment and Coastal Ecosystems. The workshop is jointly convened by the Royal Thai Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and UNEP. It will be held at the B.P. Samila Hotel in Songkhla, in Southern Thailand
The number of international participants is limited to 50, so the invitation applies primarily to members of the partnership, involved in specific freshwater-coast cases and pilot projects. In case of overbooking, the FreshCo secretariat will establish a shortlist in consultation with the affected partners.
Background Some of the world's most precious aquatic ecosystems like estuaries, lagoons, mangroves, and coral reefs are located in the coastal zone. But the coastlines are sagging under the impact of human activities. About 50% of human population lives within 200 km of the coastline, and more are coming every day. Moreover, a majority of urban centers are located in coastal zones.
It is widely recognized that there are important linkages between the freshwater issues in the upstream river basins and the water issues in their adjoining coastal zones. Changes in stream flows caused by irrigation, hydropower and water supply have changed salinities in estuaries and lagoons. Land use changes, in particular deforestation and intensive "green revolution agriculture" have increased the loads of sediment, nutrients, toxic chemicals and pesticides. Discharges of household wastewater and industrial effluents have deteriorated the water quality and caused significant adverse impact in coastal ecosystems, and on the living conditions of millions of poor people, depending on coastal resources.
It is also recognized that the solution to such problems calls for integrated approaches. But more often than not, the actual management frameworks are characterized by a large degree of sectorialization:
The expertise is grouped in a large number of professional disciplines Marine Biologists, limnologists, oceanographers, hydrologists, land-use planners, political scientists, economists, social scientists, legal experts, etc.
1 The stakeholders are also divided into separate groups like river basin authorities, coastal management authorities, marine management authorities, economic sector authorities, user organizations, private sector business, local communities, NGO’s, etc..
The key constraint in protecting the essential biodiversity and productivity of the coastal ecosystems lies in the lack of efficient management and involvement of the stakeholders. Without proper management systems, the deterioration will continue. In particular, three important issues are crucial:
Provision of an enabling management environment through appropriate legal frameworks, policies and strategies
Establishment of an efficient institutional setup, facilitating extensive cooperation between Government authorities, user interests (community as well as private sector), and the support organizations (research centers, training institutes, NGO’s, etc.)
Introduction of efficient management instruments (infrastructure development, information and decision-making systems, awareness raising, capacity building, enforcement and incentives, finance, research and development, etc.)
UNEP and many other international and national actors have for a long time been involved in improving the management of coastal ecosystems. Accordingly, it was decided to make use of the new international cooperation approach initiated at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, the Type II partnerships through the establishment of the H2O Partnership. The intention of this partnership is to expand the traditional government-to- government cooperation by inviting partners from both the public and private sectors to join in addressing the issues of water and sustainable development.
Also, UNEP – with support by the Danish Government – announced a specific partnership within the general framework of the H2O partnership: “Linking Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)”. A key initial objective is to raise the issue at the 3rd. World Water Forum, to be convened in Japan in March 2003.
A large number of national and international partners have joined already, and more and more are expressing their intention of joining. The partnership was formally convened at a meeting in Copenhagen in October 2002, where the initial planned activities were presented to the partners.
One of the key activities is the establishment of a stakeholder dialogue, and to promote this, an international workshop is under preparation in cooperation with the Royal Thai Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The workshop will be convened in the Songkhla province during the period January 28-31, 2003.
Objectives of the Songkhla Workshop The overall objective of the workshop is to improve the present management practices of catchment and coastal ecosystems by taking into account the interrelations between both. This will be achieved through an international partnership dialogue on lessons learned and on identification of opportunities for improvement. Specific objectives of the workshop will be:
Identification of situations where joint management of river catchments and coastal ecosystems is needed
2 Identification of key issues, constraints and opportunities related to present and future joint management systems for such situations
Establishment of recommendations to be considered at a session under the Water and Nature theme during the 3WWF in March 20031
Expected Output from the Workshop The following output will be provided, based on the multi-stakeholder dialogues:
A number of recommendations for consideration at the 3WWF
A Workshop Summary Report describing the general outcomes of the dialogues on lessons learned and opportunities for improvement
A number of case stories from different regions on lessons learned on the need for joint catchment and coastal zone management. The cases will focus on management issues of relevance to ICARM and present lessons learned.
Workshop Program
Monday January 27, 2003
General discussion on key ICARM issues
08.30 - 09.00 Registration 09.00 - 09.45 Opening ceremony by MONRE minister and representatives from conveners and donors. 09.45 - 10.15 Coffee break 10.15 - 12.00 Keynote presentation and discussion on Management Concepts 12.00 - 13.00 Lunch 13.00 - 14.00 Keynote presentation and discussion on Enabling Environment 14.00 - 15.00 Keynote presentation and discussion on Institutional Framework 15.00 - 15.30 Coffee break 15.30 - 16.30 Keynote presentation and discussion on Management Instruments 16.30 - 17.30 Presentation and discussion on draft ICARM Issues Paper 19.0 Dinner
Tuesday January 28, 2003
Field trip to Songkhla Lake catchment
7.30 Leave BP Samila Hotel, Songkhla
8.30 Arrive Hat Yai Wastewater Treatment Plant 1 Note: In the official 3WWF programme 20 November 2002 the session still appears under the IWRM Theme. It will be moved to “Water and Nature” in the final programme 3 10.00 Leave Wastewater Treatment Plant
11.00 Arrive Pak Raw, visit Shrimp farm and Fish Farm (pass through Koh Yor, with view to intensive fishing in the lake) This place is an old fishing community, one of the poorest areas of Songkhla Basin, on one side with Shrimp Farms, which is operated and owned by people outside Songklha Province, and on the other side by Fish Farms that now grows Pink Tilapia, a gmo species.
12.00 Leave for Jong Thanon Peninsular
13.00 Lunch at restaurant by the lake at – Jong Thanong Peninsular
14.00 Leave for Ta Mod Village – Upstream protected area/public participation.
15.00 Arrive To Mod Village A local community who on initiative of the local monks and other locals have initiated a “Temple Council” – consisting of a variety of stakeholders in the local community – they have now become a strong public voice and are a.o. managing a protected area. We will meet the council in front of the temple at their gathering place. 4 major streams run through the community into the lake.
16.00 Leave for Thale Noi – Non Hunting Area
17.00 Arrive Thale Noi – Boat Trip to Ramsar Site
18.00 Leave for Songkhla
19.00 Dinner on the way to Songkhla
21.00 Arrive BP Samila Hotel
Wednesday January 29, 2003
Dialogue on invited case stories, including open poster sessions
08.30 -12.30 Presentation and discussion of selected case stories, 12.30-13.30 Lunch 13.00-15.00 General discussions and conclusions in three thematic groups (Enabling Environment, Institutional Framework, Management Instruments) on lessons learned from case stories 15.00-15.30 Coffee break 15.30.17.0 Plenum discussion and summary of case story experiences
Thursday January 30, 2003
Recommendations for 3WWF
08.30-09.00 Presentation of revised Issues paper and draft Recommendations
4 09.00-09.45 Discussions on recommendations on Enabling Environment 09.45-10.15 Discussions on recommendations on Institutional frameworks 10.15-11.00 Discussions on recommendations on Management Instruments 11.00-11.30 Final Conclusions 11.30-12.00 Closing of the Workshop by Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment 12.00-13.00 Lunch
Case stories As discussed at the first FreshCo partner meeting, stories of lessons learned from completed or ongoing cases are important tools for development of improved water management. During the Songkhla workshop, a field visit to Songkhla lake basin is integrated into the workshop on Tuesday, and the entire Wednesday has been allocated for presentation and discussion of a limited number of cases (and for presentation of an unlimited number of posters).
Already, several promising candidates have been identified, but to ensure further diversity of both professional and regional representativity, more cases should be found.
In proposing cases, partners are kindly asked to ensure that the proposals:
o Have focus on innovative management of all stakeholders o Have a clear and state-of-the art description of lessons-learned about ICARM o Presents the story in a user-friendly and communicating way
Initial proposal of a case story should be made by submitting a 1-2 page abstract describing the story in three sections: i) Description of case, ii) Lessons learned and iii) Importance of Case
It is the intention to include the cases in the proposed ICARM ToolBox. Accordingly, authors are requested to follow the format guideline for the full case story as given in Annex A.
Support for travel expenses Participation in the workshop is free for FreshCo participants. Moreover, FreshCo will be able to provide a limited number of participants support for international travel to Songkhla. Partners in need of financing of travel expenses should apply for this together with their participation request.
Registration of Participation and Case stories FreshCo Partners are asked register their participation and their proposed Case Stories and to propose their candidates by December 31, 2002 to:
Birgit Gavilan
UCC-Water Agern alle 5 DK 2970 Hørsholm Phone: +45 4516 9200 5 Fax: +45 1692 9292 e-mail: [email protected]
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