The 23rd Roundtable Meeting on the Involvement of the Business/Private Sector in the Sustainability of the Marine Environment under the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum kicked off Aug. 27 in Taipei City, according to the Ocean Affairs Council.
Hosted by the OAC, the two-day event involved 17 panelists from Taiwan, Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Korea, the Philippines and the U.S. discussing ways to achieve economic resilience and sustainability through marine conservation. More than 100 participants from 11 member economies took part in the event in person or online, the agency said.
During her opening remarks, OAC Minister Kuan Bi-ling said Taiwan’s Marine Conservation Act, which was passed by the Legislative Yuan last month, is the government’s response to the pressing challenges of climate change, marine pollution, threatened biodiversity and habitat destruction.
Kuan said the legislation also includes Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures as part of the country’s marine approach. Since the concept is new to Taiwan, the minister anticipated that participating panelists would share their countries’ experience to help the government craft future policy.
Mónica Rojas Noack, chair of the APEC Oceans and Fisheries Working Group, commended Taiwan for taking an active part in protecting the ocean environment, citing its role as host of the roundtable meeting since the initiative was first proposed in 2000. She also took the opportunity to congratulate Taiwan on passing the Marine Conservation Act and thanked Taiwan for its continuous contributions to marine sustainability. (SFC-E)
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