The third general meeting of the Japan/Palau International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) secretariat, which convened from 23-24 April 2007 in Tokyo, Japan, was attended by 65 participants, including representatives from 15 countries.

The International Year of the Reef (IYOR) 2008 was a major item of discussion, with IYOR progress presented by France, Japan and the US. The meeting further discussed the need for close cooperation with various international/national organizations and bodies including educational institutions, mass-media and the private sector, including the fishery and tourism industries. The meeting decided that ICRI will, where appropriate, actively promote the International Year of the Reef 2008 at international meetings, such as the G8 Environmental Ministers Meeting in Japan, the ninth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP-9) to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Germany, and COP-10 of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in the Republic of Korea. The members also agreed that the International Coral Reef Symposium in Florida, US, in July 2008, should be used to spread the IYOR message.
To respond to the 2002 WSSD target to “commit to the development of representative networks of marine protected areas by 2012”, the meeting adopted a recommendation encouraging ICRI members to take urgent action to establish and effectively manage representative regional and national networks of MPAs that include coral reefs and related ecosystems. Japan presented a progress report on a database for marine protected areas in 14 East Asian and 5 Micronesia countries, and ICRI members welcomed Japan’s offer to host an International Conference in 2008 to reinforce and improve the Marine Protected Area Network.
Additional issues discussed included the potential impacts of ocean acidification due to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide on coral reefs, connectivity between coral reefs and mangroves, and economic valuation of coral reefs. The current secretariat will transfer to the US and Mexico on 30 June 2007.
Links to further information
Meeting website
IYOR 2008 website