Sixty-five (65) participants from national agencies from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam as well as from UN agencies UNEP and UNOPS and regional organizations SEAFDEC and COBSEA met on 4 December 2020 online to further discuss the elaboration of national and regional activities for the UNEP/GEF South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand project to implement the Strategic Action Programme for the marine and coastal environment.

As part of the inception phase of the project, participating countries have organized their respective internal coordination and consultations with concerned agencies and institutions to discuss the project, identify key national focal points, experts and stakeholders, elaborate the activities for the key mangrove, seagrass, coral reef and wetland habitat sites in each country.

The UNEP GEF Implementing the Strategic Action Programme for the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand (SCS SAP) Project held its first Inception Phase online meeting on Thursday 30^th July 2020, with forty-five (45) participants from national lead agencies from Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam as well as implementing and executing agencies, UNEP, UNOPS, and the Inception Phase consultants. China was unable to participate due to technical issues, which will be resolved for future meetings.

A Project Inception Team has been engaged by UNEP since April 2020 to work on the preparation and documentation for the SCS-SAP Project inception phase. The team, composed of Dr. Virginie Hart and Mr. Reynaldo Molina, aims to elaborate the regional and national activities of the project, in close consultation with national and regional partners, and in preparation for an Inception Phase meeting. This Inception Phase gives opportunity for countries and project partners to collectively review and discuss the project design and activities to ensure that the project is fully in line with recent and current national initiatives and priorities, given the period of time between the SAP adoption in 2008, the CEO endorsement in 2016 and the present.

Based on the SSC SAP Project document endorsed by the GEF Secretariat, the team is currently drafting the Regional Implementation Report and the National Implementation Reports for each country detailing the information on the execution of regional and national activities, including the documentation for the project inception meeting to be organized possibly in late 2020 or early 2021.

An introduction video to the new initiative entitled “Implementing the Strategic Action Programme for the South China Sea." Financed by the Global Environment Facility and  implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme, in partnership with the Ministries responsible for environment in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, the overall objective of this initiative is to assist the governments of the participating countries in meeting the targets of the approved Strategic Action Programme (SAP) for the South China Sea.

The GEF-financed Implementing the Strategic Action Programme for the South China Sea project is making significant strides in coastal environmental security. Launched by UN Environment, the project is working to achieve major environmental stress reduction across over 1.8 million ha of coastal habitats (mangroves, coral reefs, seagrass, and wetlands). A key innovation driving this success is the scaled-up application of drone technology (unmanned aerial vehicles) to conduct cost-effective aerial surveys and rapid assessments. 

This initiative entitled “Implementing the Strategic Action Programme for the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand" is financed by the Global Environment Facility and is implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme in partnership with the Ministries responsible for environment in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The overall objective of this initiative is to assist the governments of the participating countries in meeting the targets of the approved Strategic Action Programme (SAP) for the South China Sea through the provision of technical assistance as required in implementing national activities in support of the SAP; and the provision of strong regional co-ordination of the process of SAP implementation.

This ‘Story from the South China Sea’ aims to contribute to regional efforts to promote gender equality in fisheries. The seafood supply system of Southeast Asia differs from many other parts of the world where whole families are often involved in the activity of fishing, act as market analysts, work on construction of fishing vessels and gear, right through to often running small seafood outlets that are enjoyed by the more than 300+ million people that live in coastal areas of places like the South China Sea.

The South China Sea is a strategic body of water surrounded by nations that are currently at the helm of industrialization and rapid economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region. The South China Sea has always been central to issues of economic and political stability in Southeast Asia and adjacent regions. The South China Sea is also a global center of shallow water tropical marine biodiversity and is central to defining environmental sustainability and food security in the region. Coastal communities of the South China Sea’s riparian states are, however, at the highest risk globally from the impacts of increasing rates of coastal and marine environmental degradation. The Strategic Action Programme for the South China Sea, endorsed at the inter-governmental level, represents the only agreed common vision among the participating countries on targets and actions for reversing environmental degradation trends in the South China Sea. The following short film outlines the process of Strategic Action Programme formulation and importantly the contribution its implementation will make to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The South China Sea is a global centre of shallow water marine biological diversity that supports significant fisheries that are important to the food security and export income of Southeast Asian countries. This short film outlines efforts of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) to work with communities and governments to integrate habitat and biodiversity conservation considerations into fishery management and practices. The South China Sea Fisheries Refugia Initiative is financed by the Global Environment Facility and implemented by United Nations Environment with the aim of achieving the fisheries targets of the Strategic Action Programme for South China Sea.