Introduction

RAS/98/G31-Preparation of a Strategic Action Program (SAP) and Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) for the Tumen River Area, its Coastal Regions and related Northeast Asian Environs-in shout TumenNET- is a 2-year, $7 million regional initiative to protect transboundary biodiversity and international water resources in Northeast Asia and to attract green investment in the region. The program is supported, and in part funded, by the Democratic People s Republic of Korea, Mongolia, the People s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is responsible for overall coordination. The project is managed and implemented by member countries through a network of national expert institutions and non-governmental organisations.

TumanNET comprises 5 major project components, each of which is managed by a regional Lead Agent in cooperation with national Partner Institutions:
The TumenNET Network
*EIS (Environmental Information System), Lead Agent-Jilin Provincial Institute for Environmental Protection in Changchun, China
- Mongolian Partner Institution: Central Laboratory for Environmental Monitoring
- Russian Parner Institution: Pacific Geographical Institute
- R.O.Korean Partner Institution: National Institute of Environmental Research
*AWARE (Awareness Raising Program), Lead Agent-Mongolian Nature and Environment Consortium (MNEC) in Ulaanbaatar
- Chinese Partner Institution: Jilin Provincial Publicity and Education Center of Environmental Protection
- R.O.Korean Partner Institution: Environment & Culture Institute
- Russian Partner Institution: WWF Far East Representative Office Russia
*TDA(Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis), Lead Agent-Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia
- Chinese Partner Institution: Jilin Environmental Monitoring Center
- R.O.Korean Partner Institution: National Institute of Environmental Research
- Mongolian Partner Institution: Institute of Geo-Ecology
*SAP(Strategic Aciton Program), Lead Agent-Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Environment, R.O.Korea
- National SAP Task Forces are presently being established
*SURVEY (Regional Water Survey), Lead Agent-will be determined at a later stage, please contact the TumenNET Coordination Unit.

The Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA), the theme of this booklet, is a key milestone for the TumenNET and constitutes the scientific basis for the development of the comprehensive Strategic Action Program (SAP). The TDA follows a scientifically rigorous and interactive process that involves stakeholder communities and policy makers at all levels and that will only end with the implementation of the strategic action program. It is important to recognise that the TDA is a living process and that it will require updating at regular intervals to ensure its continuing relevance to the peoples of Northeast Asia and to the global environmental resources it aims to protect.

TDA-SAP Process
TDA core phase
- Regional and national stakeholder workshops (TOPP process)
- Identification of key players
- Establishment of expert network (TumenNET)
- Training and capacity building
- Collection of base information (national reports)
- Initial analysis of cross-cutting issues (regional sector reports)
Quality control
- National clearance
- Refresher training
- Identification of issues groups and disaggregation into zones (cluster analysis)
- Policy feedback and gap analysis (working groups)
Quality control
- Identification of root causes of degradetion (causal chain analysis)
- Political, economic, demographic, legal issues (socio-economic analysis)
- Identification of key beneficiaries and agencies (stakeholder analysis)
- Compilation into zonal draft TDAs
Quality control
- Community and policy feedback through national stakeholder workshops
- Revision
- Compilation into a comprehensive TumenNET TDA with scenarios and interventions
Quality control
- National clearance
- Editing and production of final TDA
- Translation and dissemination
SAP core phase
- National SAP Task Forces established and operational
- Cost-benefit comparison and incremental costs analysis
- Scenario development and national policy feedback
- Intra-governmental negotiations and prioritization
Quality control
- Community and stakeholder feedback
- National budget and resource allocations and policy initiatives
- Bilateral and trilateral negotiations
Quality control
- Commence implementation process
- Ongoing monitoring and evaluation of impact and sustainability
- Ongoing involvement by local communities and other stakeholders
- Ongoing quality control
- Revision and update of TDA and SAP at regular intervals (revision cycle)

The TumenNET project area covers a cast territory and range of ecosystems-from Peter the Great Bay in the Pacific Ocean to Chinese river systems, Mongolian deserts and Siberian forests. Any regional approach is further complicated by the differences in political systems, in geography, hydrology and climate, in variances in economic, legal and regulatory systems, and last but not least, in the diverse demographic and societal patterns that range from semi-nomadic herders to highly urbanised societies.
TumenNET has therefore identified four specific zones of action to ensure that any future interventions under the strategic action program are targeted at specific local issues that have a transboundary impact. This zonal focus has the additional advantage that it permits close interaction with local/provincial governments and communities.
Tumen River Basin Zone
- Jilin Province in China
- Primorsky Krai in Russia
- North Hamgyong and Ryanggang Provinces and Rajin Sonboung Economic & Trade Zone in DPRK
Daurian Steppe Zone
- Chitinskaya Oblast in Russia
- Dornod and Khentii Aimags in Eastern Mongolia
Mongolican Plateau Zone
- Sukhbaatar and Dornod Aimags in Eastern Mongolia
- Inner Mongolia Autonomouv Region in China (limited technical participation)
Supra-Regional Zone of Influence
- Non-location specific issues like migratory birds, education campaigns and environmental information systems

The protection of transboundary biodiversity and international water resources in Northeast Asia are issues that are of great interest not only to the peoples in the immediate region but also to the whole. Any project intervention to protect these precious environmental resources will require huge capital investment and a commensurately large investment in peoples and capacity building.
The public sector and the international donor community on their own will not be able to provide, and to sustain, such an effort and we will need the active cooperation and involvement of all parts of society-local communities, the private sector, the research & education community and the pubic sector.
The private sector in particular is an important partner for us. Not only are its resources significantly larger than those of the pubic sector and the donor community combined, but it is also an inexhaustible source of talent, new technologies and innovation. It is for that reason that the TumenNET project aims to promote green investment

Green investment or green business is defined broadly as a private of public sector activity that has environmental net benefits and which aims, directly of indirectly, to protect the environment, reduce environmental risks, or minimise pollution and the unsustainable use of resources. Green investment/business is socially responsible and involves those parts of civic society that are affected by its impact. It employs best practice environmental management principles, a dynamic process that seeks constant improvements.

It is out task, and indeed our responsibility, to protect and preserve the unique environmental resources of Northeast Asia for future generations. We hope that this small compendium, part of the TumenNET initiative, will make a positive contribution to that noble aim.

Gunther Mau
Chief Technical Adviser
TumenNET Coordination Unit
Beijing-24 September 2001