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Cambodia joins 'save
coastline' pact
First regional effort on
water pollution
Cambodia
has joined six other states on the shores of the Gulf of Thailand
and the South China Sea in the first co-operative effort to protect
coastline environment.
The project sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme is
to give positive economic effect on the vital fishing industry in
the region.
The first task is to make extensive studies on conditions of each
country's sensitive sites for developing or upgrading national
legislation to reverse negative trends.
Nine pilot areas in each country are to be selected for studies in
the US $32 million project.
The Executive Director of the UN agency, Klaus Toepfer said
that the preservation of the coastlines was vital for the protection
of the region's rich fisheries industry.
"It is one of the most important programmes we have for
international seas," he said while unveiling the pact here last
week between Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the
Philippines and China. Toepfer said 80% of the region's coral reefs
were at risk from climatic change, coastal development, pollution,
over exploitation and cyanide and dynamite fishing "Tuna and
shrimp are outstanding products earning a lot of money, Therefore it
is very difficult and there are a lot of economic pressures that
make it difficult to stop or change ( these practices)," he
said.
Toepfer said only a third of the region's mangrove forests
remain, with about 65% lost to settlements, industrialization,
tourism, or conversion into shrimp farms.
The effects of increased sedimentation and nutrients as well as
destructive fishing practices were also being felt in the region's
other major habitat, sea grass communities, of which 20-25% is
believed degraded.
Another concern is the pressure of 270 million residents of the
coastlines, a population expected to double in three decades.
Toepfer said the new agreement would produce a programme of action
and a recommended network for regional cooperation in the management
of the environment of the South China Sea.
Under a five-year, committees will be set up in each country for
extensive pilot studies, particularly on the coral reefs mangrove
forests and sea grass fields. "We want to stimulate governments
to be aware and to develop capacities. I believe this is a problem
not just of the private sector but of parliament and people
responsible for rules and regulations," he added.
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