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Founding of the Amur-Okhotsk Consortium
Shinichiro
Tabata (Professor, SRC)
An international symposium on “Environmental Conservation of the Sea of
Okhotsk: Cooperation between Japan, China and Russia” was held on 7-8
November as part of the Hokkaido University Sustainability Weeks 2009.
Led by the Pan-Okhotsk Research Center, Institute of Low Temperature
Science at Hokkaido University, the symposium was organized in
cooperation with several institutions including the Slavic Research
Center*1 . International
conferences on the theme of environmental
preservation and conservation of the Sea of Okhotsk have been held
since 2006 on a bilateral basis such as between Japan and Russia, or
Japan and China*2 .
However, what made this international symposium
groundbreaking was the participation of researchers from three
countries including Japan, Russia and China. Furthermore, the biggest
achievement was the founding of the Amur-Okhotsk Consortium, an
international network of scientists for intensive discussion on the
future of the sustainable development in Amur-Okhotsk Region following
the drawing up of a joint declaration.
Some of the speakers presented their findings
based on the results of
research conducted at the Institute of Low Temperature Science and the
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature which clearly took into
serious consideration and identified the significant role of the Sea of
Okhotsk on fishery catches in the Pacific Ocean. Furthermore, several
works revealed the critical function of the inflow from the Amur to the
Sea of Okhotsk while some emphasized that the relation between the Sea
of Okhotsk and Amur River should be called as “the giant fish breeding
forest” and preserved as a whole or as one system.
Other participants pointed that such kind of
remarkable research and
investigation have developed in line with the collaboration between
Japan and Russia, China and Russia, and Japan and China, which is a
result of the end of the Cold War and of the resolution of border
conflicts between China and Russia. The establishment of the consortium
owes much to this improvement in international relations.
The “Joint Declaration by Researchers toward
Environmental Conservation
of the Sea of Okhotsk and Surrounding Regions” that has been adopted at
the symposium includes the following main points: (1) consortium
meeting should be conducted once every 2 years to exchange opinion and
information; (2) while this marks the first meeting of such kind, the
second meeting will be held in 2011 in Sapporo; (3) the provisional
secretariat should be established at the Pan-Okhotsk Research Center,
Institute of Low Temperature Science; (4) the provisional secretaries
appointed are Naoto Ebuchi (Institute of Low Temperature Science),
Peter Baklanov (Pacific Institute of Geography of the Far Eastern
Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences), and Da Zhigang
(Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences). This
groundbreaking symposium will become a historical benchmark for the
development of research regarding environmental conservation of
Pan-Okhotsk Region.
Joint
Declaration by Researchers toward the Environmental Conservation of the
Sea of Okhotsk and Surrounding Regions
- The Sea of Okhotsk is not only an important
source for rich marine resources as the exclusive economic zones for
Russia and Japan, but also for neighboring Asian countries such as
China and Mongolia that do not share direct boundaries with the Sea.
Moreover, since the Sea lies in the southern boundary of the seasonal
sea ice in the northern hemisphere and affected by the warm and cold
currents, it is home to a distinct ecosystem and has evolved into a
rich biodiversity.
- With the progress in scientific research in
recent years, it has been revealed that the primary production and the
biodiversity that depends on the Sea of Okhotsk and the neighboring
Oyashio region is greatly affected by and mutually dependent on not
only the sea waters but also land. Amongst these, the largest river
that flows into the Sea of Okhotsk, the Amur River, supplies a great
amount of dissolved iron to both the Sea of Okhotsk and the Oyashio sea
waters, which contributes to the high primary production of these sea
waters. This discovery has been made by our research efforts that
identified the physical and biological linkage between the land-surface
environment on a continental scale and the open seas. In other words,
the Sea of Okhotsk and the neighboring Oyashio region as well as the
Amur River form an enormous ecosystem that transcends the boundaries
between sea and land. It is a special and great concern for countries
of the Amur River region and for the countries neighboring the Sea of
Okhotsk to identify the unique mechanism of the ecosystem and to
consider the future of the natural environment of the Amur-Okhotsk
ecosystem.
- In recent years, various human activities in
the Northeast Asian region have resulted in the deterioration of the
water quality of the Amur River and there are concerns about the effect
this will have on the natural environment of the Sea of Okhotsk. We
researchers will pay significant attention to evaluating how such human
activities will affect the nature of the Sea of Okhotsk in the future.
Moreover, we have also reached a common understanding that in order to
ensure the sustainable development of this region we must deepen our
academic knowledge on the research, conservation and the rational and
sustainable use of the ecosystem of the concerned region.
- The region of the Sea of Okhotsk and the
natural environment of the Amur River Basin shares borders with the 4
countries of China, Japan, Mongolia and Russia, therefore, the
cooperation among these countries is significantly important for the
conservation of this region. Up until now, at the governmental level,
various bilateral frameworks for environmental cooperation among China,
Japan, Mongolia and Russia have been implemented. However, currently
there are no multilateral frameworks agreed upon among these countries.
Therefore, even at the researchers’ level there are no sufficient
sharing of information and not enough opportunity to reach a common
recognition of what the problems are. Thus, we researchers that share a
common understanding will voluntarily participate in discussions of the
problems taking into consideration the range and scope of the bilateral
frameworks and the rights and obligations in international law, while
paying full respect to the domestic legal obligations of each country.
We have also come to a common recognition of the necessity to cooperate
in terms of research and actions to discuss the possibilities and
effectiveness of common use of information while sharing and exchanging
information and opinion on a regular basis concerning what is necessary
and what must be done for the conservation of the Sea of Okhotsk and
the Amur River Basin.
While taking into
consideration the points above, we firmly agree to the following:
- To promote the sharing of information to the
degree that can be disclosed by researchers of each country;
- To make efforts toward a cooperative
environmental monitoring;
- To facilitate the robust discussions that
transcends borders toward an environmental conservation and sustainable
use of the resources of the Amur River Basin and the Sea of Okhotsk;
- To establish the "Amur-Okhotsk Consortium" as a
multilateral researchers' network to promote the above 3 goals.
(1)Establishment of the "Amur-Okhotsk Consortium"
- We researchers will establish a
researchers' network "Amur-Okhotsk Consortium" as a platform to discuss
issues grounded on scientific knowledge for the purpose of sharing a
common recognition through the exchange of opinion and discussions on
the natural environment of the Sea of Okhotsk and the Amur River Basin.
This network is a non-governmental network and has not been founded on
or by any particular country or organization. This is a personal
network comprised of voluntarily participating researchers who share a
common awareness and for the possibility of a free discussion by
researchers on the future of the ecosystem of the Amur-Okhotsk.
(2)Provisional Secretaries, the Establishment of the Provisional
Secretariat and the Meeting of the Consortium
- The Consortium will hold a meeting once
every 2 years and exchange information and opinions. This symposium
will mark the 1st meeting. The 2nd meeting will be held in Sapporo in
2011. The provisional secretariat will be established at the
Pan-Okhotsk Research Center at the Institute of Low Temperature
Science, Hokkaido University. Moreover, the provisional secretaries of
the participating countries will be as follows: Zhigang DA
(Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences) representing the
Chinese researchers, Peter BAKLANOV (Far Eastern Branch of the Russian
Academy of Sciences) representing the Russian researchers, and Naoto
EBUCHI (Institute of Low Temperature Sciences, Hokkaido University)
representing the Japanese researchers. The Mongolian secretary will be
decided in 2010 upon consultation. The establishment of the formal
secretariat, secretaries and the next meeting will be decided on at the
2nd meeting.
(3)Function of the Consortium and Achievements
- The information that has been accumulated
and organized with the cooperation of the members of the Consortium
will be provided to the global community through the internet. We will
continue to discuss ways to utilize and apply the knowledge and common
recognition obtained through the Consortium to the environmental
conservation of the Amur-Okhotsk ecosystem.
This document does not
bind the 4 countries or the researchers from these countries with
special legal obligations. It is a voluntary joint declaration signed
by each individual researcher or one’s affiliated research institute.
Moreover, this document is not an international agreement nor is it
internationally binding. Therefore, the document shall not influence
the domestic laws or legal positions and viewpoints of the 4
participating countries, and furthermore, shall not influence the
rights and obligations in international law among China, Japan,
Mongolia and Russia regarding the environmental investigation or the
accumulation and sharing of information of the Sea of Okhotsk and Amur
River Basin.
November 8th,
2009
Members of the Consortium
Environmental Conservation of the Sea of Okhotsk:
Cooperation between Japan, China and Russia
1)The
other sponsors are Research Institute for Humanity and Nature; New
Energy Resources Research Center, Kitami Institute of Technology;
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Hokkaido
Regional Development Bureau; International Science and Technology
Center (ISTC); Hokkaido University Initiative for Sustainable
Development. It was also co-sponsored by the Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science & Technology Japan.
2)Pan-Okhotsk
international conferences held so far are as follows: The 1st
conference “International Partnership for Conservation of the Sea of
Okhotsk and the Rich Fishery Resources” on February 27th, 2006; 2nd
conference “Toward Sustainable Development of the Regions Surrounding
the Ice Bound Sea” on January 23th, 2007; 3rd conference “Toward
Expansion of Economic and Environmental Exchange between Hokkaido and
the Russian Far East” on January 30th, 2008; Special Program “Hokkaido
& the Russian Far East Environment Forum For Sustainable
Development” (Integrated Exhibition of the Environment in commemoration
of Toyako Summit 2008) on June 19th, 2008; 4th Pan-Okhotsk Region
International Symposium “Research Cooperation between China and
Hokkaido toward a Sustainable Environment and Sustainable Aquatic
Resources” on March 24th, 2009.
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