Well, today is Thanksgiving and we truly have a lot to be thankful for NOW.  Will tomorrow’s child be able to thank us for keeping our oceans healthy? Will the vibrant blue corals like we can find in Okinawa make it past the flip-flopping politicians and trail of broken promises?  Lets think future! Anything we do now, we need to put into a 22nd Century perspective and act in a way that our most valuable resource “the blue and green natural environment” will be there tomorrow in the sustainable future.  Creating a sustainable future is truly Thanksgiving.

With the territorial disputes in our region, any chance for dialogue is needed and we hope that the countries involved can look towards sustainability, renewable energy and joint marine protected areas, which would increase the fisheries of all bordering countries.

Initiatives like the UNEP Regional Seas North West Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP) and related workshop, which we just hosted, is a collaborative platform coming up to its 20th anniversary.  The NOWPAP operates from the joint Regional Coordinating Unit (RCU) from Busan, South Korea and Toyama, Japan.  Upon establishment of the RCU, in 2005, Coordinator Dr. Alexander Tkalin on behalf of the UNEP Executive Director Mr. Klaus Toepfer stated that the NOWPAP RCU is a “nerve center” to move the NOWPAP towards its ultimate goal of sustainable development of the Northwest Pacific region.  Mr. Toepfer is succeeded by present director Mr. Achim Steiner.

With that in mind, all the presentations of the participants are available now on the NOWPAP Data and Information Network Regional Activity Center (DINRAC).

We will be hearing from Pille Pirn from Estonia very soon, but in the meantime, please check out her power point presentation from the NOWPAP Workshop on Marine Litter and ICC Campaign which took place last month.  This is a great resource for teachers and those interested in the latest in trying to keep our beaches and world clean. http://dinrac.nowpap.org/document-ICC-2013.php

The presentations are from the NOWPAP partner countries Russia, China, Korea and Japan including collaboration from International Coastal Cleanup coordinators from California, Alaska, Hawaii, Indonesia, Philippines and India.

Marine litter is a clear symptom of our failure to in implementing sustainable practices.  As nature works in interconnected systems we learned a new word from Robert Steele during last month’s NGO Forum: “systainability”

Robert is the director at Systainability Asia and a Senior Associate of AtKisson Group.

A huge thank you to all for helping us in Okinawa.

Today we would like to congratulate Alan AtKisson in Stockholm for the Dec. 1 launch of his new green book: “Sustainability is for Everyone”.  Its a little book (49 pages) with a big message on the occasion of his induction in to the ISSP Sustainability Hall of Fame.

You can order his new book now, even though ita official launch date is Dec. 1. http://facebook.com/AlanAtKissonPublic  If you need a free copy for any reason, let him know.

Last week we welcomed students from the Kanagawa Prefecture Arima High School (UNESCO School). We hope to see their students at the World Oceans Day June 8th event at Enoshima which is an hour away.  http://www.arima-h.pen-kanagawa.ed.jp

Stay tuned for cleanup information as we introduce to you our local and international Ocean Champions.

edo@okinawaocean.org

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