Outputs
1) Guideline
(1) The project will invite all APEC economies, especially The United States, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Thailand (funded), Malaysia, Indonesia (funded) and other economies to exchange mangrove protection, in addition to inviting Chile (funded) to introduce the experience of the community of the Reserva Marina de la Isla Grande de Chiloe (funded) to participate in Marine monitoring and tourism development. Peru was invited (funded) to present its experience in sustainable fisheries management in Marine protected areas. Both economies have experience in balancing conservation and development, so they are included in the invitation. These economies will be involved in the survey and case studies and participate in the workshop.
(2) Prepare and disseminate the online Questionaries among these APEC economies. The questionnaire survey will focus on: (i) local problems and challenges; (ii) local community and governmental actions, best practiced and policies to cope these problems and challenges; (iii) suggested priority areas for cooperation and match the needs of economies.
(3) Conduct on-line workshop with relevant economies to brief the survey findings and conclusions, and discuss and develop policy and technical recommendations to be incorporated into the guideline.
(4) Develop the guideline for the conservation of community-based marine biodiversity in APEC economies. The guideline will address the ecological pressures, problems threatening the marine biodiversity such as debris and sewage water discharge from the local communities, fishing activities, etc.
(5） The guideline will address the maior problems and factors threatening the marine biodiversities, such as debris and sewage water emissions from the local communities fishing activities, etc. The guideline will also highlight key conservation priority areas, the major intervention actions and policies for achieving sustainable management of marine resources and community development. Conservation actions will include community campaign for collecting wastes; public outreach on conservation of marine resources, e.g. mangrove forest management, change of the marine resource use pattern and support alternative livelihoods, etc. China's case collection is mainly concentrated in Guangxi, Guangdong and Shandong.
(6) The guideline will be finalized after the workshop, the case studies from economies and agreed policy recommendations, actions will be incorporated into the final version as important output to become APEC Publication. Disseminate the Guideline among APEC economies through APEC website and presentation to APEC relevant forums and workshops, seminars and symposia, etc. (refer to section of Dissemination).
2) Workshop
A 3-day workshop will be held in Zhuhai , Guangdong Province, P.R.China. Government officials, researchers and community representatives from at least six economies will be invited, especially female practitioners, and the number of participants is expected to be 100.
The workshop will include thematic plenary workshop, forums and field trip. The thematic forums will be devoted to the exchange of experiences, best practices and case studies on topics including species distribution models, identification of biodiversity hotspots, policy case studies, community engagement, etc. And in order to more intuitively observe the ecological restoration effect of mangroves in the protected area, understand the Marine biodiversity, and further understand the sustainable development of local communities through face-to-face communication with local community residents, the project will arrange a one-day field trip to marine and mangrove Protected Areas.The site is a typical protected area of a successful mangrove conservation model and a demonstration site for Marine biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in the community.
For achieving the output 2, following activities will be undertaken: (1) Prepare the workshop agenda:
a) 9. September 2025: Arrival of domestic and international participants in CHINA;
10, September 2025: The International Workshop on Marine Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development. The workshop will be held in the format of plenary session and thematic Forums. Plenary session will present and discuss the formulated draft guideline (output 1) the forum sessions will focus on the matics, such as Sustainable Marine biodiversity and community development; policies and actions of APEC economies; best cases for marine biodiversity conservation; The importance of women's participation in Marine conservation. To ensure the active participation of community stakeholders, the plenary workshop and forum sessions will be facilitated by moderators.
c) 11 September 2025：field trip to Protected Areas and Local community
Protected Areas site introduction brochures will be prepared by the organizers and distributed to participants prior to the field trip.
8:30-9:30 Gather at the designated place and take the bus to the Qi’ao Mangrove Reserve in Zhuhai.
9:40-10:10 After arriving at the reserve, the staff of the reserve introduced the basic situation, ecological value and achievements in Marine biodiversity protection and mangrove protection and restoration of the Qi’ao-Dandan Island Nature Reserve in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province in the conference room.
10:20-11:20 Visit the mangrove reserve on foot to see the mangrove restoration on the spot and explain the techniques and measures taken in the restoration process.
11:30-13:00 Arrange a simple lunch in the reserve, while exchanging the morning's observations.
13:00-14:00 Local community representatives are invited to share their experiences and stories on Marine biodiversity conservation and mangrove conservation in the conference room.
14:00-16:00 Take a bus to 3 alternative livelihood demonstration sites and visit environmentally sound alternative livelihood projects, ecotourism, etc., to learn about their operation model and economic benefits.
16:30-17:30 Return to hotel by bus.
d) 12 September 2025: Plenary workshop for exchange of field trip findings, review and improve the guideline, discuss the follow up cooperation actions, etc.
e) After the close-up of the workshop activities, a workshop post-event evaluation survey will be conducted by the organizer to invite participants to assess the performance.
During the workshop, APEC economies share successful cases of community-based biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. After discussions, participants agree to recommend 1-2 outstanding successful cases to the APEC.
3) Project Summary Report
Prepare a project summary report with a minimum of 20 pages excluding annexes to summarize how the project implemented, the major outputs and policy recommendations and suggestions for future collaboration activities.
The Project Summary Report will not be APEC Publication.
Outcomes
1) Enhanced awareness and commitment of the participants, particularly women and community stakeholders, to conserving community-based marine biodiversity and sustainable development.
2) Improved skills and knowledge of the participants in marine resource management, marine Protected Area conservation and performance assessment, policy implementation and assessment of the conservation effectiveness.
3) Cooperation among APEC economies are promoted and sustained by exchanging experience on community- based marine biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.
4) Enhanced stakeholder engagement (especially of women) through an inclusive and participatory consultation process at the international workshop under facilitation of consultation moderators.
Beneficiaries
Criteria for the selection of participants may include the following：
The ideal participants for the project should possess expertise and experience in fields like marine debris treatment, marine biodiversity conservation, environmental protection, and sustainable development. They should include government officials, policy makers, researchers and representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from natural resource management, fisheries management or marine management in APEC economies that are relevant to the conservation of marine biodiversity. Candidates should demonstrate a commitment to the project's objectives, excellent communication skills, teamwork abilities, and a shared interest in promoting marine biodiversity conservation and economic development. Preference will be given to female stakeholders.
Beneficiaries may include the following groups of people:
(1) The primary beneficiaries will be the Workshop participants, such as community residents, government officials, researchers, NGOs, etc.
The project aims to engage government officials, policy makers, researchers, and NGO representatives to strengthen their expertise in marine debris treatment, marine biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. Local communities, fishermen, farmers, and businesses will benefit from the project's initiatives, improving their economic conditions and living environment. Policy makers will receive scientific policy advice for coordinating conservation efforts. Researchers and analysts will gain knowledge and practical experience in ecological conservation, fostering academic exchange. The project is committed to gender equality, promoting equal opportunities and resources for male and female participants to ensure balanced gender participation and benefits.
(2) Secondary beneficiaries are those that may not attend the event but may benefit from the project outputs and publications, such as government agencies, international organizations, researchers and NGOs who were not able to participate in the event. More wider beneficiaries though publication of the guidelines , such as government agencies, international organizations, researchers, NGOs and so on. After the Secretariat’s review and approval. The guidelines will be published through the APEC website, distributed to relevant international organizations and other economies, and presented at relevant forums and seminars. This will create a steady stream of secondary beneficiaries.
