Time：2009-11-16 15:47:08    Editer：webmaster

On November 7th, International Scientific Forum of World Ocean Week’ 2009 on Watershed and Estuary Management was held successfully in International Conference & Exhibition Center, which was sponsored by World Ocean Week Organizing Committee and Organized by Coastal and Ocean Management Institute (COMI), Xiamen University. Deputy Mayor of Xiamen Municipality, Pan Shijian, Project Director of Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), Jakob Granit, Executive Director of Partnership in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA), Raphael P. M. Lotilla, and Vice-President of Xiamen University, Lai Hongkai, attended the forum.

The forum consists of four sessions, which were chaired respectively by Ekko C. van Ierland, Pofessor of Wageningen University, Jakob Granit, Project Director of Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), Gil Jacinto, Professor of University of Philippines and Huasheng Hong, Professor of Xiamen University. Chua Thia-Eng from Partnership Council of PEMSEA made a summary and concluded successfully on the forum.

2009 Scientific forum serves as a platform between WOW and SIWI to start their cooperation. Over 200 experts and related professionals from China, America, Netherlands, France, Japan, Philippines etc stay together to discuss the topic of “Watershed and Estuary Management” based on the policies and management implemented in their countries.

“There is dynamic relationship between rivers, estuaries, and oceans” Huasheng Hong said. Freshwater runoff has a major impact on the health of estuaries, coastal and ocean ecosystem and affects ocean productivity, circulation patterns, and hydrological balances. But their management is often isolated. “To integrate water resource management is only achieved through coordinating the management of watershed, estuary and coastal seas”, Xiongzhi Xue said, Vice-dean of COMI.

Shijian Pan said in his opening remark, Xiamen has made some achievement on integrated management on watershed and estuary after years of trial and error. And the forum provides an opportunity to learn advancing experience and knowledge from other oceanic cities to achieve more on civilizing ocean ecosystem in the future.

Many media presented at the forum ranging from Xinhua News Agency, Guangming Journal, to Xiamen Television, Xiamen Broadcasting, Xiamen Journal etc. Water resource management is a global issue, paying attention to which is out of the need of not only Xiamen, China, but the whole world.