Our Goal
to Preserve beautiful nature for the next generation.
Bays, inland seas, archipelagos and other ocean areas that are
substantially closed off by land regions have outstanding natural attributes that
have caused them to become centers for fishing, industry, maritime transport and
recreation since ancient times. These regions have nurtured a variety of cultures
and have ensured rich and fulfilling lives for their inhabitants, Ensuring that
the bounties of these enclosed coastal seas, which are a treasure for all of humanity,
are passed on to future generations in the next century is a tremendous responsibility.
Accordingly, the International EMECS Center was established in November
1 994 in Kobe Japan through the cooperation of concerned persons and organizations.
Its purpose is to create new prospects for the preservation of the environments
of the Seto Inland Sea and other enclosed coastal seas throughout the world.
Since its establishment, the Center has sponsored the Third International Conference
on the Environmental Management of Enclosed Coastal Seas (EMECS) in Stockholm,
Sweden (August 1997) and the Fourth EMECS conference in Antalya, Turkey in November
1 999. The Center issues a newsletter and has been building a database to gather
and make available general information pertaining to the environmental management
of enclosed coastal seas, It also conducts training in environmental management
techniques and holds a course on environmental preservation for government officials
from developing countries in an effort to train personnel who will be engaged
in environmental conservation of coastal seas.
However, although the environment
is improving in some enclosed coastal seas throughout the world, in most areas
habitat environments are worsening; both species and populations are declining,
and ocean catches are diminishing. If these trends continue, enclosed coastal
sea environments will continue to deteriorate, and this may even have a major
adverse impact on the global environment as a whole, As a result, increasingly
there are calls for the Center to implement more aggressive measures, making enhancement
of its information-providing and research functions necessary.
It is
for these reasons that the International EMECS Center has reorganized as a body
that is authorized by the Japanese govemment in April 2000. The new Center will
form a solid base for the creation of an organized network linking governments,
researchers, companies, private citizens and other entities for enhanced academic
exchanges on an international level, as well as conducting research and training
and providing support activities, in order to preserve existing enclosed coastal
sea environments and create new ones, and to heip establish a society capable
of sustainable development in which human beings can coexist with the tremendous
diversity of nature. | | |
 |
| Chesapeak Bay(U.S.A) |  |
| Mediterranian
Sea(Turkey) |  |
| The Seto Inland Sea(Japan) |
|
