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Restoring and protecting one of the world’s most significant Large Marine Ecosystems – the Yellow Sea: Launch of “The YSLME Story”

GEF-UNDP-YSLME II Project

By IW:LEARN

January 21^st, 2022

Press Release

With some 700 marine species including fish, crustaceans, mollusks and others, the Yellow Sea is a unique marine ecosystem that serves as the home of several endangered and threatened marine mammals and is a key stop over site for 50 million migratory birds. Key economic sectors in the Yellow Sea include fisheries, aquaculture, oil and gas, port development and tourism. In the early 1990s, the Yellow Sea was one of the most degraded of the world’s 64 Large Marine Ecosystems, facing significant pollution, overfishing, invasive species and habitat loss, with associated socioeconomic impacts on the 200 million people who reside in the Yellow Sea’s coastal area. In the mid-nineties, a new partnership aimed at restoring and protecting the Yellow Sea was initiated between UNDP, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the UN Office of Project Services (UNOPS), the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the governments of the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Korea. Over the next twenty years, a series of GEF-financed projects has supported both countries in the identification and implementation of significant stress reduction measures which have demonstrably improved overall environmental quality in the ecosystem.

The first phase of GEF-financed support assisted the countries in the technical process of preparing a Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) of the Yellow Sea which identified, characterized and prioritized the priority environmental threats to the Sea as well as the immediate and root causes behind each of these threats. The prioritized threats included unsustainable fishing and mariculture, pollution especially nutrients and plastics, ecosystem changes (e.g. eutrophication, harmful algal blooms, etc.) and threats to biodiversity including habitat loss and invasive species. The TDA then served as the technical foundation for the bilateral negotiation of a Strategic Action Programme (SAP) which articulated country commitments to a range of stress reduction measures and targets such as reduction in fishing pressure, improved mariculture practices, reduction in nutrient loads and marine litter, and others. The SAP was endorsed at the ministerial level in both countries in November 2009 and its implementation commenced.

The Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem infographic. Image credit: YSLME Phase II project, 2020

As the Yellow Sea region enters a new decade and in celebration of its 20 years of cooperation, the Governments of PR China and RO Korea together with UNDP, GEF, UNOPS and various partners from local, national, regional and international level are proud to launch a milestone publication entitled, “The YSLME Story: Management and Governance for the Restoration and Protection of the Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem”.

Download the report here

Cover of — Cover of "The YSLME Story" report. Image credit: YSLME Phase II project, 2022

Showcasing the challenges, experiences, lessons learned, and innovative best practices of the overall GEF investment in the Yellow Sea, The YSLME Story highlights numerous tangible impacts resulting from the implementation of the YSLME SAP from 2009 to 2020.

Through the application of integrated, ecosystem-based approaches, the YSLME Project cooperation has demonstrated significant stress reduction and environmental quality improvements and socio-economic benefits including:

Reduction in fishing effort or number of fishing vessels by 22% and 17% in Yellow Sea areas of PR China and RO Korea, respectively, supported by re-employment training for fishermen to transition to alternative and sustainable livelihood opportunities;
Increase of critical habitats as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) with 207,000 ha of new MPAs contributing to covering 5.5% of the total areas of Yellow Sea;
Scaling up of integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) covering some 13,000 ha and producing over 200,000 metric tonnes of sustainable seafood products every year;
A more than seven-fold increase in the catch per unit effort in RO Korea’s marine ranching sites, and 5 to 6 fold return on investment observed in marine ranching sites in both countries;
Measurable decrease in marine litter (density litter in surface water; density of benthic litter; and number, weight and volume of macro debris);
Improvement in water quality in key management areas in RO Korea (decrease of pollution load by 15% in Sihwa Lake) through the application of Total Pollution Load Management System (TPLMS);
Decline in number of harmful algal blooms (HABs) incidence, with none observed in 2016 and 2017.

Senior officials from each of the YSLME partners praised the work of the YSLME programme in a series of forewords to the publication:

With the adoption of the SAP 2021-2030, the MNR will continue to take innovative efforts to implement management actions to achieve the targets and objectives of enhancing ecosystem resilience through ecosystem-based and integrated coastal management. – Hong Wang, Vice Minister, Ministry of Natural Resources, PR of China

Restoring and protecting one of the world’s most significant Large Marine Ecosystems – the Yellow Sea: Launch of “The YSLME Story”

The YSLME Phase II Project has been wrapped up with much success as well as the implementation of Post-YSLME is planned to take place in order to inherit the past achievement and agreement. RO Korea stays committed to achieve the goals of YSLME which aims to build a harmonious environment both for the mankind and the nature with deepened commitment and determination followed by the regional and national cooperation. - Ki-Doo Eom, Vice Minister, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Republic of Korea

Restoring and protecting one of the world’s most significant Large Marine Ecosystems – the Yellow Sea: Launch of “The YSLME Story”

The YSLME project has played an important role in advancing knowledge and good practices on sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, in the YSLME region and in other LMEs. Engagement of various stakeholders from governments, civil society, academia and the business sector have fostered strong regional and national collaboration on YSLME ocean governance, directly informing formulation and adoption of national policies and regulations. - Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, CEO and Chairperson, GEF

Restoring and protecting one of the world’s most significant Large Marine Ecosystems – the Yellow Sea: Launch of “The YSLME Story”

A defining feature of the project has been its role in advancing effective multi-country governance towards the sustainable use of the Yellow Sea’s unique marine and coastal resources. In this Decade of Action for the Sustainable Development Goals, the many tangible results achieved as a result of our cooperation can serve as an inspiration to drive forward the protection and restoration of other vital marine ecosystems across the globe. - Achim Steiner, Administrator, UNDP

Restoring and protecting one of the world’s most significant Large Marine Ecosystems – the Yellow Sea: Launch of “The YSLME Story”

Bi-national commitment to the SAP 2010-2020 has facilitated institutional restructuring as well as development of various ecosystem-based policies and plans in both countries and consensus on an updated SAP for 2021-2030. The YSLME governance mechanism is transitioning from an interim mechanism (the Interim Commission Council) under the UNDP/GEF project to the consensus to establish, via a Memorandum of Understanding, a permanent YSLME regional governance mechanism to be supported by a long-term Secretariat and the various YSLME subsidiary bodies.

Media Inquiries

For further information contact:

GEF: Christian Hofer: chofer@thegef.org
UNDP: Sangita Khadka: Sangita.Khadka@undp.org
Visit the YSLME Project website: www.yslmep.org
Visit the project page on iwlearn.net: https://iwlearn.net/iw-projects/4343

Footnotes

Cover photo credit: Traditional shellfish harvest in intertidal mudflats of Tiaozini, Yancheng City of Jiangsu Province, PR China. (Photo by Dongming LI), taken from the YSLME Story publication.

FootNotes

Cover photo credit: Traditional shellfish harvest in intertidal mudflats of Tiaozini, Yancheng City of Jiangsu Province, PR China. (Photo by Dongming LI), taken from the YSLME Story publication.

© 2026 IW:LEARN

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