Restricted Distribution IOC/SC-WESTPAC-XI/11.10 Bangkok, 16 March 2017 English only

INTERGOVERNMENTAL OCEANOGRAPHIC COMMISSION (of UNESCO) Eleventh Intergovernmental Session of the IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific (WESTPAC-XI) Qingdao, China, 21-23 April 2017

Item 5.2.3 of the Provisional Agenda

PROGRESS REPORT ON DNA TAXONOMY AND RECRUITMENT MONITORING OF

THE CORAL REEF MARINE ORGANISMS (May 2015–April 2017)

In accordance with Terms of Reference of IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific, the report is provided to facilitate the consideration by the Sub-Commission on the progress made on the WESTPAC project on DNA Taxonomy and Recruitment Monitoring of the Coral Reef Marine Organisms.

The report presents a summary of the activities and results of this project over the last intersessional period. The Sub-Commission is invited to consider its workplan for the next intersessional period.

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I. Project

1. DNA Taxonomy and Recruitment Monitoring of the Coral Reef Marine Organisms

II. Project objectives and expected outputs/outcomes

l To enhance national and regional capacity for species identification and genetic analysis

l To establish a genetic marker called DNA barcode for each species as a standard measures for objective identification

l To build an inventory of marine organisms living in the coral reefs in WESTPAC countries and share the information among member countries for the assessment of biodiversity

l To monitor recruitment of the reef organisms by analyzing the larvae and fries

2. The expected outcomes include:

l Promoting knowledge and capacity for protecting the sustainably managing the ocean and coasts

l Strengthening regional research network l Production of an inventory of coral reef marine organisms l Development of national projects for biodiversity database building and DNA barcoding

III. Principal Investigator (Chairperson) and Project Steering Group

3. Principal Investigator: Dr Youn-Ho Lee, Principal Research Scientist, Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST), Republic of Korea

4. The Steering Group include:

l Indonesia: Mr. Ludi Parwadani Aji and Andriani Widyas l Korea: Mr. Jinwoo Jung l Malaysia: Dr. Siti Azizah Mohd Nor and Dr. Aileen Tan l Philippines: Dr. Ephrime B. Metillo l Thailand: Dr. Somkiat Khokiattiwong, Dr. Suchana Chavanich l Vietnam: Dr. Vo Si Tuan

IV. Terms of Reference of the Project Steering Group

Composition

5. The Project Steering Group consists of representatives of the member states of WESTPAC who are currently participating in the project. The Project Leader is identified by IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific and serves as the Chairperson of this Steering Group. Other countries which are interested in the project, through its IOC National Focal Point shall designate one or two steering group members with genetic expertise and/or species identification in consultation with the Project Leader.

Function

6. The Project Steering Group is established to meet the scientific, managerial implementation, and resource needs of the project ‘DNA taxonomy and recruitment monitoring of the coral reef marine organisms’. It has overall responsibility for the formulation of strategy and for the planning and coordination of the project.

IOC/SC-WESTPAC-XI/11.10 page 2 7. The Group will carry out the following functions: 1. Review the regional concerns on marine biodiversity and identify the project requirements; 2. Promote efficient and cost-effective implementation of the WESTPAC Project and prepare recommendations on this implementation to the IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific; 3. Identify the resources necessary to meet the project needs; 4. Ensure effective interaction and communication with IOC/WESTPAC as well as other regional intergovernmental (NOWPAP, PEMSEA, PICES) and non-governmental (e.g., SCOR) organizations involved in research on genetic diversity; and 5. Report to the IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific

V. Activities carried out and/or to be carried out during the last intersessional period (May 2015 – April 2017)

1. Development of the 2nd phase of DRMREEF

8. The first phase of the project has completed during March 2013 - December 2014 with the following achievements: i. regional research network was well established among relevant institutes that are experienced in the taxonomy of marine organisms in the coral reef ecosystem and interested to develop their capacity for DNA taxonomy in the identification of marine organisms in reef ecosystems; ii. regional training workshop was provided (20-21 April 2014, Nha Trang, Vietnam), and regional scientific workshops were organized (5-6 August 2013, 23 April 2014, and 4-5 December 2014); iii. The WESTPC marine biodiversity portal site was constructed and 1000 marine organism data were collected, deposited and shared through the portal

9. According to the decision in the warp-up workshop of the first phase of the project (4-5 December 2014) and the approval of the IOC/SC-WESTPAC-X session, the 2nd phase of the project was developed. The Republic of Korea agreed to provide financial support for continuation of the project. The project is being implemented in partnership with marine scientific institutes and universities in the region that are working on the taxonomy of marine organisms in the coral reef ecosystem and interested to develop their capacity for DNA taxonomy in the identification of marine organisms in reef ecosystems. Those partners include the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (Republic of Korea); Indonesia Institute of Science (Indonesia); Universiti Sains Malaysia (Malaysia); Mindanao State University (Philippines); Chulalongkorn University (Thailand); Phuket Marine Biological Center (Thailand); and Institute of Oceanography (Vietnam).

10. According to the approved workplan, the project is to be implemented through the conduct of regional and national training workshop(s) and/or consultations to introduce the genetic method and keep strengthening research network in the region, collect and share species and marine biodiversity information among the countries. These workshop(s) and consultations will gather more than 20 experts and researchers in this field from all countries in the Western Pacific with a couple of leading experts from outside the region if needed. Moreover, the established WESTPAC

IOC/SC-WESTPAC-XI/11.10 page 3

Biodiversity portal system of the marine organisms living in the Coral Triangle and neighbouring coral reefs, http://www.en-gis.com:8088/westpac/, will be continuously used for data archival with data to be inputted by participating countries.

2. Project inception workshop

11. During the reporting period of 25 January 2016 – 31 December 2016, extensive discussions had been made mainly through correspondence with participating institutions for the project implementation. Several small-scale consultations with respective institutions were also made in order to further understand their priority needs in order to better integrate their needs to be in line with the project objectives at the second phase.

12. These regional consultations finally led to the Inception Workshop, which was held in Qingdao, China, 1-2 December 2016, with the objectives to review the implementation status of this project since its first phase, identify challenges and constraints, and further come up with an action/implementation plan for its second phase (June 2016–January 2018).

13. A total of 12 scientists and experts from seven institutes in the region participated in the workshop. The two-day workshop was conducted with its objectives achieved completely. Each participant actively participated in the workshop and presented the progress made during the transitional period of DRMREEF-I to DRMREEF-II. They finalized the template for the data to be collected for the project second phase. In addition, the preparations of contracts with 6 participating institutions were discussed concerning their marine biodiversity data collection, analysis and

IOC/SC-WESTPAC-XI/11.10 page 4 archival. The six participating countries will submit their activity proposal and work plan to the UNESCO-IOC Regional Office for the Western Pacific for review.

14. The agenda of the inception workshop are following:

1. Opening and self-introduction of participants 2. Brief on the main results of the first phase (DRMREEF-I)

- Dr. Youn-Ho Lee (Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology) - Mr. Jinwoo Jung (EnGIS Co., Ltd.)

3. Information exchange and update on the current status of national marine biodiversity information and capacity - coral reef species identification and genetic analysis - publicly available databases on marine organisms in the WESTPAC region: · Indonesia (Dr. Ludi Parwadani Aji & Dr Adriani Widyas, LIPI/RCO); Malaysia (Dr Aileen Tan Shau Hwai & Dr Siti Azizah Mohd Nor, Universiti Sains Malaysia) Philippines (Dr Ephrime B. Metillo, Mindanao State University) Thailand (Dr Suchana Chavanich, Chulalongkorn University & Dr Somkiat Khokiattiwong, Phuket Marine Biological Center) Vietnam (Dr Vo Si Tuan, Institute of Oceanography) Korea (Dr Youn-Ho Lee, Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology)

4. Brainstorming on actionable workplan for the second phase until January 2018 - Input of species information: format and size (species number) - Update/operation of the WESTPAC marine biodiversity portal (Mr. Jinwoo Jung) - Capacity building workshop

5. Other matters - Side meeting during the 10th WESTPAC international conference

6. Closure

3. Collection of marine biodiversity information

15. In accordance with agreement reached, participating institutions respectively from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, are being conducting activities required in the implementation of DRMREEF project including collection of marine biodiversity information.

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4. Mid-term workshop for the progress of the project

According to the decision of the inception meeting, a mid-term workshop of the project will be held during the 10th WESTPAC international scientific conference (17 – 20 April 2017, Qingdao, China) and the progress of the activities was reviewed. The workshop agenda are following:

1. Opening and self-introduction of participants 2. Brief introduction of the DRMREEF-II project: objectives and activities

Dr. Youn-Ho Lee (Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology) 3. Information exchange and brief update on the progress of data collection and

WESTPAC Portal System construction since the inception workshop • Indonesia (Dr. Ludi Parwadani Aji & Dr. Adriani Widyas, LIPI/RCO) • Malaysia (Dr. Aileen Tan Shau Hwai & Dr. Siti Azizah Mohd Nor, Universiti

Sains Malaysia) • Philippines (Dr. Ephrime B. Metillo, Mindanao State University) • Thailand (Dr. Suchana Chavanich, Chulalongkorn University & Dr. Somkiat

Khokiattiwong, Phuket Marine Biological Center) • Vietnam (Dr. Vo Si Tuan, Institute of Oceanography) • Korean GIS company (Mr. Jinwoo Jung, EnGIS Co., Ltd.)

4. Support of the capacity building workshops • A regional training workshop: Indonesian RTRC-MARBEST (Dr. Zainal

Arifin & Dr. Ludi Parwadani Aji, LIPI/RCO) • A national training workshop: Thai ocean acidification workshop (Dr

Somkiat Khokiattiwong, Phuket Marine Biological Center) 5. Discussion on the possibility of publishing a regional marine biodiversity book

with the WESTPAC portal input data: suggestion (Dr. Youn-Ho Lee) 6. Other matters

• Wrap-up workshop: time and place • Future of the project: possibility of the 3rd phase of DRMREEF?

7. Closure

5. Expansion of the WESTPAC Marine Biodiversity Portal System

16. A Korean GIS company (EnGIS Co., Ltd.) has been contracted to design the DB schema and build physical DB for marine organisms, biodiversity and biogeography, and to develop data portal and the application software for the presentation and management of biodiversity DB. Five countries above, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam have also been contracted to submit their biodiversity data. Approximately 200 data from each participating country are going to be submitted and checked with the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). The data include taxonomic information, collecting information such as the location and date, specimen information such as photos and description, and DNA barcode information if available.

VI. Problems encountered and actions to be considered by the 11th Intergovernmental Session, tentatively scheduled for April 21-23, 2017, Qingdao, China

17. The time for carrying out the second phase of the project has left only several months to the end, January 2018 and so it is highly recommended that the participating institutions in the project need to dedicate more time and effort in performing the planned activities and fulfilling the project objectives.

IOC/SC-WESTPAC-XI/11.10 page 6 VII. Workplan and Budget for May 2017 – May 2019

Project

Funding Required

Remark Activities Objectives Expected outputs/outcomes

Date and place IOC

Other sources (i.e. from

national or international)

DNA Taxonomy and Recruitment Monitoring of the Coral Reef Marine Organisms

1. Expansion of inventories in each participating institutions

To expand marine biodiversity database in each participating country

Update in marine biodiversity information

Continuous, each country (in kind) (USD 35,000)

(ROK)

2. Operation and expansion of data in the WESTPAC marine biodiversity portal system

To expand biodiversity information on coral reef marine organisms

Expanded marine biodiversity portal

Continuous, Seoul, Korea (in kind) (USD 40,000)

(ROK)

3. Training on DNA barcoding and recruitment monitoring

To exchange genetic analysis technique and enhance species identification

Workshop report

Oct. 2017; Jakarta,

Indonesia

(in kind) (USD 40,000) (ROK)

4. Wrap-up workshop To review the results of the project

Project summary report

Dec. 2017; Pucket, Thailand

(in kind) (USD 35,000) (ROK)

5. Planning workshop for the 3rd phase

To make a plan for the 3rd phase of the project Implementation plan Feb. 2018

Seoul, Korea (in kind) (USD 35,000) (ROK)

6. Operation and expansion of data in the WESTPAC marine biodiversity portal

To expand the marine biodiversity database and service to the public

Expansion of marine biodiversity portal

Continuous, Seoul, Korea (in kind) (USD 40,000)

(ROK)