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APN Newsletter Vol.7, No.2 April 2001
Cherry blossoms are now blooming and Japanese bush warblers have started to sing in Kobe. Spring has come after a severe winter season. The 6th Scientific Planning Group (SPG) and Inter-Governmental Meeting (IGM) were held from 19 to 23 March 2001 on Jeju Island, Republic of Korea, hosted by the Ministry of Environment, Republic of Korea, and Jeju Provincial Government. The meetings adopted many important issues including 20 proposals for funding this year, preparation of a more systematic APN recognition document and several new activities such as participation in the Environmental Innovation Strategy Project proposed by the Japanese delegation, Environmental Management of Enclosed Coastal Seas - EMECS 2001, and networking and capacity building activities. APN will also participate in the IGBP Global Change Open Science Conference in Amsterdam this coming July. We will open the annual Call for Proposal process in April; more details are given HERE. Many thanks again to Scientific Planning Group and Inter-Governmental Meeting participants gathered on Jeju Island for your lively discussions and active contribution to APN. -Ryutaro Yatsu Back to the contents of APN Newsletters APR 2001 The APN's 6th Scientific Planning Group (SPG) and Inter-Governmental Meeting (IGM) were held on Jeju Island, Republic of Korea on 19-20 and 22-23 March respectively. Hosted by the Ministry of Environment, Republic of Korea and Jeju Province, the meetings were held on the southern most tip of Korea, on Jeju Island. The island is also known as the "Island of Treasure" with it's diverse ecosystem, stunning coastline and the volcanic Mt. Halla, regarded as one of three spiritual mountains in Korea, made for a perfect setting for the meetings. Scientific Planning Group meeting As Prof. Zhao stepped down as Co-Chair of the SPG, her replacement Dr. Moten of Malaysia, who was elected by SPG members, thanked Prof. Zhao for her enormous contribution to the APN, this was applauded by the SPG. Inter-Governmental Meeting In his opening address, Mr. Ho-Seong Kim, Vice Governor of Jeju Province, conveyed his gratitude to the Ministry of Environment, Republic of Korea, and the APN for their efforts to hold the meeting on Jeju Island. The meeting approved 20 projects for funding in the following year from an activities budget of approximately US $1.23 million. The projects selected cover a variety of activities and scientific issues throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The full list is included on pp7-10 of this newsletter. Out of the twenty funded projects, four are continuations from projects already funded last year. During both meetings a number of scientific presentations were made on major global change issues in the region. On the day between the two meetings there was a field trip for SPG and IGM participants to Kosan ACE-ASIA super site for atmospheric research, Hallim park and Jeju folk museum. The full proceedings of the meetings and the reports of the projects funded in 2000/2001 will shortly be available on the APN homepage <www.apn.gr.jp>. A hard copy can be obtained from the Secretariat.
Back to the contents of APN Newsletters APR 2001
After its introduction during the last Scientific Planning Group (SPG) and Inter-Governmental Meeting (IGM) in Islamabad, March 2000, the APN completed the first year of a two-year trial phase of the Networking & Capacity Building Programme. The first year focus was on South Asia and Indochina, and Mongolia was identified as a target country for the second year of the trial phase. Three regional workshops were organized on "Networking & Capacity Building in Global Change Research" in Colombo, Sri Lanka (South Asia), Islamabad, Pakistan (South Asia) and Hanoi, Vietnam (Indochina). The target countries involved in the above workshops comprised
Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. The workshops also provided a unique occasion for global change researchers from participating countries to exchange ideas concerning their own ongoing research. Communication within the global change community in the respective countries was clearly identified as insufficient, which can be attributed to poor networking facilities. The resource persons from IGBP, IHDP, WCRP and START offered to collaborate in suitable studies (and the development of proposals) that regional scientists may wish to submit to APN. All workshops resulted in the identification of priority areas for each region and several suggestions on projects to be developed into proposals for submission to APN under the Call for Proposals 2001. For further details please contact the APN Secretariat. In the second year of the Networking and Capacity Building Programme, a symposium will be held in Mongolia (2001-03) and a scoping workshop will be held in Nepal (2001-17). Back to the contents of APN Newsletters APR 2001
Click here for the detail of APN Call for Proposals The deadline for the optional pre-proposal stage is 8 June 2001. Concern-ing assistance APN can provide during this stage, please refer to the enclosed Call for Proposals 2001. The deadline for full proposals is 26 September 2001, midnight Japanese time. Proponents should use the "The APN Call for Proposals 2001 - Guide For Proponents" in making their application, as changes have been made to previous versions. The updated 2001 guide can be found on the APN homepage <www.apn.gr.jp> Back to the contents of APN Newsletters APR 2001
OCEANIA In addition to the day-to-day activities, we were able to accomplish the following:
PICCAP Workshop, 14 December 2000 Chemicals and Hazardous Material Workshop, 29 Jan - 2 February
2001 Coastal Monitoring and Evaluation Workshop, 5 - 9 February
2001 Kiribati-Coral Atoll Workshop, Training Institute on Climate and Society in the Asia-Pacific
Region, Compiled from report by APN Liaison Officer Ms. Leigh-Anne Buliruarua
A workshop on "Regional CO2 enrichment rice research experiment 2000" was held at the National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi from 16-18 March 2001. This workshop was part of the APN funded project of the same name for the year 2000-2001. Under this project Open Top Chambers (OTCs) were set up in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka for exposing paddy plants to an atmosphere of enriched CO2 for monitoring their growth and yield. Experiment for one season in these chambers has been completed. The workshop discussed the results of the experiments conducted in each of these countries, utility of OTC data for modeling and policy studies, requirements for regional experiments in the next cropping season and the ensuing modeling exercises including discussions on future operational difficulties and pursuance of Mid-FACE experimentation. A workshop on "Assessment of the impact and vulnerability to global change on regional water resources: a cooperative program among India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal" will be organised in San Diego, USA from 30 April to 2 May 2001. The objective of the workshop will be to look into the background information available in each of the countries of the region, water policies of each country including the vision 2000/2020, the projections for water resources, the tools and methods that can be applied for analysis of data, modeling, sensitivity analysis etc. Finally the aim of the workshop is to formulate a proposal for funding. The main objective of the proposal will be to study impacts of global change on water resources in South Asia, and adaptive capacities to deal with the impacts and vulnerabilities. The study is aimed to have a holistic approach and will include
The SASCOM planning meeting along with two workshops on "Automobile Emissions from South Asia" and "Mountain Terrain Development Program" will be held in Kathmandu, Nepal from 22 to 24 May 2001. The SASCOM planning meeting will review the activities of the previous year, discuss SASCOM work plan for 2001-2002, the emerging projects in the region, funding opportunities etc. The tentative agenda of the workshop "Automobile emissions from South Asia" will include discussions on Activity data - sources and reliability, Emission factors - availability of country specific emission factors/default emission factors, Standardization - emission factors/inventorying procedure, Technological issues - introduction of modern technologies/ phasing out policies, Fuel characteristics - fuel quality specifications in South Asian countries, Identification of cities/ areas for special measures to be undertaken, Policy issues - appraisal of various policy measures implemented so far/recommendation for future action and the Male declaration. The expected outputs of the workshop will be a compendium of emission inventories of transport sector of each South Asian country to be brought out in hard copy as well as electronic format. This will also build capacity in this region in inventorying. It is planned to bring out a combined publication in a refereed journal based on the workshop deliberation. It is also planned to compile all the policy measures undertaken so far as well as future measures to be undertaken by governments of South Asian Countries in the form of another document. The agenda for the workshop on mountain terrain development is being formulated and will be available soon. Compiled from report by APN Liaison Officer Dr. Sumana Bhattacharya
Trace Gas Emissions Workshop
Outputs from this workshop included:
SEA-BASINS Regional Hydrological Modelling Training Workshop Regional Science-Policy Conference
Looking Ahead SARCS Secretariat As of April 2001, the new APN Liaison Officer for Southeast Asia will be Dr. Anond Snidvongs. Contact details are given here Compiled from report by APN Liaison Officer
1. Summary workshop of RMIP for Asia 2. Publications A popular science book titled "Future of our planet Earth" (in Chinese) authored by Congbin Fu is in press. 3. News from Mongolia Compiled from report APN Liaison Officer Back to the contents of APN Newsletters APR 2001 Despite the passage of time the Pacific region has retained
much of its natural beauty and tranquility-but for how long?
SPREP started in 1969, during a World Conservation Union (IUCN) symposium on nature in Noumea, when a call went up for an environment agency to look after the concerns of the Pacific exclusively. In 1995, SPREP was formally established as a stand-alone regional organization, following the ratification of the SPREP Agreement. This agreement is SPREPs cornerstone, creating a legal basis for an autonomous, intergovernmental, regional body. It also defines the functions for the SPREP Meeting (involving the governing body) and Secretariat. In order to serve its members SPREP operates under four key result areas: nature conservation; waste and pollution prevention, climate change and variability; and international waters. By any measure the Pacific Ocean is massive both in significance
covering almost 38.5 million square kilometers of blue water. Less
than two per cent of that area provides the land base on which millions
of Pacific Islanders live. At the same time over 80 percent of the
landmass is concentrated in one country - Papua New Guinea. As for the six million people in the region, the Pacific Ocean provides not only daily subsistence, but links the sea to their traditional life styles. Recently SPREP was given the green light by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), to play a major role in an ambitious project involving 14 island states and territories. July 2000 saw the start of a five-year multi million dollar Strategic Action Programme (SAP) for the International Waters of the Pacific Islands Region. The SAP defines International Waters as extending inland, out to sea, enveloping oceans, large marine ecosystems, rivers, lakes, groundwater systems, mangrove wetlands and so on. It focuses on developing initiatives linked to the conservation and management of the region's substantial tuna resource, while targeting threats to coastal watersheds, and near-shore environments, especially in relation to sustainable resource use. The practical side of the Programme involves developing demonstration projects that will attempt to define the best practices for conservation initiatives in coastal fisheries and marine protected areas. SPREP's role is to make things happen on the ground, and to come up with results that will be of real benefit to the region. All this is being done with help from the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC). But on land, solid wastes and pollution have now become an increasing problem throughout the region-more so over the last fifty years of the 20th Century. Before the Second World War, there was little rubbish (solid waste) on Pacific islands. Back then most of what was discarded, was organic, and was either eaten by livestock, used to enrich the soil for crops, or rotted away. In fact some of the region's two thousand languages still have no word for rubbish. Much has changed. Today pollution and waste pose real problems for small Pacific island countries, often lacking the expertise or even the space to deal with them. SPREPs pollution prevention and waste management programmes help countries to control, reduce and manage pollution and wastes. These programmes help in developing and maintaining national and regional pollution emergency response plans. One such response is a European Union funded initiative-Pacific Waste Awareness and Education Programme (WASTE). This became the first comprehensive study of what type of rubbish is being thrown out. For small Pacific island countries, reduction of waste is probably the most practical solution, but this largely depends on public awareness. The hope is that as people become aware of the poor impact solid waste poses to their environment, their health and economy, they will take on a proactive role in turning the situation around. Coastal and marine environments are of special importance in the Pacific where village based subsistence fishing remains the mainstay of virtually all societies in the region, and where tourism and commercial fishing are the major component of most regional economies. SPREP's Pacific Ocean Pollution Prevention Programme (PACPOL) targets international marine conventions and countries' ability to deal with marine pollution with the involvement of the shipping and oil industry. PACPOL also addresses hazardous marine spills, ships waste (oil, sewage and garbage), port activities, and introduced marine species. Future programme work will include building regional capacity,
identifying high-risk areas and pollution hot spots and developing
a regional marine pollution surveillance and reporting system. In pursuit of this goal, the SPBCP uses a process-driven, participatory approach that builds partnerships between local communities, government agencies, relevant NGOs and others for the establishment of community-based CAPs. It prioritises in-country initiatives for the protection of biodiversity using external approaches only for the purpose of complementing in-country measures. In addition, the programme also strongly focuses on the development and use of appropriate tools for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity including rapid assessment techniques, targeted awareness campaigns, research, training and databases to meet the information needs of local resource owners and users. It also retains the flexibility to address new issues and options for the conservation and sustainable use of the biological diversity of the participating countries. Over the past eight years, the programme assisted in establishing and managing 17 community-based CAPs in 12 of the 14 participating countries. Together, the projects cover an estimated 1.5 million hectares of land and marine areas and represent a significant contribution to the conservation of biodiversity in the region. The limited capacity of the programme and the need to concentrate efforts to making the already established areas achieve sustainability status prevented the establishment of more projects. Now in its final year of operations, SPBCP activities for 2001 will focus mainly on ensuring that there is a smooth transition for all projects from SPBCP to other sources of support, including local communities and governments. As the SPBCP programme winds down having achieved what it had set out to do, the ongoing debate over climate change and variability shows no sign of fading. Increasingly scientific and anecdotal evidence suggests the Pacific is already feeling the effects of global warming. Climate change and sea-level rise are of particular concern to Pacific nations, many of which are little more than a meter above sea level. A rise in sea level of only a few centimeters or a change in the frequency or severity of storms will have significant impacts on people in the Pacific. Thirteen countries have so far signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). As part of the agreement, reports on the situation at national level are expected. These reports include inventories showing greenhouse gas emissions, vulnerability to climate change and sea-level rise, and possible options. Through the Pacific Islands Climate Change Assistance Programme (PICCAP), SPREP provides technical advice and assistance to its members in responding to these requirements. This included last November's Hague Climate Summit where attempts to negotiate an international signing of the Kyoto Protocol was unsuccessful. As no firm decisions were reached, some positive results did emerge, says SPREP Director, Mr Tamari'i Tutangata. He points to the progress made by developing nations in making the industrialised countries aware of the issues they face in trying to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. "It's recognised widely that developing countries do not have the capacity, human, technical, or financial to actually pursue actions aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change or adapting to the present climate change", says Tutangata. "It's also recognised historically that the countries responsible for the current state of affairs are the developed countries, because they are the ones who have industrialised, and polluted the atmosphere. Developing countries feel they're the ones who should take the first step. "Small islands are regarded as one of the most vulnerable....and they speak with some authority on what the effects of climate change will be, as far as their survival is concerned. "I don't think we (SPREP) need to take the place of countries, to negotiate or to talk, because they are the ones who represent their countries. We do not. We are only observers." For further information, please see our
FEATURED
ORGANIZATION
We also play a role in strengthening the capacities of peoples living in our target areas to make sensible decisions about technologies for sustainable development. 2. Focus The management of freshwater basins is also of prime concern to IETC and lakes are one of the planet's most important freshwater resources providing water for domestic, agricultural and industrial uses for much of the world's population. Freshwater is a scarce resource, often a limiting factor for development and one, which we should take great care to protect. 3. Partnership
As a part of the Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE), IETC is currently closely co-ordinating its activities with substantive offices of UNEP, mainly Division of Environmental Policy Development and Law and Division of Environmental Policy Implementation, INFOTERRA and UNEP's regional offices. IETC is also implementing joint activities with the Sustainable Cities Programme (SCP) of UNCHS (Habitat), and working in close collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the United Nations Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Regional Economic Commissions and the United Nations organizations at large. IETC is building partnerships and collaborative relationships with international and bilateral financial institutions, technical assistance organizations, the private and academic sectors, foundations and corporations to broaden our technical and financial base of IETC. 4. International Advisory Board Participants at the meeting highlighted that environmental issues surrounding water quality, quantity and supply would be major challenges facing all stakeholders in the 21st century. However, it was noted that cities in particular would face increased pressure in meeting the water needs of inhabitants and providing wastewater treatment services that improve not only human health but the environment as well. In a similar vein IAB members recognized that issues surrounding energy, waste and transportation management would pose significant challenges for cities, particularly in developing countries where the rate and scale of urbanization is increasing. For the first time the IAB meeting was opened to observers including NGO's, academia, industry and civil society. This action forms part of the process of increasing transparency and raising awareness not only about IETC's activities but also the environmental issues and challenges surrounding the development of sustainable cities and management of freshwater resources in the 21st century. Members of the IAB were presented with a copy of the newly published five-year history report. This 24-page report summarizes what IETC has done in each region of the world and in each field of its activities, together with a chronology and a list of publications issued during this period. This report is available on IETC's Web site in PDF format at <http://www.unep.or.jp/publications>. Printed copies are currently available from IETC, and will soon be made available from the UNEP bookstore. For more information please contact: Back to the contents of APN Newsletters APR 2001 APN Workshop on Climate Variability and Trends in Oceania Dr Jim Salinger, Senior Climate Scientist, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Auckland, New Zealand Global science agencies are sharpening their focus on the Pacific, working with Pacific island scientists to solve the mystery of how the planet's largest ocean drives weather and climate patterns world-wide. In the latest collaboration, the APN funded a workshop for Oceania climate experts to provide better information for at least four global science research projects. This workshop, hosted by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, was held in Auckland, New Zealand from 13-15 September 2000. The APN supported project identified contacts within the Oceania region to progress research on climate change and variability and established the status of relevant historical climate data in the region. Participants attended from 14 countries throughout the region. They discussed work on the analysis of climate trends and variability and established a collaborative project to analyse these for Pacific Island countries, Australia and New Zealand. A start has been made in improving capacity to assess climate change and variability, and improving information on this for the region. Climate patterns like El Nino start in the Pacific, and can impact widely around the subtropics. An even longer-term pattern that also seems to be driven by the Pacific - the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation has been identified. The understanding of how these climate patterns start, and how they operate, is severely limited by the very size of the Pacific Ocean and Oceania itself. When there is 21 million square kilometres of ocean, tiny islands scattered thousands of kilometres from each other and few shipping movements outside a couple of major shipping lanes, there is not much opportunity for taking measurements over the whole region. The three-day APN supported workshop brought together climate scientists from 12 Pacific island countries, New Zealand and Australia. At the workshop, meteorologists from climates as diverse as Kiribati's windless doldrums and Papua New Guinea's tropical rainforests compared observations and analyses, discussing how other countries' climate observations shed light on their own climate patterns and larger scale features of the atmospheric circulation. Participants from the Oceania countries noted that economic reforms have severely disrupted long-term climate records in many countries because of staff cutbacks. As a result, just as international scientific agencies are showing an expanded interest in the Pacific, its ability to provide important climate information is shrinking. By sharing experiences within the region, a forum was provided for discussion with access to resources available from the international scientific community, and specific recommendations for action. The workshop took a modest step towards enhancing both regional and national capacity for Oceania countries to determine and understand their climate variability and trends. Workshop participants presented overviews of historical and observed climate data resources available in their own countries to study climate trends and variability, along with indications of analyses that had already been undertaken. There was a large variation in the range of data resources available; with some countries having a high quality reference climate station network, and data stored on Oracle relational databases with metadata, to those with a very sparse climate network and information stored on PCs. Many countries have a significant paper archive of data requiring digitisation. Methods of analysis of data for climate trends and variability were discussed, in particular selection of climate indices for analysis, time series analysis and establishment of significance of any trends. SPREP and the WMO Sub-Regional office presented regional perspectives. Finally, participants separated into two breakout groups. These groups addressed issues on Oceania data resources, analysis techniques and local and regional synthesis and collaboration, with recommendations. There have been several outcomes of the project to date. These include:
Back to the contents of APN Newsletters APR 2001
Holger Meinke, Agricultural Production Systems Research Unit (APSRU), Queensland, Australia. CLIMAG - connecting
climate science with agricultural systems management
By combining seasonal climate forecasts with a structured, agricultural systems research approach based on simulation modelling, the project provides the means to assess the potential value of seasonal climate forecasting to agricultural producers in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Implementing these research outcomes will reduce vulnerability caused by exposure to climate variability at the field and farm household level. This exploratory study constitutes a stepping stone towards a well-integrated research and delivery program that will address more comprehensively those aspects of climate risk that impede agricultural production in developing countries. Outcomes Analyses in northern Pakistan show considerable potential to intensify the current wheat - fallow - wheat system by introducing grain legumes into the rotation. Under current prices and production costs, which are governed by current policy, intensification appears profitable in all seasons, regardless of the forecast. However, sensitivity studies showed that a skilful seasonal forecast could become important under different cost/price scenarios. At a location in Tamil Nadu, India, cotton and peanut - currently
the two most profitable crops - are sensitive to rainfall shortages
in different periods. The study showed considerable potential for
increasing mean income and reducing production risk by tailoring
farmland allocation among these crops to seasonal forecasts. Future directions
Back to the contents of APN Newsletters APR 2001 In April, Ms. Kazuko Watanabe, Deputy Director of the APN left
the Secretariat for a new position in Tokyo. Special thanks to Watanabe
San, a pioneer of the APN, for her outstanding contribution to the
development of the APN and to the success of its programmes. Her
boundless enthusiasm and drive will be greatly missed in the office.
The Secretariat wishes her all the very best in her new endeavour. WELCOME
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