Fourth Expert Meeting

1. Chairman's Summary

1. The Fourth Expert Meeting on Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia was held in Hiroshima, Japan from 4 to 6 February 1997. It was hosted by the Environment Agency of Japan, Hiroshima Prefectural Government and Hiroshima City Office. It was attended by 62 experts from 10 countries (China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam), five experts from five organizations (United Nations Environment Programme - International Environmental Technology Centre (UNEP/IETC), the World Bank, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) of Australia, Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU), and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
   
   
2. The Meeting was chaired by Mr. Saburo Kato (Japan), with Dr. Quan Hao (China) and Dr. RTM Sutamihardja (Indonesia) as vice-chairmen, with the exception of agenda item 6 "Discussion on technical manuals and a guideline for monitoring acid deposition" which was chaired by Prof. Hajime Akimoto (Japan), and vice-chaired by Dr. Greg Ayers (CSIRO).
   
   
3. The objectives of the meeting were to consider and discuss the design of the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia and how the proposed Network should be established, as well as to finalize three technical manuals and one guideline for monitoring acid deposition.
   
   
4. At the beginning of the meeting, a discussion of national efforts made and ongoing progress towards the improvement and the expansion of the acid deposition monitoring in each country were reported by experts from China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam. All of the reports expressed support for the initiative on Acid Deposition Monitoring Network.
   
   
5. During the discussion on the proposed Network, many participants expressed their support for its establishment. At the same time, it was emphasized that a step-by-step approach is necessary for the realization of the Network.
   
   
6. As a result of positive discussion, the meeting concluded the "Design of the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia" (hereinafter referred to as "The Design") as attached.
   
   
7. In The Design, the following timetable toward the establishment of the Network was proposed.

   1997	establish a Working Group to prepare for the preparatory phase activities and the first inter-governmental meeting
   1998	convene the first inter-governmental meeting to review and finalize the design of the Network system
   1998 - 1999	preparatory phase activities of the Network
   2000	convene the second inter-governmental meeting to review the preparatory phase activities and to review and approve the design of the Network system
   	begin full operation of the Network

   The meeting urged the participants to make significant efforts within respective countries to realize the Network as scheduled above.
   
   
8. Regarding the finalization of technical manuals and a guideline, contents of final drafts of each manual or guideline, as well as historical development of working groups for drafting, were reported by temporary coordinators, namely, Dr. H. Hara, Dr. T. Fukuyama, Dr. T. Totsuka and Dr. N. Ogura. After vigorous discussion, revisions were made and the following manuals and guideline were adopted.

   (i)	Technical Manual for Wet Deposition Monitoring
   (ii)	Guideline for Dry Deposition Monitoring
   (iii)	Technical Manual for Monitoring Soil and Vegetation
   (iv)	Technical Manual for Monitoring Inland Aquatic Environments

   During the discussion, it was recognized that, considering the nature of East Asian region and the status quo of the scientific research on the acid deposition monitoring, these manuals and guideline should be improved in some points, and that continued efforts should be made to improve manuals and guideline through updating on a regular basis.
   
   
9. All participants were informed that the Environment Agency of Japan decided to set up the Network Center in Niigata city, 300 km north of Tokyo, and will begin preparatory work for its establishment. The Environment Agency of Japan proposed to host the working group meeting mentioned above. The participants gratefully accepted such report and proposal.
   
   
10. The Expert Meeting participants expressed their appreciation to the Environment Agency of Japan, Hiroshima Prefectural Government and Hiroshima City Office for organizing this very important meeting.

2. Agenda

1. Opening address
2. Election of officers
3. History and the objectives of the meeting
4. Progress reports towards the establishment of the network - China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea and Thailand
5. Discussion on the proposed network
6. Discussion on technical manuals and a guideline for monitoring acid deposition
   1. Technical manual for monitoring wet deposition
   2. Guideline for monitoring dry deposition
   3. Technical manual for monitoring soil and vegetation
   4. Technical manual for monitoring inland aquatic environments
7. Consideration of the meeting summary
8. Closing of the meeting