PACON 90 TOKYO, JAPAN-JUL

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1 /'I. This ar~c~~ appeared as pages in The Proceedings of PACON 90. UNIHI-SEAGRANT-WW-90-16,, A PACIFIC-ASI~ MARINE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY NETWORK FOR EDUCATION, TRAINING, MONITORING AND ~IANAGEMENT RELATED TO GLOBAL CHANGE, ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, AND RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT Sherwood D. Maynard*, J. Robin E. Harger**, K. Ruddle*** * University of Hawaii, Honolulu, U.S.A. ** Unesco/Rostsea, Jakarta, Indonesia ***Graduate University for Advanced Research, Osaka, Japan PACIFIC CONGRESS ON MARINE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY PACON 90 TOKYO, JAPAN-JUL Abstract A Network of marine science institutions is proposed to develop understanding, monitoring and management of global change, environmental quality and ocean resources in the Pacific-Asia region. The Network would sponsor 1) exchanges of faculty, staff and students at the tertiary level; 2) curriculum training for secondary teachers to organize their students into collectors of environmental data as ground truth for satellite remote sensing; 4) subregional centers for teaching resources and curriculum development; and 5) several mechanisms to create and maintain communications links among members. Initial funding would come from international organizations' and developed countries, with eventual self-sufficiency derived from the sale of research and educational products and services, membership dues, donations, and grants. Problems The anticipated problems caused by global change coupled with the obvious degradation of environmental quality will dominate life in the coming decade and into the 21st Century [ 1-5]. As a heat engine driven by solar energy and affecting global weather patterns, as a common waste receptacle, and as a bank of resources, the ocean is central.to the crises and their solutions (Table 1). Ocean constituents, processes, and potentials are poorly understood in developing countries as underscored by numerous examples of poor management and resource exhaustion, particularly in coastal areas. These matters transcend nation-state boundaries and require resolution on a regional or global scale based on the boundaries of environmental systems. We propose a network of marine science institutions in the Pacific-Asia Table 1. Problems to be Addressed by Network 1. Description and determination of scope for universal problems arising from the effects of global change (pollution, resource exhaustion, reduction in bio-diversity, alteration of sediment and nutrient inputs to the sea, and replacement of natural ecosystems). 2. Prediction of effects and development of mitigative procedures for postulated sea level rise. 3. Determination of causes of current environmental trends: relative contributions of maninduced vs. normal natural cycles. 4. Assessment of the ability of coral atolls to grow (rise) with a rapid increase in sealevel. 5. Establishing how changes in global heat balance will affect the distribution and intensity of hurricanes and the amount and distribution of precipitation. 6. Provision of adequate ground-truth environmental data for all areas of the region. 7. Standardization of environmental data collection and storage/retrieval systems. 8. Efficient use of existing marine education and training talent and facilities throughout the region. 9. Organization and implementation of comprehensive, effective ocean education program at both secondary and tertiary levels. 10. Design and implementation of a mechan~sm to promote the co-operation necessary to solve these problems. I

2 region (an environmental couple) as a significant step towards addressing marine environmental problems and resource development in the 21st Century. Table 2. Potential Network Member Countries/ States by Sub-Region Solutions The foundation of solutions lies in education as a vehicle for social change. Tertiary students and faculty will be the primary target of Network programs. These future citizens, leaders, teachers, scientists, and managers will directly receive the education and training for wise environmental practices and sustainable resource development. Through environmental monitoring and research, extensive, realtime ground truthing will allow reliable diagnoses of quality and global change indicators. This information will contribute to the development of management, mitigation and response strategies and in particular will augment data obtained via satellite remote sensing. Mechanisms Membership and Administration The solutions will be expedited through cooperation of existing manpower, development of new talent, and shared use of facilities facilitated by a Network of ocean-related institutions in developing, developed, and newly industrializing countries. Potentially, 150 institutions in 39 countries/states would be involved (Table 2, Fig. 1). The core of membership South & Central Asia Bangladesh India Maldives Pakistan Sri Lanka South East Asia Brunei Darussalam D.P.R. Korea Hong Kong Indonesia Japan Malaysia P.R. China Philippines R. Korea Singapore Taiwan Thailand Vietnam Pacific Islands American Samoa Australia Co. N. Marianas Cook Islands F.S. Micronesia Fiji French Polynesia Guam Hawaii Kiribati Nauru New Caledonia New Zealand Niue Palau Papua New Guinea Solomon Islands Tokelau Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu Wallis Futuna Western Samoa Figure 1. Map for Pacific-Asia Network indicating Secretariat (Bangkok), Sub Regional Headquarters (Karachi, Manila, Suva), National Lead Institutions and some Member Institutions

3 will be tertiary institutions. Secondary teachers as graduates of these institutions will transfer their understanding and skills to a corps of students who will learn about global change and environmental quality first hand by monitoring selected indicator parameters (Table 3). By taking Table 3. Environmental Monitoring Parameters for Secondary Students Meteorology Figure 2. Organizational chart of Network Administration a.) Secretariat, Sub-Regional Headquarters and the Teaching and Curriculum Development Centers will be attached to existing universities and research institutions. b.) Each country/state's Member Institutions (MI) will co-ordinate programs through their National Steering Committee and National Lead Institution. (a) Air Temperature Wind Direction/Speed Cloud Type/Cover Precipitation Humidity Oceanography Water Temperature Water Clarity/Color Sea Level/Tide Heights Salinity center for Teachirq Resourcas/OJrric:ulum DeYel.opnent Environment Accumulation of Marine Debris Transects of Indicator Habitats Marine Mammal/Bird/Reptile Census home this new information, the secondary students will become educators for their parents, siblings, and community. Research institutions and governmental/intergovernmental agencies concerned with the ocean will contribute resource persons and training facilities. Network administration will be spare, carried out by small units attached to existing institutions and emphasizing participation/ decision making by practicing scientists, technologists, and educators rather than by administrators. A Regional Secretariat will provide overall coordination and services (Fig. 2a). Three Sub-Regional Headquarters will maintain sensitivity to programs of a more local geographic scale. Each member country will identify a National Lead Institution as liaison between the country's member institutions and the Network Administration. Policy and priorities will be established by Steering Committees at the National, Sub-Regional, and Regional Levels (Fig. 2b). (b) Programs (Table 4) Natia>al Lead Institution The Network will sponsor faculty/ staff exchanges which will include research, teaching, and curriculum development. Student exchanges will permit primarily short-term programs in habitats and with facilities not available at home institutions. Through such exchanges members will have improved access to each other's countries and begin to function from the regional perspective. Each Sub Regional Headquarters will support a Center for Teaching Resources and Curriculum Development. This will serve as a lender of teaching support materials and, where required, a developer of such materials and curricula which are based on regional/ local examples. The Network will organize -3-

4 workshops to bring undergraduate faculty up to date on recent developments in marine and environmental sciences and technologies, as well as policy and management and will introduce innovative teaching methods. Workshops for secondary teachers will provide them with the knowledge and skills to teach their students to understand and measure environmental parameters relevant to global change and environmental quality. The Network will develop for these students a monitoring program which will routinely feed ground truth data into global data banks. As the conditions of global change and environmental quality become better understood, the Network will promote development of appropriate managment practices to prevent future negative impacts and to mitigate, ameliorate and improve existing condtitions. Representatives of Non-Governmental Organizations and employees of governmental agencies may participate in education and training programs when space is available. Implementation A proposal has been formulated for presentation to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as funding agencies and is under review by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The proposal was developed from recommendations of a 1987 UNESCO workshop [6] with additional surveys and consultancies. Workshops for potential participants and funders have been scheduled as part of the Fourth Pacific Congress on Marine Science and Technology (PACON 90 in Tokyo: July 1990) and the XVII Pacific Science Congress (Honolulu: May-June 1991). The first curriculum workshop for undergraduate faculty was held in Jakarta, March The second is scheduled for 1991 in Goa. The organizers anticipate that funding for the secretariat and administration will commence in 1991 with support from UNDP, ADB, and developed countries. The initial five-year budget is projected at ca. USO 19 million (Table S) and concentrates on developing people and programs rather than equipment and buildings. Within ten years, the Network is intended to be selfsustaining through sales of research and educational products and services, projectspecific extramural grants, membership dues and private donations. Table S. Proposed budget for Network (in thousands of USO). Annual Administration Faculty workshops Faculty exchanges Student exchanges Database Communications Curriculum Centers Proposal Preparation Monitoring Training Fi-st Year Operating Non-recurring equipment Second Year Operating Third Year Operating Fourth Year Operating Fifth Year Operating Contingency Five-Year Total Benefits 300 1,200 41S SSS ls so los 2S 37S 3,040 Sub-to: l,26s 3,19S 3,3S5 3,S2S 3,700 1,000 19,080 Once the Network's programs are fully implemented, the consequences of global change and environmental degradation can be dealt with comprehensively in an orderly fashion. The broad based diffusion of knowledge and understanding about the marine environment id basic scientific principles across the curriculum in secondary and tertiary institutions will involve a significant section of society in awareness and decision making. By developing, retaining, and coordinating talent and facilities in the region, the Network will efficiently invest the best resources in cooperative efforts to solve common problems. Acknowledgments Funding for proposal preparation was provided by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization/ Regional Off ice for Science and Technology for Southeast Asia (Jakarta), the University of Hawaii (Honoluu), the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research (Honolulu), Dr. and Mrs. Mason S. Maynard (Englewood, Florida) and PACON International (Honolulu). -4-

5 References 1. Committee on Earth Sciences Our changing planet: The FY 1991 U.S. Global Change Research Program. U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia. 60 pages. 2. Mitchell, J.F.B The "Greenhouse" effect and climate change. Review of Geophysics 27(1): Monastersky, R. 1989a. Looking for Mr. Greenhouse, Can scientists say whether humans have changed the climate through the greenhouse effect? If not, why not? Science News 135: , Monastersky, R. 1989b. Global Change: The scientific challenge. Research in the next decade holds the key to understanding the environmental problems of the next century. Science News 135: Pernetta, J.C. and P.J. Hughes (ed.s), Studies and reviews of greenhouse related climatic change impacts on the Pacific Islands. Association of South Pacific Environmental Institutions, Port Moresby. 133 pages. 6. UNESCO/ROSTSEA Contending with global change. Study No. 1. Marine science curriculum development at the university level in Asia and the Pacific. Unesco Regional Office for Science and Technology, Jakarta. 57 pages. -5-