The RCA-UNDP project contract on the mitigation of coastal impact of natural disasters like the tsunami using nuclear or isotope-based techniques was concluded on 30 June 2006 at UNDP Korea office for implementation. This UNDP funded RCA project was initiated by RCARO in an effort to promote partnership for RCA.

The UNDP will fund approximately USD 300,000 for the project over the 3 years. The project will be launched from June 2006 until December 2008. At present,14 RCA Member States (Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam) expressed their willingness to participate in the project.

The project will have 3 major objectives; i.e. 1) assessment of level of toxic element contamination in the marine coastal ecosystem by studies of the trace element profile of coastal sediment samples 2) assessment of the impact of marine deposits in coastal agricultural areas on agricultural productivity and aquaculture, and 3) measurement of the levels of selected toxic elements in the tsunami-deposited sediment and assessment of their impact on the health of coral reefs and associated fisheries.

In order to fulfill these objectives, there will be several key activities covering assessment of toxic elements in the various tsunami sediment, capability building for qualified analytical work by the local scientists and technicians, encouraging the increased use of nuclear analytical techniques by the end-users, endeavoring to influence to national environment policy-making based on the recommendations developed by the project.

For effective and successful implementation of the RCA-UNDP project, RCARO website will operate a separate menu for exclusive use by the project.