National Initiatives
The Environmental Impact Management Agency (BAPEDAL) in Indonesia, a non-departmental
Government Agency, has developed a marine and coastal pollution control
programme to overcome negative impacts on the coastal and marine environment.
The programme includes pollution control in sea ports, tourist beaches,
and in tanker service zones in the Malaya Strait, Macassar Strait and Lombok
Strait (Indonesia, 1995).
In India, the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute
(NEERI) is engaged in research to develop biotechnological methods to clean
up oil spills and protect marine resources (ESCAP, 1995).
Regional Initiatives
The Coastal and Marine Environment Management Information System (COMEMIS)
is a collaborative project among three member countries (Cambodia, China,
and Viet Nam), ADB, and UNEP/EAP-AP. It aims to develop, improve and increase
the capacities of all the countries in the South China Sea Region to engage
in multi-sectoral analysis and to apply geographic information systems
(GIS) to environmental impact assessment and management.
The ASEAN Strategic Plan of Action on the Environment, Strategy 6 promotes
the protection and management of coastal zones and marine resources. The
main actions under this strategy are the improvement of regional marine
and coastal environmental co-ordination and the development of a framework
for the integrated management of regional coastal zones (ASEAN, 1994).
The SACEP Strategy and Programme (SPR-1, 1992–96) also includes regional
co-operation in conservation of corals, mangroves, deltas and coastal areas,
and regional co-operation in the regional sea programme, as one of the
15 priority subject areas (SACEP,1992).
Other examples of regional co-operation for coastal and marine environment
protection and management include action plans under the Regional Seas
Programmes initiated by UNEP. These include South Asian Seas (SAS) Region
Action Plan, the East Asian Seas (EAS) Region Action Plan, and the North
West Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP). The ASOEN Working Group on ASEAN Seas
and Environment, the ASEAN Council of Petroleum’s Plan for the Control
and Mitigation of Marine Pollution and the South Pacific Regional Environment
Programme (SPREP) are also effective regional cooperation programmes.
Some of the bilateral and multilateral projects that have contributed
to the management and protection of the marine environment are the ASEAN/United
States Agency for International Development (USAID) Coastal Resources Management
Project, the ASEAN/Australian International Development Assistance Bureau
(AIDAB) Projects on "Red Tides and Tidal Phenomena" and the present project
on "Living Coastal Resources Management", the ASEAN/Canada Project on assessment
of marine pollution by heavy metals, and the GEF Project on the prevention
and management of marine pollution which covers nine countries (Singapore,
Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea DPR, Brunei Darussalam, People’s
Republic of China, Thailand and Viet Nam). |
