Hosts

Ministry of Natural Resources, China

National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia

Organizers

Research Organization for Earth Sciences and Maritime, BRIN, Indonesia

First Institute of Oceanography, MNR, China

Background

The Southeast Asian countries and China are located in the convergent zone of the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Andaman Sea, and South China Sea. The economy of these countries is highly sea-related, such as fisheries and tourism, and even agriculture depends on the precipitation brought by the Asian monsoon. Extreme weather or climate events often cause huge losses to these countries. With the rapid development of economy, this area is facing various common problems under the condition of global climate change, such as marine environmental change, marine ecosystem destruction, sea water pollution, coral reef bleaching, mangrove degradation, and coastal erosion. To effectively solve the above problems and mitigate the resulted damages, the Southeast Asian countries and China should collaborate on ocean observation/monitoring, ocean forecasting, marine environmental protection and management, sustainable exploitation of marine resources, ocean economy development, and early warning of marine disasters, etc.

To strengthen the cooperation among China and the Southeast Asian countries on marine science and technology, totally seven forums have been held during the past nine years. The 1st Forum was held in Bali, Indonesia in November 2013, the 2nd in Phuket, Thailand in November 2014, the 3rd in Qingdao, China in November 2015, the 4th in Siem Reap, Cambodia in December 2016, the 5th in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in December 2017, the 6th in Beihai, China in November 2018, and the 7th in Beihai, China in October, 2021.

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has approved the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) to make efforts on reversing the trend of decline in ocean health and gathering ocean stakeholders worldwide to develop the ocean science that we need for the future. This forum will also respond to the principles of the Ocean Decade and welcomes experts and officials from the Southeast Asian countries and China to discuss and communicate commonly interested topics related to marine science, technology, and policies, with the aim to promote international collaboration for sustainable development of this region.

Goals

The forum aims to:

1) strengthen the exchange and cooperation in the fields of marine ecosystem protection and restoration, marine disaster prevention and mitigation, marine science and technology as well as marine management and policy among the Southeast Asian countries and China.

2) explore to take joint actions to implement the UN “Ocean Decade” visions.

Forum Chairs

Prof. Fangli Qiao, Deputy Director-General, First Institute of Oceanography, MNR, China

Prof. Ocky Karna Radjasa, Chairman, Research Organization for Earth Sciences and Maritime, BRIN, Indonesia

Sessions

The forum includes the following five parallel sessions:

Session 1: Ocean and climate observation, forecasting and services

The marine environments have changed significantly in the recent century due to human activities that modulate natural climate variability. Societal demands on future climate projections supported by observational data are increasing to adapt to and mitigate climate change. This session aims to update our understanding of the ocean and climate system's past, present, and future, especially in the convergent zone of the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Andaman Sea, and South China Sea. While the session invites papers on various topics related to observations (e.g., instrumental, paleo reconstructions) and numerical simulation, we also encourage contributions to state-of-the-art prediction/forecasting, providing accurate and timely services to the community. The applications of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, are also welcome.

Session 2: Marine ecosystem protection, biodiversity conservation and biotechnology development

Healthy and resilient ocean is fundamental to sustainable development. However, a multitude of pressures has threatened the delicate balance of ecosystem functioning and services in the marine environment. Protection of marine biodiversity and function is critical in the maintenance and persistence of marine life and ecosystem. This session will focus on biodiversity and function of marine ecosystems to support marine and coastal development. Topics will include strategies to protect marine ecosystems, marine endangered species, degradation and restoration of typical habitats, health assessment and protection of marine ecosystem functions, effects of environmental pressures (e.g., ocean acidification, ocean warming, pollution, etc) on marine life and ecosystem, coral reef bleaching, etc.

Session 3: Marine geosciences and disaster mitigation

Marine geological processes are concerned with all geological and dynamic aspects of shelves, slopes and ocean basins, and play an important role in understanding Earth evolution, climate change and disaster prevention. This session will focus on sediment source to sink process, environment evolution, disaster prevention and reduction. Especially in Southeast Asia and East Asia area, natural factors and human activities lead to a series of disasters. The marine geological processes, controlling factors and mechanism, and their future evolutional trend will be discussed in this forum.

Session 4: Marine policy and management

Carrying out policy making studies on comprehensive coordination of marine affairs and conflicts, and fully participating in ocean governance and management are the keys to achieving the goals of transforming ocean science solutions for sustainable development and connecting people and our ocean. This session will focus on the Ecosystem-based Management (EBM) policy-making, Nature Based Solution (NbS) and Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) implementation in various marine-related fields, with aims to both enhance marine ecosystem conservation and boost “Blue Economy” sustainable development among China and ASEAN countries.

Session 5: East Asian Summit workshop on developing coastal economy

Venue and Time

The Forum will be held in-person in Nusa Dua Hotel, Bali, Indonesia on 23-24 Nov, 2023.

Information

(1) All participants should register through the website http://www.cseamarineforum.org

(2) The deadline for abstract submission (max. 250 words) is October 10th, 2023;

(3) The deadline for online registration is Oct. 20th, 2023;

(4) Contact information: Dr. Lin Zhou, First Institute of Oceanography, China. Email: guojichu@fio.org.cn

Draft Agenda