UNDP/GEF is providing assistance
through UNOPS to countries bordering Yellow Sea...
UNDP/GEF is providing assistance
through UNOPS to countries bordering Yellow Sea in support of their efforts to
address among others the increasing trends of depleting fishery stocks, loss of
coastal wetland, land and sea-based pollution and implementation of the Yellow
Sea Large Marine Ecosystem Strategic Action Programme (YSLME SAP) adopted by
China and RO Korea with support of DPR Korea. One of the assistance programs to
implement the SAP is the UNDP/GEF/UNOPS project entitled Implementing the Strategic Action Programme for the Yellow
Sea Large Marine Ecosystem: Restoring Ecosystem Goods and Services and
Consolidation of a Long-term Regional Environmental Governance Framework, or
the UNDP/GEF YSLME Phase II Project. The project was launched in July 2017.
The
objective of this regional project is to achieve adaptive ecosystem-based
management of the Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem bordered by China, RO Korea
and DPR Korea by fostering long-term sustainable institutional, policy and
financial arrangements for effective ecosystem-based management of the Yellow
Sea in accordance with the YSLME SAP.
There are four components of the project:
- Sustainable
national and regional cooperation for ecosystem based management.
- Improved
Ecosystem Carrying Capacity with respect to provisioning services.
- Improved
Ecosystem Carrying Capacity with respect to regulating and cultural
services.
- Improved
Ecosystem Carrying Capacity with respect to supporting services.
The key outcomes sought are:
- Establishment
of a self-sustaining cooperative mechanism for ecosystem-based management.
- Recovery
of depleted fish stocks and improved mariculture production and quality.
- Improved
ecosystem health;
- improved
inter-sectoral coordination and mainstreaming of ecosystem based
management principles at the national level, maintenance of habitat areas,
strengthened stakeholder participation in management and improved policy
making.
- Skills
and capacity significantly developed for region-wide ecosystem-based
management.
Component 4 will address the
habitat loss in particular coastal habitats. The main cause of the habitat loss
has been land reclamation, especially in estuaries and shallow bays. Coastal
mudflat reclamation has been mainly for expansion of aquaculture and
mariculture, building houses, apartment and industrial areas. Approximately
880,000 ha of Yellow Sea mudflat areas have been reclaimed. This comprises 37%
of the inter-tidal areas of the Chinese portion of the Yellow Sea, which have
been reclaimed since 1950, and 43% of the mudflats on the ROK coast, which has
been reclaimed since 1917. The main effect of habitat loss is on the
composition of assemblages of organism communities in tidal mudflats,
especially benthic organisms, water birds and reduced resting and feeding
grounds for migratory birds.
In Outcome 4.1 of Component 4
entitled “Maintenance of current habitats and the monitoring and mitigation of
the impacts of reclamation”, the project will support a series of activities
leading to the development and adoption of the YSLME Biodiversity Conservation
Plan including the targets to ensure areas of critical habitats at baseline
level. Output 4.1.1 of Outcome 4.1 specifically seeks to arrive at an agreement
at all levels to implement the relevant management actions to regulate new
coastal zone reclamation project.