IISD - Reporting Services @ Fourth Global Conference on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands, Hanoi, 9 April 2008

Fourth Global Conference on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands

8-11 April 2008 | Hanoi, Viet Nam

4th Global Conference on Oceans, Coasts and Islands Bulletin
Coverage	HTM	PDF
Summary report Monday, 14 April 2008

The Melia Hotel in Hanoi, Viet Nam.

Daily Web Coverage

8 April | 9 April | 10 April

Highlights for Wednesday, 9 April 2008

On Wednesday, participants engaged in three plenary panels on: fisheries and aquaculture: sustainability and governance; halting loss of biodiversity and establishing representative networks of marine protected areas (MPAs); and oceans and climate. In the second part of the afternoon, participants broke into thirteen discussion sessions.

Plenary Panel 3: Fisheries and aquaculture; sustainability and governance


Nguyen Chu Hoi, Vietnam Institute of Fisheries Economics and Planning, outlined the main fisheries management challenges in Viet Nam.	Lorraine Ridgeway, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada, called for accelerated progress and suggested that failure to conserve tuna would translate to a credibility loss for the fisheries governance system.	Moritaka Hayashi, Ocean Policy Research Foundation, Japan, and former Assistant Director-General,UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), welcomed the increasing link between regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) and global institutions, such as the UNGA and the FAO’s Committee on Fisheries.

- To the top of the page -


Various information stands outside the plenary room.

Plenary Panel 4: Halting loss of biodiversity and establishing representative networks of marine protected areas.

Plenary Panel 4: Halting loss of biodiversity and establishing representative networks of MPAs.


Nguyen Giang Thu, Project Director of Livelihoods and MPAs, Viet Nam, reported on MPA development in Viet Nam.	James Hardcastle, Senior Conservation Finance and Policy Advisor, Asia-Pacific, The Nature Conservancy, outlined lessons learned from the Micronesia Challenge, including the need to build on existing conservation programmes and for the full involvement of communities.	Sue Wells, Independent Consultant, discussed progress towards the 2002 WSSD biodiversity and MPA goals.

- To the top of the page -


Nicole Glineur, Biodiversity Program Manager, GEF, discussed the GEF’s activities on coastal and marine ecosystem conservation.	Rolph Payet, Special Advisor to the President of Seychelles, suggested that leadership at the highest level is needed to protect biodiversity and called for the reversal of biodiversity loss.


Information displays.

Plenary Panel 5: Oceans and climate. Gunnar Kullenberg, former Executive Secretary, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), UNESCO, discussed a policy brief on oceans, climate change and security.

- To the top of the page -


Pamela Rubinoff, Coastal Resources Center, University of Rhode Island, discussed a USAID publication entitled “Adapting to Climate Variability and Change.”	Kenneth Sherman, GEF Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) Programme and US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, described a five module strategy, based on lessons learned from LME case studies, to provide science-based information for the monitoring, assessment and management of LMEs.


Paul Epstein, Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard University Medical School, gave examples of the consequences of global warming on public health.	Nguyen Huu Ninh, Chairman, Center for Environment Research, Education and Development, Vietnam National University, Coordinator, Indochina Global Change Network, presented on climate variability and hazards with a focus on Viet Nam.


Participants in today's sessions.	Participants enjoying the coffee break after today's plenary sessions.

- To the top of the page -

Daily Web Coverage

8 April | 9 April | 10 April