The North-East Asian Subregional Programme for Environmental Cooperation (NEASPEC) organized the first meeting of North-East Asian Marine Protected Areas Network (NEAMPAN) on 19th March 2014 in Incheon, Republic of Korea. The Meeting brought together members from China, Japan, Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation, and international marine programmes. EAAFP was represented, in addition to the Northwest of Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP) of UNEP, Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA), and Mediterranean Network of Marine Protected Areas (MedPAN).
Spike Millington gave a presentation on the importance of MPAs in NE Asia to the conservation of migratory waterbirds and subsequently provided a list of actual and potential MPAs, based on Important Bird Areas in the region, to be considered by member States in nominating target MPAs for the Network. A profile of each selected MPA will be finalized by the end of May and will contain information on the area, geographic location, biodiversity, areas of concern, institutional arrangement, management issues, purposes and reasons for nominating individual MPAs.