OANA HOLDS WORKSHOP ON ENVIRONMENT IN MANADO

   Manado, North Sulawesi, May 13, 2009 (ANTARA) - The Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) is holding a workshop on the Role of Media in Preserving the Global Environment, here, May 13-15, coinciding with the implementation of the World Ocean Conference (WOC) which is also being organized here, May 11-14.

         North Sulawesi Governor Sinyo Sarundajang was scheduled to officially open the workshop here on Wednesday, Saiful Hadi, OANA Secretary General, said here on Wednesday.

        The OANA Workshop is organized by the OANA Secretariat in ANTARA News Agency, with the cooperation of the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Communication and Informatics Ministry of Indonesia.

         Around 25 journalists from OANA member agencies, such as  from ANTARA (Indonesia), Bernama (Malaysia), Kyodo (Japan), Yonhap (South Korea), VNA (Vietnam), QNA (Qatar) and Xinhua (China), are participating the workshop.

         Journalists from EFE of Spain,  Venezuela, Cuba, Canada, Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, and Argentine, who group in the Journalist Visit program, also are attending  the workshop.

         Speakers and resource persons will include Indonesian Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Fredy Number, Minister of the Environment Dr. Rachmat Witoelar, UNESCO Program Specialist for Environment Sciences Robert Lee, Minister of Communication and Informatics Dr Muhammad Nuh, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Hassan Wirajuda, Google's Chief Technology Advocate (Google Earth) Michael Jones, and Prof. Tridoyo Kusumastanto of the Bogor Institute of Agriculture.

         In the last day of the workshop, the journalists will join a field visit to Bunaken marine park, around 10 km of Manado, to see the rich marine biodiversity of the protected marine park.

         The Indonesian Government is organizing the WOC (May 11-14) and the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Summit (May 15) in Manado to discuss issues on the climate change and the oceans.

         OANA, which was established in 1961 with the support of UNESCO, now has 40 member news agencies from 33 countries.

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(t. F001/A/HAJM/A/E002)