When CCOP was first established, prospecting offshore in the region, both for hydrocarbons and for mineral resources, was in its infancy. However, much of the regional geological data compilation, institutional capacity building and technical training since carried out by CCOP for the Member Countries has contributed to what is now a well developed and economically highly significant industry. Consequently, CCOP, with the assistance of its Co-operating Countries and Organizations, continued to adopt an evolving programme of activities that addressed new areas of concern as they arose. These included, in the offshore prospecting programme for example, sustainable resource development, safety issues and environmental impacts and their regulation.

          In recent years, a significant challenge to the governments of the CCOP region has been posed by the rapid urbanization and development of their, often fragile, coastal zones. Here again CCOP has displayed its flexibility by adjusting its programme to include research, training and information exchange on geoscientific aspects of coastal zone management. This, and many other topics crucial to the sustainability of economic and social development in the region, has benefited from the coordinated approach to training, research and the supply of data and information that CCOP strives to provide. For this reason the Member Countries of CCOP, in close collaboration with its Co-operating Countries and Organizations, have considered it timely to develop a new strategy embracing a broader range of activities aimed at equipping the countries of the region to better meet the geoscientific challenges of the coming decade. This strategy is explained in a document produced by the Technical Secretariat of CCOP in January 2002 (CCOP Strategic Plan 2002).

Strategic Focus

In the strategic plan, it focuses on the following:

Enhanced coordination of the geoscience programmes of the national geoscientific institutions of the CCOP Member Countries in order to promote cooperation and to maximize the benefits of programmes of regional significance.

Continued human resource development and institutional capacity building in accord with national priorities in order to achieve greater regional self-sufficiency in providing the geiscience inputs to sustainable economic development, sound environmental management and improvement of the welfare of the people of the region.

An greater flow of technical information between the Member Countries, Cooperating Countries and Cooperating Organizations of CCOP in order to share such information for their mutual benefit, to learn from each others experience and to identify further opportunities for cooperation in capacity building.

          To support implementation of the plan, the technical activities of CCOP has been reclassified into three sectors and seven programmes as follows:

          For the Geo-resources sector, the overall objective is to strengthen the Member Countries technical capabilities in establishing the developmental potential of their mineral, energy and groundwater resources and promoting their socially responsible and environmentally sustainable exploration, conservation and development. To date, these are the activities on-going under this sector:
 

Exploration Promotion Forum (EPF)
Global Mineral Resource Assessment (GMRAP)
Groundwater Assessment along Great River Basin for Southeast and East Asia
PETRAD Seminars
Petroleum Policy and Management (PPM)
Pre-Tertiary Geological Studies of Southeast Asia
Working Group on Geological Correlation (WGGC)
 

For the Geo-environment sector, the overall objective is to strengthen Member Countries' capabilities in implementing geoscience projects that contribute to sustainable land-use development, coastal zone management and the mitigation of hazards caused by natural geological processes and by human activity, thereby contributing to the safety and welfare of civil society. To date, these are the activities on-going under this sector:
 

Coastal Environment Preservation Strategy of the Asian Delta Region
Integrated Geological Assessment for Deltas
Landslide Hazard Analysis Project
Strategy for Sustainable Development of Coastal Area
Volcanic Hazard Mitigation
 

For the Geo-information sector, the overall objective is to strengthen Member Countries' capabilities in developing appropriate methodologies for improved management of geoscience information, its efficient dissemination to users in government, industry and civil society and in further promoting the use of geoscience information in both traditional and new areas of economic and social activity. To date, these are the activities on-going under this sector:

Digital Compilation of Geoscientific Maps Phase IV: Groundwater and Geothermal Databases
Geoscience Asian Information Network (GAIN)
Geoscience and Reports Information Dissemination Network (GRIDnet)
Metadata Project
Southeast Asian Network Geographic Information System (SANGIS)
Scholorships & Grants
East Asia Geoscience and Environmental Research (EAGER) Project
Texas A&M University Fellowship Program

Last Update: 22 July 2004

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