This year’s biggest gathering of stakeholders in support of Yellow Sea conservation will take place during the 3rd YSLME Science Conference and related events to be convened at Qingdao, Shandong Province, PR China on July 15-19, 2019.
More than 200 delegates from the international to local level representing international institutions, national and local governments, academe and scientific institutions, private sector, NGOs, and university students are expected to participate in the 3rd Science Conference.
The Conference will serve as a platform to: facilitate scientific exchanges and collaborative research within the scientific communities bordering the YSLME; present initial scientific findings on research projects supported under the UNDP/GEF YSLME Phase 2 Project; and to gather inputs that will contribute to the updating of the Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) and Strategic Action Program (SAP) of the YSLME.
Co-organized with various partners, the 3rd Science Conference will feature parallel events focusing on four crucial issue areas in the Yellow Sea area:
(1) China-Korea Fisheries Science and Technology Cooperation and Exchange
(2) YSLME Biodiversity Forum
(3) Addressing the Challenges of Marine Litter and Microplastics in YSLME
(4) Nutrients in YSLME
Parallel Event 1 on Fisheries will showcase some of the research and technologies in PR China and RO Korea that will help foster further strengthening of cooperation and knowledge exchange on fisheries in the Yellow Sea.
Recognizing the continuing and increasing challenges on biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Yellow Sea, Parallel Event 2 on Biodiversity aims to provide a forum to chart a better future of biodiversity in the Yellow Sea by gathering inputs in support of the development and adoption of YSLME Biodiversity Conservation Plan 2020 to 2030. This Plan, once completed, will serve as an integral contribution of the YSLME to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In recent years, the growing ocean crisis on marine litter and marine plastics has taken the global stage. The Yellow Sea supports the global call to reduce marine litter and marine plastics. Parallel Event 3 on Marine Litter and Microplastics will delve into monitoring methodologies as well as identification of best management practices and enabling policies to strengthen ecosystem-based management and promote synergies in actions to help curb the problem of marine litter and marine plastics.
Coastal eutrophication has been one of the key challenges facing the Yellow Sea. As such, the YSLME Strategic Action Program of 2009 targets the reduction of nutrient loadings in coastal areas surrounding the Yellow Sea. Parallel Event 4 on Nutrients will look into the progress made in nutrient reduction efforts under the UNDP/GEF YSLME Phase II Project. In particular, the event will review the status of nutrient inputs from selected river basins, progress as a result of key intervention/activities, and identifying more cooperative and policy opportunities to further improve nutrient reduction in Yellow Sea.
The 3rd Science Conference and related events are hosted by UNDP and UNOPS, organized by the UNDP/GEF YSLME Project Management Office and the First Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources of PR China, with support from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of RO Korea and the Ministry of Natural Resources of PR China.
To register and for more details about the 3rd Science Conference and related events, the program may be accessed via http://www.yslmep.org/?mec-events=3rd-yslme-science-conference or visit www.yslmep.org.
