Restoring Yellow Sea’s ecosystem through marine litter management, integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA), and wetland protection

Oceans and seas contribute approximately $3-6 trillion annually to the global economy in terms of the market value of goods and services including fisheries, energy, shipping, tourism, recreational, and mining sectors, as well as non-market ecosystem services such as climate regulation, nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration.More than 200 million people live in areas around the Yellow Sea and there are several important port cities along its coastline. It is home to 321 fish species from 113 families, an important stop-over site for over 50 million migratory waterbirds, and a critical habitat for several endangered marine mammals. In China, the marine GDP of the coastal regions along the Yellow Sea was at CNY2.54 trillion in 2016. While in RO Korea, the GDP of its coastal regions along the Yellow Sea accounts for 37.6 percent of the country.Yet, the integrity of these ocean values and services is at significant risk. Human interference poses the biggest threat to oceans with increasing marine pollution coming from land-based activities, depleting fish stocks, habitat degradation and loss, agricultural wastes and other runoff, and increasing temperatures causing sea level rise, among others.Anchored on ecosystem-based principles, the Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem (YSLME) Phase II Project, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has been advancing innovations by facilitating research, best practices, integrated policies, new tools/technologies, and collaborative works to address key transboundary issues in the Yellow Sea. In collaboration with various partners, and in celebration of World Oceans Day 2020, the project launched three videos showcasing some of these initiatives and innovations in the Yellow Sea region.

Project 4343: UNDP/GEF Yellow Sea LME Phase II Project