Issue 18: July-August 2002

Coastal conservation, rehabilitation and resource management will be highlighted at a UN University conference  on Conserving Our Coastal Environment to be held at UNU Centre, Tokyo  July 8-10. The conference, organised in conjunction with the Iwate Prefectural Government and UNESCO, will consist of three symposia:

• Endocrine Disruptor Pollution in Asia and the Pacific – 8 July.
• Coastal Management and Sustainable Development – 9 July.
• Marine Ecology and Environment – 10 July.

Throughout the world, oceans are threatened by human activities, including different forms of pollution. These threats are most apparent in coastal ecosystems, where mangroves, coral reefs and other coastal habitats are causing growing concern. Coastal managers need to respond to these issues with informed management of coastal areas, and to share the lessons that they have learned in rising to this challenge.

This conference reaffirms UNU’s long-term commitment to coastal issues through research and capacity development programmes. It will showcase the achievements to date of UNU and its network of researchers in developing a better understanding of the coastal environment and its conservation needs.

Experts from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Environment Canada, Thailand's Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme, nad Japan’s National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Ministry of the Environment land Polar Research Institute will present their latest research.

This conference also marks the successful completion of the three-year programme called Environmental Monitoring and Governance in the East Asian Coastal Hydrosphere during which UNU, sponsored by Shimadzu Corporation, focused on monitoring pollution by endocrine disruptor compounds (EDCs) in the East Asian region.

The conference will be followed by an International Public Seminar in Morioka on July 11 and a symposium entitled “Man and the Ocean” in Otsuchi on  July 12.

For more information contact UNU Public Affairs.

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