The Seas of East Asia consist of more than seven million square
kilometers of sea area, bordered by 234,000 kilometers of coastline.
The 8.6 million square kilometers of watershed area draining into
these regional seas are governed by 13 coastal nations and 2 non-
coastal nations; nations which are home to more than 1.8 billion
people.
These basic parameters concerning the Seas of East Asia provide
a meager glimpse of the complexities associated with managing
a vast geographic sea area that is rich in shared historical, cultural,
economic and ecological features, but, at the same time, spans
countries with disparate sociopolitical and economic conditions and
scientifi c and technical capacities. It is from this perspective that the
Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-
SEA), which was adopted in December 2003 with the signing of the
Putrajaya Declaration, is regarded as a signifi cant milestone in the
journey to improving the governance of the East Asian Seas. For the
fi rst time in the history of the region, concerned countries agreed to
a common management framework and platform for cooperation to
collectively address natural and man-made transboundary threats
to the sustainable development of their shared seas and common
resources.
The SDS-SEA provides countries and their partners with practical
guidance to coastal and ocean management, founded on the
30 to 40 years of experience at the national, subnational and
subregional levels, as well as lessons and good practices from the
global community. But the essence of the SDS-SEA is not simply
the objectives and actions that are delineated in the document, but
also recognition that the goal of sustainable development of marine
and coastal resources entails a new paradigm in governance, that
being a mechanism that promotes and facilitates government and
nongovernment entities working in partnership in order to achieve
their collective — as well as their respective individual — social,
economic and ecological targets.
This innovative approach to coastal and ocean governance was
formally endorsed by 11 Country Partners and 12 non-Country
Partners with the signing of the Haikou Partnership Agreement for
the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Strategy for
the Seas of East Asia
*
, in December 2006. Since the signing of the
Haikou Partnership Agreement, the concept of coastal and ocean
governance through partnership arrangements has been gaining
momentum in the region. For example, in January 2007, Cambodia,
Thailand and Vietnam signed a Framework Programme for Joint
Oil Spill Preparedness, Response and Cooperation in the Gulf of
Thailand, setting up subregional governance system for preventing
and responding to oil spills from sea-based sources. Similarly,
management mechanisms are also now being considered by
countries for the implementation of Strategic Action Plans that have
been crafted under the GEF-supported South China Sea and Yellow
Sea LME projects, as well as the emerging six-country Coral Triangle
Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security, a partnership of
six countries (i.e., Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines,
the Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste).
This issue of Tropical Coasts focuses on an LME within the Seas of East
Asia, the Sulu and Sulawesi Seas, which is in the process of developing
and implementing a tri-national partnership arrangement. The Sulu
and Sulawesi Seas, also known as the Sulu-Celebes Sea, have been
identifi ed as a distinct LME, ecoregion, and seascape by the United
States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (US NOAA),
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and Conservation International
(CI), respectively.
The sea area is fl anked by three populous, developing nations — the
Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. The subregion is inhabited by 35
million people and spans an area of nearly one million km
2
. The seas
are located within the East Indies Triangle or Coral Triangle, described
as the global center of marine biodiversity. It is home to the Verde
Island Passage, which in turn is regarded as the center of the center of
marine shorefi sh biodiversity. The “center of the center” distinction is
based on a study conducted by Carpenter and Springer in 2005. The
study overlaid distribution maps of 2,983 individual species comprising
of algae, corals, crustaceans, mollusks, fi shes, marine reptiles and
marine mammals. The outcome was confi rmation that the highest
species richness per unit area of 1,736 species within a 10 km x 10 km
grid area was in the Verde Island Passage.
Stakeholders of the Sulu and Sulawesi Seas have been able to share
information and jointly identify priority areas for conservation to
achieve a common vision. They have crafted a plan known as the
Ecoregion Conservation Plan (ECP) for the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine
Ecosystem (SSME) and forged a tri-national management mechanism.
The three countries, in partnership with local governments,
communities, scientifi c and technical institutions, international NGOs,
donors and the business sector, are now in the process of developing
the required capacities to implement the ECP, including strengthening
environmental law enforcement and exploring sustainable fi nancing
mechanisms geared to making the Sulu and Sulawesi Seas one of the
most advanced marine ecoregion management initiatives among the
East Asian seas.
This issue of Tropical Coasts is a joint eff ort of PEMSEA and
Conservation International-Philippines, a non-Country Partner of
PEMSEA, as well as contributions from the Tri-National Secretariat for
the ECP, (i.e., Malaysia Department of Fisheries – Sabah). It features
articles on the SSME covering the development of the ECP, the
supporting management framework and governance arrangements,
fi nancing and partnerships mechanisms, and enforcement initiatives. A
prognosis on future initiatives planned for this large marine ecosystem
is also featured.
The ECP and SSME implementing mechanism provide insight into a
number of innovative approaches to strengthening coastal and ocean
governance, with the application of sound science and multisectoral
partnerships. Furthermore, as a subregion of the Seas of East Asia, the
potential contribution of the SSME to the objectives and targets of the
SDS-SEA merit continuing support, knowledge sharing and interaction
among PEMSEA and SSME partners and collaborators. Ultimately,
it is envisaged that, by transferring experience, skills, resources and
good practices across countries, subregions and projects, the common
target of eff ective and sustainable management of marine and coastal
resources, directly benefi ting the people of region, will surely be within
reach.
Partnerships at Work
Editorial
S. Adrian Ross
Editor
* Signatories to the Agreement include the Governments of Cambodia, PR China,
DPR Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Philippines, RO Korea, Singapore, Timor-
Leste and Vietnam. From the initial 12 stakeholder organizations, there are now
16 non-Country Partners. These include Conservation International–Philippines
(CI), Coastal Management Center (CMC), Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission Subcommission for the Western Pacifi c (IOC/WESTPAC), International
Ocean Institute (IOI), International Environmental Management of Enclosed
Coastal Seas Center (EMECS), Korea Environment Institute (KEI), Korea Maritime
Institute (KMI), Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute (KORDI),
Northwest Pacifi c Action Plan (NOWPAP), Ocean Policy and Research Foundation
(OPRF), Oil Spill Response and East Asia Response Limited (OSRL/EARL), Plymouth
Marine Laboratory (PML), Swedish Environmental Secretariat for Asia (SENSA),
UNDP/GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP), UNEP Global Programme of Action
(UNEP/GPA) and UNDP/GEF Yellow Sea LME Project (YSLME).