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Coastal Zone Conference a Huge Success

Evan Chipouras
evan@ut.edu

The Coastal Zone Asia-Pacific (CZAP) Conference was held March 12-16 at the Montien Riverside Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. This first of what are expected to be biennial conferences was organized by Ratana Cheunpagdee (VIMS, ratana@vims.edu) and co-hosted by the Coastal Development Centre (CDC), Kasetstart University, Chulalongkorn University, and the Southeast Asia Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) of Thailand along with UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), and the College of William and Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS).

CZAP facilitated interactions between scientists, policy makers, and community groups to strengthen existing networks and initiate programs for integrated coastal resource management in Asia and the Pacific Rim. The conference was held in response to what conference organizers identify as "an increasing need for a sharing and adopting of good, practical and feasible coastal management programs [in order to address the regional issues created by] overexploitation of coastal resources, rapid development and settlement of coastal areas, coastal pollution and degradation, and the limited exchange and sharing of coastal information."

CZAP organizers recognizedthe need to identify models and tools that are appropriate for a region typified by user groups with diverse social, political and cultural backgrounds, a high dependency on coastal resources, strong interests in community- and tradition-based management, and generally large social inequalities.Linda Schaffner, ERF president-elect, said that her experiences at CZAP have her "thinking more about the importance of food security, capacity building and community involvement in coastal zone management issues."

The conference drew approximately 250 delegates from 30 countries. Approximately 74% of the conference delegates came from 19 Asia-Pacific countries. Remaining delegates came from Africa (<1%), European regions (6% combined EU/UK), and North American Pacific-Rim countries (20% combined Canada/Mexico/U.S.). Financial support for the 5-day conference was provided by AusAID, IOC, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration/National Ocean Service, National Science Foundation, OXFAM America, and USAID with additional support provided by 43 partnering agencies and institutions from 16 countries.

Information Sharing
CZAP 02 was a success in several respects. CZAP attendees took a crash course on the status of the Asia-Pacific coastal zone. The conference further provided a mechanism for delegates from within the region to learn about the failures and successes neighbors have been experiencing as they address what often turn out to be very similar problems. Interactions between delegates from the region and delegates working in coastal systems in other developing countries facilitated the bi-directional possibility of adapting coastal management models already known to be effective in one area to another.

For delegates from developed countries, CZAP highlighted the significant differences in regional coastal priorities necessitated by the larger percentage of people in the Asia-Pacific who live in the coastal zone and who tend to depend much more directly on coastal resources for their survival.

Conference Highlights
Concurrent sessions organized around six themes: sustainable coastal activities; coastal ecosystem management; community/resource interactions; coastal resource economics and sustainability; coastal area planning; and integrated coastal policies.

In addition to the concurrent sessions, a team of over 25 young international scholars facilitated six different working-group discussions. The discussions were coordinated by AQUALINK, a network of graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and research associates to promote innovative, interdisciplinary and international research and other activities focused on aquatic ecosystems (http://www.fisheries.ubc.ca/aqualink). Discussion groups identified research, education, information sharing, and policy approaches aimed at improving the state of coastal areas in the Asia-Pacific region.

The conference also included socials held in conjunction with thematic poster sessions. On the final day, the working plans were organized and presented to the entire group during panel-led discussions. A farewell banquet was held aboard an evening cruise as delegates took in views of Bangkok's many historical and religious landmarks located along the Chao Phraya River.

In addition to the work plans developed during the course of the conference, the expected outputs from CZAP 02 include:

· Conference proceedings on CD-ROM that are anticipated to be available in early '03
· publication of select conference presentations in international journals,
· continued enhancement of the conference-associated database (COASTALPROJECT, available http://tethys.vims.edu/czapdb/)
· development of future CZAP conferences.

The next Coastal Zone Asia Pacific conference will be held in Brisbane, Australia during the 2004. For information, please contact Tim Smith, Australian School of Environmental Studies, Griffith University, Queensland (T.Smith@mailbox.gu.edu.au).