Asean Biodiversity: Regional Coopration toward iodiversity Conservation ppt

Volume 7, Number 1  January-March 2008 about you and us From the Desk ASEAN Member Countries and ACB Take Action for COP9 ...4 Biodiversity News ...5 sPECIaL REPoRts State of ASEAN Bi

letters, articles, suggestions and photos are

welcome and should be addressed to:

Disclaimer: This publication has been developed with the assistance of the European union The contents

of this publication is the sole responsibility of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity and does not reflect the views of the European union

Southeast Asia’s Parks truly inspiring

It was truly a very educational perience for me when I read – honestly not all the articles as yet – two issues

ex-of the ASEAN Biodiversity magazine, especially the

profiles of ASEAN protected areas and the Focus section about spe-cies Just looking

at the amazing photos inspires

me to want to

go on a tour

of Southeast Asia and see for myself these beautiful places and to experience the culture of other countries Although I have yet to visit the other parks and beautiful places of the Philippines, the articles I read in your magazine keeps me wanting to plan for future visits to our neighbor-ing SEA countries I have also read through the brief news about events and other information in different parts

of Asia and the world, and have come

to realize that there are very interesting and truly amazing facts that I have not heard of especially about biodiversity, and which I rarely read about in some

of our national newspapers and mercial magazines Really inspiring!

com-In case you are wondering, I saw two magazines being returned by a borrower at the National Library, while

I was checking out a book It was the covers that gave me a second look

After going through it, I wrote down your office address in Quezon City

the magazine itself with its multi-color photos is very enjoyable to read

I sure hope you will grant my request for a subscription Thanks so much

Geraldine Cruz

ResearcherSurigao City

Friends now becoming environmentally conscious

Thank you very much for regularly sending me a copy of your magazine Most of my friends who see the magazine are amazed especially with the beautiful pictures They always make it a point

to come visit me to read my magazines (which includes ASEAN Biodiversity) that feature stories, issues and other articles about the environment and the natural resources as they now want to become sort of “environmental conscious”

I would like to visit your office in Los Baños sometime as I am interested

in also getting a copy each of your fee table books on ASEAN Parks and the one on plants

cof-Timh S Valdez

NGO workerQuezon City, Philippines

Good reference material

I am an employee of the regional office

of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in San Fernando City, Pampanga Province The informa-tion we get from the magazines and also the pictures from different parts of Southeast Asia are very good reference materials for our office especially since our division is in charge of preparing or developing information, education and communication materials (IEC) such as brochures, flyers, and for exhibits We have very few copies of ASEAN Biodi-versity in our office so we were wonder-ing if we could get a free subscription

Gregorius Wisnu Rosariastoko

Director, Networking, Partnership

and Resource Mobilization

Rolando A Inciong

Head, Public Affairs

ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB)

Headquarters:

3F ERDB Bldg Forestry Campus

university of the Philippines los Baños

College, laguna, Philippines

Telefax: +63-49.536-2865

E-mail: contact.us@aseanbiodiversity.org

Website: www.aseanbiodiversity.org

ACB Annex:

Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center

North Avenue, Diliman,

Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed herein

do not necessarily represent any official view

of the European union nor the Association of

Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat

The authors are responsible for any data or

information presented in their articles

Volume 7, Number 1  January-March 2008

about you and us

From the Desk

ASEAN Member Countries

and ACB Take Action for COP9 4

Biodiversity News 5

sPECIaL REPoRts

State of ASEAN Biodiversity 7

The ACB: Conserving

Biodiversity for Humanity 11

National Biodiversity Strategy

and Action Plans of ASEAN

Member Countries: An Overview 14

Analysis of the NBSAPs 24

Voluntary Guidelines in Reviewing

National Biodiversity Strategy

and Action Plans 31

PRoFILEs

Endau Rompin

johor National Park 35

Pulau Kukup johor National Park 39

booKMaRKsACB and SCBD Strengthen Ties

to Protect Southeast Asia’s Rich Biodiversity 43

ASEAN Member Countries Discusses Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans 44

Surfing the Web of Life 46

Experts Discuss Biodiversity and Climate Change

Conserving Biodiversity Through Data Sharing 50

AWGNCB Guides ACB in Developing 2008-2009 Workplan 51

PoLICy bRIEFCommunity Conserved Areas: Perspectives from the Bottom-up 52

39

5

19

From the Desk

SEvERAL steps are being taken by ASEAN

Member Countries in a bid to put forward

a unified and regional voice toward meeting

their commitments to the Convention on

Biological Diversity (CBD), in particular the

implementation of their National

Biodiver-sity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs),

and for the 9th Meeting of the Conference

of Parties (COP9) in Bonn, Germany this

May 2008

Early this year, government representatives

and resource persons from the 10 ASEAN

Member Countries joined their counterparts from other

Asian countries for the first of a series of regional workshops

to strengthen their capacities to develop, implement and

update their NBSAPs The Regional Workshop on

Capac-ity Building on NBSAP was conducted with support and

assistance from the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB),

the CBD, and the Singapore National Parks Board

The countries shared their experiences and lessons

learned as well as the tools and best practices developed

at the national and sub-national levels From these

learn-ings, the workshop came out with outputs that would

contribute to the in-depth review of progress towards the

Strategic Plan of the CBD that will be undertaken at the

COP9 Meeting

The regional workshop helped prepare the countries to

use consolidated guidance that may be adopted by COP

9 for the development, implementation and updating of

NBSAPs; discuss best practices for effective mainstreaming

and main challenges for implementation; exchange solutions

and approaches to overcome these challenges; and identify

strategic priorities and next steps (Story on page 14.)

Prior to the COP9 meeting, ACB will convene a

Pre-COP9 workshop in Manila on 1-2 May 2008 In this

workshop, AMCs are expected to have a common

under-standing of biodiversity issues in the Southeast Asia region

in relation to the CoP9 agenda Agricultural biodiversity;

forest, marine, coastal and island biodiversity; access and

benefit sharing; incentive measures; programme of work

on protected areas; biodiversity and climate change;

Ar-ticle 8(j) and related provisions; scientific and technical

cooperation; and the clearing house mechanism (CHM)

are among the CoP9 topics that are highly relevant to the

region (Story on page 24).

For the Pre-COP9 workshop, ACB has invited

emi-nent scientists and experts as resource persons Dr Percy

E Sajise, outgoing Regional Director for Southeast Asia of Bioversity International (formerly International Plant Genetic Re-sources Institute), will lead the discussion on agricultural biodiversity; Dr Jan Steffen of the UNESCO-Indonesia, will discuss issues

on marine, coastal and island biodiversity; and Ms Catherine Monagle of the United Nations University, will facilitate the dis-cussions on Article 8(j), access and benefit sharing, and protected areas Dr Sarat Babu Gidda, Secretary for Asia and the Pacific of the CBD Secretariat based in Canada, is the key facilita-tor and resource persons

The COP is an international body composed of more than 150 countries who have signed the agreements made

in the Rio Declaration on the Conservation of cal Diversity held in 1990 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil The Declaration, which was emphasized in CBD’s Agenda

Biologi-21, recognized the importance of biological diversity to the countries’ economic, social, cultural, and political activities

The COP9 will discuss a variety of topics and concerns relevant to biological diversity These include agricultural diversity, global strategy for plant conservation, invasive alien species, forest biodiversity, incentive measures, ecosystems approach, progress in the implementation of the Strategic Plan, progress towards the 2010 target and relevant Mil-lennium Development Goals, and the Sustainable Financial

Mechanism (Story on page 31).

In a related development, ACB and the Secretariat of the CBD have collaborated to help enhance the capabil-ity of AMCs to comply with their commitments to the international CBD and to beef up their efforts to protect the region’s rich but dwindling biodiversity resources The Memorandum of Cooperation signed in January this year by ACB Executive Director Rodrigo U Fuentes and SCBD Executive Secretary Dr Ahmed Djoghlaf stipulates the joint implementation of programmes in SEA through biodiversity research, capacity building and training, public education and awareness, policy development and coordination, and technical and scientific cooperation

(Story on page 43).

Director Fuentes said the signing of the Memorandum

of Cooperation comes at a propitious time as ASEAN countries prepare to meet their commitments to the 2010 global biodiversity challenge

countries launched a 21-month

process aimed at concluding a

new climate change agreement

by December 2009 to succeed

the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which

requires 37 industrialized nations

to reduce greenhouse gas

emis-sions by an average of 5 percent

below 1990 levels between

2008 and 2012 The next pact

is aimed at providing for further

cuts starting in 2013 Developing

countries, led by rapidly growing

China, demand that the bulk

of the considerable costs and

actions be assumed by rich

na-tions that grew their economies

in past decades by polluting the

environment They also want aid

and technology to increase

en-ergy efficiency Wealthy nations,

meanwhile, such as the united

States and japan, say a global

pact will only be fair if it calls

for up-and-coming polluters in

the developing world to take on

emissions reduction commitments

as well – Associated Press

Biodiversity

conservation pays off

March 31 – A report titled

“Building Biodiversity Business”

from the IuCN-World

Conserva-tion union and Shell InternaConserva-tional

ltd calls for policy reforms to

increase the commercial rewards

for conserving biodiversity There

are numerous pro-biodiversity

business opportunities that can

generate significant profits as

well as benefits for nature

These include biosprospecting,

organic agriculture, sustainable

timber, and ecoturism A key

challenge facing all sity businesses is the lack of accepted indicators to measure positive and negative contribu- tions to biodiversity conservation

biodiver-– Environment News Service

Thai temple fights off encroaching tide

March 30 – Over 30 years, the

sea around Khun Samut Chin village has engulfed more than one kilometer of land, mostly because fishermen have cut down mangrove forests - the Earth’s natural sea barrier Tour-

species and allow the spread

of disease to be tracked; and raise biodiversity conscious- ness The immense amount of information in the encyclopedia

is being drawn from a variety

of sources, including several existing specialist databases such

as AmphibiaWeb and FishBase

– BBC News

Farmers may have Golden Rice by 2011

January 31 – The

Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is expected to release genetically modified (GMO) Golden Rice to farmers

as early as 2011, possibly ing to save millions of children threatened with blindness or premature death due to Vitamin

help-A deficiency IRRI has been conducting its first field trials

in the Philippines this year It would be 10 years since the invention in 2001 of Golden Rice, which scientists have said may prove that the controversial biotechnology can help feed the poor and needy if applied with care and caution GMO rice has yet to be grown commercially

Widely produced transgenic products, such as GMO soy, corn

or cotton, are mostly pest- or herbicide-resistant These are beneficial to farmers, but not necessarily to consumers Golden Rice - which includes three new genes, including two from daf- fodils - is yellowish and contains beta-carotene, a substance that human bodies convert to Vitamin

A – Reuter News Service

Protecting the biodiversity of the Coral Triangle

January 24 – International

efforts are underway to protect the ecological health of a 2.3- million-square-mile expanse of the Indo-Pacific Ocean known as the Coral Triangle Sometimes called the ocean’s version of the Ama- zon Basin, the Triangle bursts with the highest biodiversity of any reef system on Earth Some 75% of all the known reef-build- ing corals – 500 to 600 species

in all – call the Triangle home The Triangle also supports 3,000 species of reef fish; represents the livelihood of some 2.5 million fishermen in the region; and is the maternity ward for Pacific and Indian Ocean tuna It also represents an important source

of raw materials needed to reseed reefs inside and outside the region damaged by bleach- ing Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, and Timor-leste – the six Coral Triangle nations – agreed to develop an action plan for sustainable manage- ment of the Triangle The plan should be ready by May and fully approved in 2009 at a summit

to be held in conjunction with the World Oceans Conference in

Manado, Sulawesi – Christian

Science Monitor

Global crop varieties enter Arctic seed vault

January 23 – At the end of

january, more than 200,000 crop varieties from Asia, Africa,

(Photo courtesy South African Tourism)

Tourists meet rhinos in South

Africa’s Kruger National Park.

ism development, sand mining and damming rivers upstream have also taken their toll in an area naturally prone to coastal erosion Khun Samut temple

is the only building left in the Thai village that has disap- peared beneath the rising and advancing sea The community has realized their errors and are trying to replant the mangroves, but the situation may soon be out of their hands as global warming sends sea levels rising and powerful storms lashing the

coast – AFP

First look at vast

‘book of life’

February 26 – Scheduled for

completion in 2017, the first 30,000 pages of a vast encyclo- pedia aimed at cataloguing every one of our planet’s 1.8 million species have been unveiled

The Encyclopedia of life (EOl)

- described as the “ultimate field guide” - is to encompass all six kingdoms of life, and even viruses - which many research- ers do not consider to be living organisms The database could help scientists assess the impact

of climate change on animals and plants; foster strategies for slowing the spread of invasive

Waves attack the Khun Samut temple

(Courtesy of Rich Clabaugh)

latin America and the Middle

East — drawn from vast seed

collections maintained by the

Consultative Group on

Inter-national Agricultural Research

(CGIAR) — was shipped to a

remote island near the Arctic

Circle, where these will be

stored in the Svalbard Global

Seed Vault (SGSV), a facility

capable of preserving their

vital-ity for thousands of years The

seeds will be safeguarded in the

facility, which was created as

a repository of last resort for

humanity’s agricultural heritage

These will be shipped to the

village of longyearbyen on

Norway’s Svalbard archipelago,

where the vault has been

constructed on a mountain deep

inside the Arctic permafrost

The vault was built by the

Nor-wegian government as a service

to the global community A

Rome-based international NGO,

The Global Crop Diversity Trust,

will fund its operation The

vault will open on 26 February

2008 – SeedQuest

400 medicinal plants

at risk of extinction

January 19 – The Botanic

Gardens Conservation International identified 400 medicinal plants that are at risk of extinction due

to over-collection and tion These include yew trees, the bark of which forms the basis for one of the world’s most widely used cancer drugs, paclitaxel

deforesta-Hoodia, which originally comes from Namibia, is a possible ingre- dient in weight loss drugs and is

on the verge of extinction Half of the world’s species of magnolias, which contains the chemical honokiol and which has been used

in traditional Chinese medicine

to treat cancers and slow down the onset of heart disease is also under threat Five billion people are said to still rely on traditional plant-based medicine as their primary form of health care and over 50% of prescription drugs are derived from chemicals first identified in plants The loss of the world’s medicinal plants could destabilize the future of global

healthcare – BBC News

Green courts for environmental cases

January 15 – The Philippine

Su-preme Court will designate special courts to speed up a backlog of environmental cases and ensure polluters are penalized for breaking the law The decision came as ex- perts from the Asia-Pacific region began a conference in Bangkok aimed at improving enforcement of environment laws Illegal mining, logging and overfishing are serious problems in the Philippines but few violators are punished either because they pay off officials or because overworked judges tend

to prioritize civil and criminal cases over environmental disputes

Water pollution, poor tion and air pollution cost the Philippines around 14 billion pesos (uS$350 million) a year, according

sanita-to a recent study by the World Bank About 150 courts would

be designated as environmental courts and guidelines for hearing the cases would then be issued

It is hoped that the new courts would trigger more cases against polluters and raise awareness of environmental laws in the country

– Reuters

Starfish invasion threatens world’s richest coral reefs

January 14 – Outbreaks of

the notorious crown of thorns starfish now threaten the “Coral Triangle,” the richest centre of coral reef biodiversity on Earth, according to recent surveys by the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society and ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies The starfish — a predator that feeds on corals by spreading its stomach over them and using digestive enzymes to liquefy tissue—were discovered in large numbers in reefs in Halma- hera, Indonesia, at the heart of the Coral Triangle, which lies between Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands It is considered the genetic fountain- head for coral diversity found on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Ningaloo and other reefs in the region Reef assemblages are fortunately still in good shape and there is a chance to reverse

the damages – mongabay.com

Biotech companies race for drought-tolerant crops

January 14 – Biotech

compa-nies are in a race to develop new strains of corn and other crops that can thrive when wa- ter is in short supply This line

of research has been underway for years, but it has taken on added urgency as scientists predict a trend of worsening drought and hotter temperatures around the globe Water short- ages are already costing billions

of dollars a year in crop falls around the world, and are likely to grow more costly The

short-Rare flower found

in a Philippines Park

buffer zone

January 23 – A very rare

para-sitic flowering plant, Rafflesia

speciosa, which is a member of

the family of the world’s largest

flower, has been discovered in

the 169-hectare Mt Kanlaon

Natural Park buffer zone The

species is the first record of

this unique genus on the island

of Negros Among the seven

recorded Rafflesia species in the

Philippines, Rafflesia speciosa

has the largest flower that can

attain a maximum diameter of

two feet The one found in the

Park’s buffer zone was about

30 centimeters – The Visayan

Daily Star

Rafflesia speciosa

(Courtesy of Dr Andrew H Baird)

An active outbreak of crown of thorns starfish.

biotech companies acknowledge that opposition to genetically modified crops remains strong in some countries, especially in Eu- rope, but the success of genetic modification that has turned out corn that resists pests and

is immune to weedkiller, along with similar modifications in soybeans and other crops, has helped wear down opposition in recent years And given global climate concerns and the needs

of a hungry populace, biotech companies believe a drought-tol- erant corn could further help win over opponents Still, opponents

of biotech crops predict a range

of environmental hazards, tial human health problems and further concentration of the food system in the hands of large

poten-corporations – Reuters

Singapore opens “green” airport terminal

January 9 – Singapore opened

a new “green” airport terminal, which features energy-saving skylights, a butterfly garden and over 200 species of foliage spread over enough floor space

to cover 50 soccer fields The uS$1.22 billion terminal is designed to run on lower energy costs mainly via natural lighting from the 919 skylights and by positioning air-conditioners nearer

to floor-level – Reuters

n By RODRIGO U FUENTES

Executive Director

20% of all known species live deep in its mountains, jungles, rivers, lakes and seas, despite occupying only 3% of the earth’s total surface It includes three mega-diversity countries (Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines); several biogeographical units (e g., Malesia, Wallacea, Sundaland, Indo- Burma and the Central Indo-Pacific); and numerous centres of concentration of restricted-range bird, plant and insect species ASEAN has one-third of the 284,000-square kilometer coral reefs, which are among the most diverse in the world.

World Rank of ASEAN Member Countries

in Total Diversity and Endemism

Country Rank (Biodiversity) Rank (Endemism)

Source: ASEAN Report to WSSD, 2002

Source: ASoE Report, 2006

Species Richness of ASEAN by Taxa

Taxon Recorded ASEAN Listed World Totals % of World Total

Source: ASoE Report, 2006

Species No of Countries

Source: ASEAN Greatest Parks, 2004/ASOE, 2006

IUCN-Classified Protected Areas

Source: ACB database, 2007/ASOE, 2006

was launched to generate greater awareness, pride, preciation, enjoyment and conservation of ASEAN’s rich natural heritage through the creation of and support for

ap-a regionap-al network of representap-ative PAs ap-and to generap-ate greater collaboration between ASEAN countries The AHPs are sites that have been selected as representative

of the region’s biodiversity The ASEAN Declaration on Heritage Parks was signed in December 2003

There are also a number of World Heritage Sites (WHS) in the region that have been selected as globally

Source: ASEAN Greatest Parks, 2004

World Heritage Sites and ASEAN Heritage Parks

ASEAN countries share many species that are biologically

distinct from the rest of the world because these countries

share common land or water borders

ASEAN Heritage Parks and Protected Areas

Currently, there are 1,523 protected areas (PAs) of high biodiversity value that have been set aside and demarcated

to ensure the protection of the region’s natural heritage.Out of this number of PAs, only 27 have been designated

as ASEAN Heritage Parks (AHPs) The AHP Programme

outstanding sites These WHS are special and unusual,

while AHPs are typical though generally the best example

of their ecosystem types Some AHPs are World Heritage

Sites, although there are a few WHS in the region that

are not in the AHP list

ASEAN Biodiversity Under Threat

The rich biodiversity of the region however is heavily

under threat Out of 64,800 known species in the ASEAN,

2% or 1,312 are endangered Seven of the world’s 25

rec-ognized biodiversity hotspots are in the ASEAN Hotspots

are areas that are biologically rich but are also under the

greatest threat of destruction If the rate of deforestation

continues, the region will lose up to ¾ of its forests, and

up to 42% of its biodiversity by 2100 Majority (80%)

of coral reefs are also at risk due to destructive fishing

practices and coral bleaching The ASEAN must act fast

to protect its dwindling biodiversity resources

Three plant and eight animal species have been listed as

‘extinct’ in Southeast Asia (IUCN) Though extinction of

species is part of the cycle of life, the rapid rate at which

species are being endangered point to increasing

deterio-Extinctions per thousand species per millenium

Source: Millenium Ecosystem Assessment

ration of ecosystems and rapid deterioration of ecological

services that support life itself The loss of many of these

regional populations is likely to result in global

extinc-tions because of the high proportion of endemic species

(Navjot et.al., 2004)

Coral reefs in the region are said to have the highest levels of biodiversity in the world However, 80% has been exposed to destructive fishing practices and coral bleaching, and 55% is considered to be at high or very high risk (ASOE, 2006)

Other threats include over-harvesting, bushmeat hunting, and illegal trade of wildlife for food or as pets (Southeast Asia is a major hub of wildlife trade) Pollution, introduc-tion of alien species, desertification and land degradation and climate change also adversely affect biodiversity and ecosystems in the region The underlying causes of these threats include population growth, poverty, increased mi-gration to urban areas, trade pressures, political instability, inadequate law enforcement, poor protection standards and lack of awareness of the significance of biodiversity conservation (ASEAN Report to WSSD, 2002)

Major Threats to ASEAN Biodiversity

Habitats and forests are constantly threatened by degradation because of such factors as increase of human population, agricultural expansion, commercial logging, poor land-use practices, and forest fires Deforestation in the region has been calculated at 2,751 square kilometers per year (2000-2005) This translates into 1.35% per year, compared to the global deforestation rate of 0.20%

Bru Cam Ind Lao Mal Mya Phi Sin Tha Vie

ASEAN Response

The ASEAN response to address threats to biodiversity

includes the development of action plans (such as the

Hanoi Action Plan and the ventianne Action Plan) and

the establishment of organizations, specifically the ASEAN

Centre for Biodiversity, to strengthen conservation efforts

in the region

The Hanoi Action Plan (1999-2004) had three key

strategies for biodiversity conservation, which are to:

1 Strengthen the ASEAN Regional Center for

Bio-diversity Conservation by establishing networks of

relevant institutions and implementing collaborative

training and research activities

2 Promote regional coordination for the protection of

the ASEAN Heritage Parks and Reserves

3 Formulate and adopt an ASEAN Protocol on access

to genetic resources

The vientianne Action Plan (2004-2010), on the

other hand, has eight measures for nature conservation

and biodiversity:

1 Significantly reduce the current rate of loss of

bio-logical diversity by 2010 (WSSD target)

2 Promote further listing and coordinated

manage-ment of ASEAN Heritage Parks as a platform for

ecosystem-based protected areas management

3 Facilitate access and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the region’s biological and genetic resources, by effectively implementing the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Access to, and Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from the Utilization of Genetic and Biological Resources

4 Set in place measures to minimize impacts of boundary movement of living modified organisms

trans-in accordance with the ASEAN Guideltrans-ines on Risk Assessment of Agricultural GMOs

5 Promote national and regional cooperation to address measures related to the cluster of multilateral envi-ronmental agreements addressing biological diversity such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, CITES, and the Ramsar Convention

6 Establish a functional regional database or network

of national databases containing an inventory of the biological resources of the ASEAN Region

7 Enhance the role and capacity of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity to function as an effective regional centre of excellence in promoting biodiversity con-servation and management

8 Address issues pertaining to invasive alien species

The ASEAN region is significant to global biodiversity because

it contains 40% of all species on Earth despite covering only 3% of the world’s surface It includes three mega-diversity countries (Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines), several biogeographical units (e g., Malesia, Wallacea, Sundaland, Indo-Burma and the Central Indo-Pacific), and numerous centers of concentration of restricted-range bird, plant

and insect species Saving the ASEAN Dream is a

testament to the richness of the region’s biodiversity,

as well as an illustration of numerous threats to local resources

Saving the ASEAN Dream provides information on the

significance of biodiversity, the wealth of habitats, species and ecosystems of the SEA, and various threats to the environment The video also highlights the formation of the ASEAN Heritage Parks (AHPs) Programme and the need for trans-boundary cooperation It includes video vignettes on the wonders and dangers faced by specific species, habitats and AHPs It was produced by the ASEAN Regional Centre for Biodiversity Conservation (now the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity) with the support of the European union

Available in DVD and VCD format To get a copy, log on to www.aseanbiodiversity.org.

O UR world is undergoing a drastic environmental

transformation, and this concern is gaining ing importance in Southeast Asia The region that provides habitats for some of the Earth’s most amazing bio- diversity is also home to a number of the world’s developing economies, where the environment is often sacrificed to gain financial momentum The dangers that threaten the region’s rich natural and cultural heritages underline the urgency felt

increas-by agencies involved in biodiversity conservation, including the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB).

Conserving

The ASEAN Response

Responding to the need for

con-certed action to protect and conserve

the region’s dwindling biodiversity

resources, the Association of

South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN), with

funding support from the European

Union (EU), established the ASEAN

Regional Centre for Biodiversity

Conservation (ARCBC) Project, then

hosted by the Department of

Envi-ronment and Natural Resources of

the Government of the Philippines

From 1999 to 2004, ARCBC

suc-cessfully established the bridge that

fostered strong collaboration among

ASEAN Member Countries (AMCs)

and between ASEAN and EU partner

institutions, and gained recognition

in the regional and global arena for

biodiversity conservation

In 2005, the EU and the ASEAN

signed a financing agreement to fund

a new institution that would carry on

the work of ARCBC to further enhance

the AMCs’ collaborative capacity to

fulfill their obligations to relevant

biodiversity treaties and conventions

On 27 September 2005, during the 9th

informal ASEAN Ministerial Meeting,

the Environment Ministers of Brunei

Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia,

Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the

Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and

vietnam signed an agreement

establish-ing ARCBC’s successor, the ASEAN

Centre for Biodiversity

As an intergovernmental regional

centre of excellence, ACB facilitates

cooperation and coordination among

the members of ASEAN, and with

relevant national governments, regional

and international organizations on

the conservation and sustainable use

of biological diversity, guided by fair

and equitable sharing of benefits

aris-ing from the use of such biodiversity

in the ASEAN region ACB aims to

contribute in reducing the current

rate of loss of biological diversity

by enhancing regional cooperation,

capacitating stakeholders, promoting

awareness for biodiversity

conserva-tion, and maintaining the regional biodiversity database

The Centre’s key units include Networking, Partnership and Resource Mobilization; Programme Develop-ment and Implementation; and Bio-diversity Information Management

ACB pursues its objectives through the following components: institutional development of ACB; policy develop-ment and coordination; human and institutional capacity development;

digital knowledge management; public and leadership awareness of biodiver-sity values; and sustainable financing mechanisms

To contribute to the achievement

of socially responsible access, equitable sharing, utilization and conservation

of natural ecosystems and biodiversity, ACB builds strategic networks and partnerships geared to mobilize re-sources towards optimally augmenting effective programmes on biodiversity conservation

A Governing Board provides policy guidance and operational supervision for ACB The Board is composed

of the ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment (ASOEN) and the Secretary-General of the ASEAN

Technical oversight is provided by the ASEAN Working Group on Na-ture Conservation and Biodiversity (AWGNCB) ACB operates in the

region through National Contact Points (NCPs) or national agencies

in the ASEAN Member Countries responsible for environmental and biodiversity concerns

ACB Projects and Activities

The ACB has initiated or rated with regional and international organizations on a number of activities

collabo-to facilitate biodiversity conservation efforts in the region, and to assist AMCs in fulfilling their commitments

to the Program of Work on Protected Areas of the CBD These projects and activities include workshops, capacity-building, training, confer-ences/workshops, digital knowledge management, public and leadership awareness of biodiversity values, and sustainable financing

Capacity-Building Training, Conferences and Workshops

• Study Tour on Ecotourism in Singapore and Malaysia (22-28 March 2008)

• Regional Workshop on ation, Tourism and Ecotourism (17-21 March 2008, in Gunung Ledang, Malaysia)

Recre-• Regional Workshop on the Development of Management Effectiveness Evaluation Tools for ASEAN Member Countries

(3 - 7 March 2008, in Hanoi,

vietnam)

• International

Conference-Work-shop on Biodiversity and

Cli-mate change in Southeast Asia

(19-20 February 2008, in

Ma-nila, Philippines)

• Southeast East Asian Workshop

on Risk Assessment of GMOs/

LMOs and Enforcement of

Biosafety Regulations (04 to

06 December 2007, in Kuala

Lumpur, Malaysia)

• Regional Workshop on

Com-munity Conserved Areas (CCAs)

(27-30 November 2007,

Pala-wan, Philippines)

• Technical Workshop on

Mini-mizing Impacts of Palm Oil and

Biofuel Production in Southeast

Asia on Peatlands, Biodiversity

and Climate Change (31

Octo-ber – 01 NovemOcto-ber 2007, Kuala

Lumpur, Malaysia)

• Regional Orientation Workshop

on Job Standards for Protected

Areas (25 – 28 September 2007,

Thailand)

• 2nd AHP Conference and 4th

Regional Conference on PAs in

SEA (23-27 April 2007, Sabah,

Malaysia)

• Capacity Building Series (CBS)

4: Governance Assessment and Categories of PAs (24 – 27 April

2007, Sabah, Malaysia)

• CBS 3: Gap Analysis for restrial Protected Areas (10 – 12 April 2007, Singapore)

Ter-• CBS 2: Management ness Assessment (MEA) (21 – 23 March 2007, Khao Yai National Park, Thailand)

Effective-• CBS 1: Communications and Community Relations (31- January – 01 February 2007, Bangkok, Thailand)

Digital Knowledge Management

• Assessment of global bases

data-• Conduct of Workshop on diversity Data and Informa-tion Harmonization (12-15 November 2007 in vientiane, Lao PDR)

Bio-• Study visits to data centers of Lao PDR and Thailand

• Participation in events that cussed data sharing and exchange mechanisms

dis-• Partnership agreement with SCBD to share information and exchange data

• Enhancement of ACB base

data-Public and Leadership Awareness

of Biodiversity Values

Public awareness initiatives focus

on publications, roadshows, exhibits and other ACB collaterals such as the quarterly ASEAN Biodiversity Maga-zine, the ACB Info Kit, Profile and Folders, the ASEAN Guidelines on Competence Standards for Protected Area Jobs; and the “Saving the ASEAN Dream” vCD/DvDs

Sustainable Financing

Efforts to strengthen the cial sustainability of ACB focused on: making the ASEAN Biodiversity Fund operational; developing the SFM (Sustainable Financing Mechanism) Model Assessment Report based on environmental funding organizations; and developing the SFM Stakeholder Dialogue Report

finan-More long-term activities are planned to reach the 2010 target of reducing biodiversity loss particularly

in the ASEAN region Hopefully the ACB momentum will continue to har-ness more stakeholders in biodiversity conservation programmes and generate increased funding to sustain initiatives

to sustain the rich natural heritages as well as the uniquely diverse cultures which are tied to biodiversity conserva-tion, of the ASEAN region

Article 6 (General Measures for

Con-servation and Sustainable Use) of the

Convention on Biological Diversity, states

that each Contracting Party shall:

• Develop national strategies, plans or

programmes for the conservation and

sustainable use of biological diversity

or adapt for this purpose existing

strategies, plans or programmes which

shall reflect, inter alia, the measures

set out in this Convention relevant to

the Contracting Party concerned

• Integrate, as far as possible and as

appropriate, the conservation and

sustainable use of biological diversity

into relevant sectoral or cross-sectoral

plans, programmes and policies

Article 26 and Article 10 (a) are closely

linked to Article 6 The first calls for

Parties to present, through their national

reports, information on measures which

have been taken for the implementation

of the provisions of the Convention and their effectiveness in meeting the objectives

of the Convention The latter ages Parties to integrate consideration of the conservation and sustainable use of biological resources into national deci- sion-making

encour-Article 6 creates an obligation for tional biodiversity planning A national strategy will reflect how the country in- tends to fulfill the objectives of the Convention in light of specific national circumstances, and the related action plans will constitute the sequence of steps to

na-be taken to meet these goals.

The requirement to integrate ation of the conservation and sustainable use of biological resources into national decision-making, and mainstream issues across all sectors of the national economy and policy-making framework, are the complex challenges at the heart of the Convention.

consider-Source: http://www.cbd.int/reports/nbsap.aspx

Priorities

The Cambodian

Na-tional Biodiversity

Strategy and Action

Plan (NBSAP), which was adopted

in 2002, recommends a sectoral

ap-proach to managing biodiversity The

document comprises 17 thematic areas

and 98 priority actions and provides

a framework for mainstreaming

bio-diversity at various levels to ensure

the health of natural systems through

which poverty reduction and improved

quality of life for Cambodians can

be achieved An Inter-Ministerial

National Biodiversity Steering

Com-mittee, composed of representatives of

Federal Ministries, was established in

2001 to develop the NBSAP Thematic

experts, non-government organizations

(NGOs) and universities participated

in preparatory workshops Other

stakeholders (provincial and urban

governments, private property owners,

businesses, indigenous and local

com-munities, international conservation

organizations) were consulted during

the development of the NBSAP

The main strategic goals of the

NBSAP are to:

1 Maintain biological diversity

and productivity of ecological

systems by protecting the

vari-ous species of living organisms

in their natural and manmade

environments

2 Manage human activities and

utilize biological resources in a

way that preserves for the long

term the basic natural resources,

which are necessary for human

livelihood and development

3 Ensure that the benefits coming

from the sustainable use of

biologi-cal resources contribute to poverty

reduction and improve the quality

of life for all Cambodians

The priority actions are to:

1 Promote awareness and capacity

building for conservation and

sustainable use of biological resources

2 Promote the implementation

of community-based natural resource management

3 Clarify ministerial jurisdictions, reduce responsibility overlap and promote inter-ministerial coordination

Strategic objectives include cators to guide the primary actors (relevant ministries and some NGOs) during the course of implementation

indi-Actions are presented for each of the

17 themes that involve most sectors

of society A guiding principle of the NBSAP is that local communities be considered in biodiversity manage-

ment Theme 17 on “Quality of Life and Poverty Reduction” prioritizes ac-

tions related to capacity-building for women’s groups

tion at all levels, was not operational at the time of the writing of the NBSAP due to lack of funding Prioritized actions include the development of biodiversity awareness programmes,

in collaboration with ministries, NGOs and the university; a national biodiversity research, training and information facility; environmental and biodiversity integration in school curricula; capacity-building for gov-ernment staff and relevant agencies;

a biodiversity research programme

at the Royal University of Phnom Penh; and training programmes on the management of natural resources for communities

Monitoring and Reporting

The NBSAP is viewed to be an ongoing process that requires periodic adjustments to new national, regional and international contexts Imple-mentation of the Action Plan will be decentralized with each participating ministry, agency or NGO being ac-countable for actions listed under their responsibility Mechanisms proposed for implementing the NBSAP include the establishment of a permanent Inter-Ministerial Biodiversity Steering Committee and National Secretariat for Biodiversity; preparation of an

Preah Monivong (Bokor) National Park

annual national report on policies,

activities and plans aimed at

imple-menting the Strategy; measures to

allow and encourage non-government

participation in the implementation of

the Strategy; regular reporting on the

indicators identified for each strategic

objective; reporting on the status of

biodiversity at the country level; and

revision of the strategy after an initial

implementation phase of two years

Biodiversity and Socio-economic

Development

Sustainable development in tourism

represents one of the main

opportuni-ties provided to Cambodia for

rebuild-ing its economy This sector is rapidly

expanding and dependent on the

pro-tection and preservation of the natural

and socio-cultural environments The

establishment of a well-managed

net-work of protected areas and cultural

sites, involving local communities,

can contribute significantly to tourism

development Priority actions include

integrating biodiversity conservation

and environmental management in

policies, plans and guidelines related

to tourism, including EIA for tourism

development projects; carrying out

vil-lage-based tourism programmes; and

integrating the conservation of cultural

heritage and nature in the tourism

development programme

Source: SCBD Report

INDONESIA

Priorities

Indonesia’s first

Bio-diversity Action Plan

(BAP) was published in

1993 prior to the ratification of the

Convention on Biological Diversity

Although some NGOs were involved

in the implementation of this

docu-ment, its formulation was viewed as

highly exclusive in nature, with a “top

down” approach that limited public

participation Commitment was

lack-ing among stakeholders, as was an

effective communication strategy In short, this action plan was considered ineffective

The second edition, published

in 2003, covers the period

2003-2020, and emphasizes an approach for biodiversity management that

is decentralized, participatory, and

transparent It focuses on a “shift

in the development paradigm, a new social contract between government, private sector, NGOs, communities and national, regional and local levels, and the strengthening of the preconditions for sustainable and equitable biodiver- sity management.” The output of this

process comprises three documents:

Indonesia Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (IBSAP) National Docu-ment, IBSAP Regional Document and the Directory of Indonesian Stake-holders of Biodiversity The formula-tion of the National Document was coordinated by the National Develop-ment Planning Agency (BAPPENAS) and involved consultation with civil society, academia, private sector and governments at national, provincial and kabupaten levels The document aims

to become a point of reference for all institutions involved with biodiversity management in Indonesia, including the private sector

The current document is divided into time period and operational strategies The first phase termed the

“initial and dissemination phase” was

scheduled to begin in 2003 with priority given to the dissemination

of the IBSAP documents as well as

to preparations for an institutional infrastructure and national policies related to the long-term management

The “consolidation phase 2020)” will accelerate implementation

(2009-of the entire action plan with tance attached to measurable reha-bilitation, conservation and balanced biodiversity utilization Sustainable biodiversity management would have been developed at this point through good governance, effective law enforce-ment and management practices based

impor-on traditiimpor-onal wisdom, local knowledge and equitable benefit-sharing The four operational strategies developed to implement the IBSAP are: mainstreaming, capacity-building, decentralization, and participation and movement

The mainstreaming strategy aims to develop a national policy and a legal framework that incorporate the provi-

Kerinci-Seblat National Park

sions of relevant international

conven-tions that can be operational at the

regional level, in conformity with local

conditions National-level

mainstream-ing of biodiversity management places

importance on the implementation of

the concept of community behavior

and actions at the local, regional and

national levels

The decentralization strategy, based

on local biodiversity management

situations, recommends that the

na-tional-level policy and legal framework

should contain wide provisions for

regions to formulate and implement

local biodiversity action plans

The national action plan for the

conservation and sustainable use and

management of biodiversity aims to:

1 Develop the quality of life of

Indonesian individuals and

society;

2 Strengthen resources that

sup-port the development of science,

technology and the application

of local wisdom;

3 Reduce and stop the rate of

biodiversity degradation and

extinction at the national,

re-gional and local levels within the

2003-2020 period, along with

rehabilitation and sustainable

use efforts

4 Empower institutional, policy

and law enforcement

arrange-ments at the national, regional,

local, and customary level to be

effective and conducive for the

management of biodiversity;

and

5 Achieve fair and balanced roles

and interests of Indonesian

so-ciety, as well as reduce conflict

potentials among all relevant

sectors

Biodiversity management is

cur-rently implemented by many sectoral

agencies, but coordination among

them is poor

An independent and

multi-stake-holder team was to convene in 2003

to address institutional arrangements

and capacity-building for tation at all levels of government

implemen-Some stakeholders opined that the introduction of new institutions was unnecessary and that focus should rather be put on strengthening the functions, tasks and authorities of existing institutions, particularly within the Ministry of Environment

Although most programmes are implemented at the national level, regions are also assigned responsibilities for implementation Activities include the call for collaboration with the business sector, mining companies, NGOs, media, local communities, universities, police and customs of-ficers, farmers’ organizations and lawyers’ associations

Communication

A large segment of Indonesian society still has a low level of aware-ness and understanding of the value

of biodiversity in their daily lives and for national development Most stake-holders are aware of the short-term productive value of certain resources only Awareness-raising activities, including introduction to the IBSAP documents, were to begin at the outset

of IBSAP implementation in 2003, with focus on training for the Bupatis and members of the regional House

of Representative

Biodiversity information systems in existence include the Indonesian Bio-diversity Information System (IBIS); Biodiversity Information Center and Nature Conservation Information Center; National Biodiversity Informa-tion Network (NBIN); and the CBD Clearing-House Mechanism

Monitoring and Reporting

Monitoring of the IBSAP is to be conducted annually, and evaluation conducted prior to each national de-velopment period in order to incorpo-rate results into national and regional development plans A mechanism and framework for conducting these activities would be developed by the end of 2003 One mechanism is the establishment of performance indica-tors to measure the success of actors involved in biodiversity management, particularly relevant ministries and local governments

These indicators would be mulated through public consultation,

for-as a part of the IBSAP dissemination and communication program, and subsequently adopted by national and regional governments Communities and the private sector are also encour-aged to independently monitor and evaluate IBSAP implementation

Biodiversity and Socio-Economic Development

Despite pressure placed on nesses to implement good biodiversity management practices, progress in this area is still very weak However,

busi-an Indonesibusi-an traditional medicine company is attempting to alter this trend by working with community groups, farmers’ groups, universities and research institutions to conserve medicinal plants by preserving the tra-ditional uses of local medicinal plants

A nursery has been created for these plants and waste from production is being recycled for use as fodder and organic fertilizer

Source: SCBD Report

Komodo dragon

strat-egy to 2020 and an action plan to

2010 With poverty being the single

most important problem facing the

country today, the NBSAP is viewed

as an important tool for biodiversity

conservation and sustainable

develop-ment, poverty alleviation and improved

quality of life The NBSAP also

sup-ports the long-term objectives set by the

Socio-economic Development vision,

especially those of the National

Envi-ronment Strategy and National Poverty

Eradication Programme However, the

concept of the role that biodiversity

plays in socio-economic development

is still very much in its infancy

The NBSAP’s main objectives

are to:

1 Identify important biological

diversity components and

im-prove the knowledge base

2 Manage biodiversity on a

region-al basis, using naturregion-al boundaries

to facilitate the integration of

conservation and

utilization-oriented management

3 Plan and implement a

biodi-versity-specific human resource

management program

4 Increase awareness and

encour-age participation of the public

in sustainable management of

biodiversity

5 Adjust national legislation and

regulations and harmonize these

with Multi-lateral

Environmen-tal Agreements (MEAs)

6 Secure the NBSAP

implementa-tion

7 Promote country needs driven

international cooperation

The action plan lists activities to

be implemented by 2010 for the above

seven areas but does not assign

accom-panying implementation

responsibili-ties to stakeholders Rather, the report

states that the Science, Technology and Environment Agency (STEA), the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) and other relevant ministries, local government sectors, mass orga-nizations, internal and external private sector organizations running businesses

in Lao PDR, international tions (regional and subregional), and NGOs, are the main target groups for the implementation of activities

organiza-All sectors in the central and local levels are responsible for translating the requirements of the NBSAP into their respective action plans

The NBSAP stresses the tance of the ethnobiological knowl-edge of the local and indigenous people and highlights actions that promote the participation of these groups in biodiversity research and management, and to ensure equitable benefit-sharing that may arise from the use of traditional knowledge and practice Actions to legally safeguard the social and economic benefits resulting from the use of genetic material and products from Lao PDR are also covered in the plan, as is capacity-building in the field of modern biotechnology The country’s industrial sector, primarily composed of cement factories, wood

impor-processing plants, garment industries and hydroelectric power stations, has changed significantly over the last decade from being state-owned enterprises to several small- and me-dium-scale private sector enterprises Ecotourism is also being developed

in the country, and would play a key role in biodiversity conservation and socio-economic development

Communication

The Ministry of Education is developing a biodiversity curriculum for integration into various levels

of the country’s educational system Environmental education, including biodiversity conservation issues, has been incorporated into the curricula

of common schools and vocational colleges The National University of Laos has improved its curriculum with biodiversity-related topics to meet the growing demand for this type of information

Monitoring and Reporting

Clear mechanisms for ensuring implementation of the NBSAP at the national, regional and international levels; producing annual reports and NBSAP revisions; and increasing the participation of local and private sector

Nam Ha Protected Area

groups in implementation, have still

not been developed at the time of the

writing of the NBSAP

Biodiversity and Socio-Economic

Development

Nine of the country’s 17 rural

provinces are engaged in activities to

develop and promote ecotourism This

sector has an immense potential to

alleviate poverty while conserving Lao

PDR’s natural and cultural heritage

The United Nations Development

Programme presented an award to

Lao PDR in recognition of its first

ecotourism project and contribution

towards poverty alleviation Pragmatic

management is planned for this

sec-tor with carefully targeted support

for enterprises that are sensitive to

environmental and cultural needs

in 1998 and contains 15 strategic

themes with accompanying actions

The themes are to

1 Improve the scientific

knowl-edge base,

2 enhance sustainable utilization

of the components of biological

diversity,

3 develop a centre of excellence

in industrial research in tropical

biological diversity,

4 strengthen the institutional

framework for biological

di-versity management,

5 strengthen and integrate

con-servation programmes,

6 integrate biological diversity

considerations into sectoral

11 develop policies, regulations, laws and capacity building on biosafety,

12 enhance institutional and public awareness,

13 promote international tion and collaboration,

coopera-14 exchange information, and

15 establish funding nisms

mecha-Malaysia hopes to transform the country into a world centre of excellence

in conservation, research and tion of tropical biological diversity by

utiliza-2020 Biotechnology is a very lucrative sector and its development is accorded high priority Floriculture also has great economic potential The Action Plan includes the inventory of traditional knowledge on the use of species and genetic diversity, economic valuation

of the goods and services of biological diversity and bioprospecting Conse-quently, Malaysia has given priority to the formulation of a regulatory biosafety framework in the short term

A guiding principle of the National

Policy is that the “role of local

commu-nities in the conservation, management and utilization of biological diversity must be recognized and their rightful share of benefits should be ensured.”

Other plans are to: develop sectoral and cross-sectoral policies, plans and incentives; conduct environmental impact assessments by sectors; and establish a national biodiversity centre

to coordinate programmes related to implementation; set priorities; monitor and manage information Participa-tion of NGOs and the private sector, particularly with information they can provide on appropriate technolo-gies, including biotechnology, is also stressed The Plan likewise promotes international cooperation that deals with such matters as germplasm exchange, technology transfer and information exchange, as well as regional collaboration on transbound-ary issues The government has also planned to seek cooperation in regard

to the repatriation of information, particularly that which is not in the public domain

The Malaysian government stresses the inclusion of biological diversity issues in long- and medium-term development plans, such as the Five-Year Development Plans, the Outline Perspective Plans and the National Development Plans Existing legisla-

Mulu National Park

tion are mostly sector- based, and there

are no specific laws on comprehensive

biodiversity conservation and

man-agement The Action Plan calls for

a review of the adequacy of current

legislation and identification of areas

where new legislation may be required,

such as practice codes for collectors,

intellectual property, ownership rights,

biosafety, and invasive alien species

Communication

Malaysia believes that reward

mechanisms should be put in place

to strengthen biodiversity education

Moreover, educational curricula and

training programmes should be

reori-ented to include specific references to

the conservation and sustainable use

of biological diversity The role of

NGOs in promoting awareness should

also be considered Mechanisms for

information exchange at national and

international levels should be

devel-oped or strengthened, and information

centres and networks to disseminate

information should be available at

government, academic, industry, NGO

and individual levels

Monitoring and Reporting

The institutional framework for

NBSAP implementation requires

strengthening The Action Plan

sug-gests the establishment of a committee,

composed of representatives of federal

ministries, agencies and state

govern-ments, to deal with matters related to

implementation at federal, state and

local levels

Biodiversity and Socio-Economic

Development

Indigenous plants and animals

have long been used by the country

in traditional medicine Certain plants

in Malaysia have proven effective in

preventing malaria and counteracting

the HIv virus The country recognizes

the enormous economic potential of

medicinally useful plants and is taking

steps to tap into this market

devel-of new information, approaches and analysis for biodiversity conservation provided through various initiatives, the Philippine Biodiversity Conserva-tion Priority-setting Program (PBCPP) was designed to review existing plans, and the results essentially comprised the “second iteration” of the NBSAP completed in 2002

The Philippines recognizes that a new culture of partnership-building and collaboration among

a wide range of stakeholders and conservation practitioners is neces-sary for the implementation of the second iteration to be successful The document consolidates the most up-to-date information gathered from

300 natural and social scientists from local and international organi-zations, NGOs, academics, people’s organizations, donor communities and the private sector This process was a breakthrough in that it was the first time that experts in terrestrial, inland waters and marine ecosystems and other critical stakeholders had

gathered to strategize on national biodiversity conservation and related socio-economic issues

The PBCPP members reached consensus on 206 priority areas for conservation, and identified the fol-lowing five elements as strategic actions that fine-tune the six strategic actions contained in the 1997 NBSAP, for implementation:

1 Harmonize research with servation needs,

con-2 enhance and strengthen the protected area system,

3 institutionalize innovative and appropriate biodiversity con-servation approaches: the bio-diversity corridors,

4 institutionalize monitoring and evaluation systems of projects and of biodiversity, and

5 develop a national constituency for biodiversity conservation in the Philippines

Results of the PBCPP will serve

as a decision framework that makers, national and local govern-ments, civil society, academics, donor communities, local communities, and non-traditional stakeholders, such as the business community, can incorpo-rate in their development programmes Implementation success is illustrated, for example, by the inclusion of the NBSAP in the Philippine Medium-Term Development Plan (1999-2004)

policy-Mts Iglit-Baco National Park

and the National Land Use Policy at

the regional level In addition, an

economic instrument for biodiversity

conservation was created through a

project formulated by the

Depart-ment of EnvironDepart-ment and Natural

Resources

Innovative Approach

The Philippines has identified

nu-merous biological corridors to

efficient-ly manage and conserve biodiversity

Nine marine corridors were identified

following the recommendation of the

PBCPP marine working group to adapt

the concept of biodiversity corridors,

normally applied to terrestrial

ecosys-tems, to marine ecosystems Nineteen

terrestrial and inland water corridors

have also been identified In total,

these 28 corridors encompass 80%

of the total area covered by the 206

conservation priority areas

Communication / Monitoring

and Reporting

Immediate actions include the

creation of a multi-sectoral,

multi-insti-tutional mechanism entitled “Network

for Nature” (N4N) to disseminate

information, and coordinate and

moni-tor implementation This mechanism

ensures that partner organizations

share responsibility with government

agencies for implementation of PBCPP

results and that information is widely

in the review of the previous edition

to contribute to the content of the current edition Consultation was done through the convening of focus groups and through internet surveys, public fora, climate change roundtables, and public exhibitions, among others

The 2006 edition covers six focus areas: air and climate change, water, waste management, nature, public health, and international environmen-tal relations Singapore stresses close partnership among the public, private and people (3P) sectors in attaining sustainable development through economic development, social progress and environmental sustainability Key groups targeted include, among oth-ers, industry associations, businesses, NGOs, government officers of other agencies, academics, interest groups, youth, and the community

Targets included in the 2006 tion that relate directly to biodiversity conservation are to:

Edi-1 keep nature areas for as long as possible,

2 verify and update information

on indigenous flora and fauna through biodiversity surveys,

3 establish more parks and green linkages, and

4 set up a National Biodiversity Reference Centre

Awareness-raising campaigns are also being implemented, and corporate funding has been obtained for edu-cational and outreach projects related

to biodiversity

International cooperation through capacity-building partnerships with other developing countries, close collaboration with ASEAN countries and partners at regional and interna-tional levels on environmental mat-ters, and honoring commitments to international environmental treaties, are emphasized as well Singapore strives to become an environmental hub for the exchange of environ-ment and water technology and the host of international environmental events

Best Practices

Singapore to date is taking the lead

in regional efforts to implement the ASEAN Initiative on Environmentally Sustainable Cities (AIESC), launched

in September 2005, and also chairs the ASEAN Working Group on En-vironmentally Sustainable Cities A total of 24 cities in the 10 ASEAN countries are now participating in the AIESC Increasing environmental awareness among youth groups is also given a lot of importance In 2006 and 2007, the country jointly hosted youth conferences with partners such

Priorities

Prior to ratifying the

CBD in 2004, Thailand

developed its first

Na-tional Policy, Strategies and Action Plan

on the Conservation and Sustainable

Use of Biodiversity for the 1998-2002

period The second NBSAP covered

the period 2003-2007

The Strategy comprised the

fol-lowing elements:

1 enhance knowledge,

understand-ing and public awareness in

the importance and value of

biodiversity;

2 build capacity and expertise of

institutions and their staff on

biodiversity conservation;

3 strengthen capacity in

conserva-tion, restoration and protection

of natural habitats, within and

outside the protected areas;

4 increase efficiency in the

con-servation and sustainable use of

species and genetic diversity;

5 control, regulate, and reduce

threats to biodiversity;

6 provide incentives and

encour-age public participation for the

conservation of biodiversity in

accordance with traditional Thai

cultural practices; and

7 promote and develop

coop-eration between international

Communication

Specific targets and indicators related to communication included the following:

• promote education on basic knowledge of biodiversity and public awareness in every age group to the minimum 50%

of the entire population in each province and every local administrative organization;

• develop and harmonize the biodiversity database of every institution/organization Keep them updated and linked to-gether as “Thailand’s Biodiver-sity Information Network”;

• develop “the Biodiversity servation Network” by the year 2007; build capacity of the people and local administrative organizations on the conserva-tion and sustainable use of biodiversity in at least 40% of

Con-the country’s total area; and

• support education and improve laws or regulations on the access

to biological resources, nological transfer and benefit sharing

to 2010; and completed the vision toward 2015 The draft has not been made available to the SCBD, thus the following text deals with the 1995 BAP only

Representatives of all levels of ment, local and international scientists and academics, planners, managers, local communities and resource users partici-pated in open discussions and workshops during the preparation of the BAP vietnam had previously developed the National Conservation Strategy (1985), the National Plan for Environment and Sustainable Development (1991), and the Tropical Forestry Action Plan (1991) to address environmental and biodiversity problems The BAP differs from these documents in that it advo-cated a comprehensive and integrated approach to biodiversity conservation that is integrally linked to the general development process Partnerships with local communities and provincial-level governments were stressed and, in this sense, the BAP was a more “bottom up” approach to solving biodiversity problems than its predecessors The BAP drew attention to three new elements of biodiversity conserva-tion: marine, wetlands, and agricultural biodiversity, and emphasized interna-tional aspects of biodiversity protection

govern-As such, it served as a tool to clarify vietnam’s responsibilities with its imme-diate neighbors regarding transfrontier reserves, data sharing, expertise sharing,

Kaeng Krachan National Park

management of migrating species,

spread of fire, trade and other issues

Broader issues such as global warming,

marine pollution, international wildlife

trade, global programmes and

conven-tions have also been taken into account

The BAP also focused more attention

on the values and uses of biological

diversity Matters of access to and

sovereignty over biodiversity resources

were discussed to safeguard the country’s

long-term economic potential Finally,

the BAP has gone into the details of

planning a protected areas system by

reviewing up-to-date information and

examining the country on remote sensed

satellite images

The Action Plan consisted of 59

project profiles, arranged into policy

programmes, management and

conser-vation field programmes and

comple-mentary actions, for implementation

in three phases Many of the Phase

1 projects focused on planning,

es-tablishing institutional arrangements,

raising awareness, and training while

others targeted the protection of

threatened biodiversity Phase II was

the consolidation phase which lasted

for an additional two to three years

Phase III covered those early Phase

projects which required follow-up

implementation and evaluation, and

also focused on the development

of provincial biodiversity plans and

regional biodiversity issues It also

covered the management of

biodiver-sity which at the time of drafting of

the Plan was not greatly threatened

Lessons learned in the first two Phases

would be passed on to new projects

during the last Phase

Recommended actions were

iden-tified for various institutions

includ-ing the State Planninclud-ing Committee,

Ministry of Science, Technology and

Environment, Ministry of Forestry,

Ministry of Public Health and the

Ministry of Education as important

first steps Other groups such as

local communities, people’s

commit-tees, customs departments, NGOs,

hospitals, tourism companies, town

committees, local schools were also assigned responsibilities later on in the implementation period

Communication

Improving public awareness about biodiversity conservation and environ-mental issues in general is clearly a high priority Courses have been prepared for primary and secondary grade school use and as parts of university degrees and diplomas However, these are not yet mandatory or widely used across the country The Ministry of Education has taken the decision to review these courses, referring to similar courses developed in other Asian countries (e.g., India), and to make environmental and/

or biodiversity education programmes mandatory at all schools and learning institutions in the country

A large environmental awareness project, financed by the United Na-tions Development Program (UNDP) and implemented by Ministry of Sci-ence, Technology, and Environment (MOSTE) and the Youth Union, is currently ongoing to build national capacities to design and implement integrated mass media campaigns for environmental awareness

Monitoring and Reporting

Many government institutions have responsibilities in managing the use of natural resources These responsibilities are not always clear, and sometimes overlap Conflicts also arise between agencies which have a similar mandate

but a different objective It is therefore important to review and re-structure institutional arrangements The BAP recommends that a comprehensive study of institutional responsibilities

be carried out to improve inter-sectoral coordination and linkages at the na-tional, provincial and district levels

Biodiversity and Socio-Economic Development

The revised statement of Forestry Strategies given by the Ministry of Forestry (May 1993), based on De-cision No 327 of the Council of Ministry, is a great improvement in terms of biodiversity conservation,

as compared to the previous forestry policy in vietnam For the first time, the emphasis is placed on forest pro-tection rather than forest production, and the plan to involve local people

in a forest conservation programme was expected to be effective Decision

No 327 has clarified several ways in which the people will become more involved in forest protection, and where local people will be employed

in forest restoration; given long-term use of forest which they restore; paid

to protect existing forest and allowed

to extract some products; and paid for fire fighting work and rewarded when there are no fires; and given sedentarization help to enable them to subsist on smaller, permanent areas of land over which they will have greater security of tenure

Source: SCBD Report

A scenic view of Ha Long Bay

AN overview of NBSAPs and national reports

sub-mitted to the Secretariat on the Convention on

Biological Diversity (SCBD) to date is presented in

Table 1 All ASEAN Member Countries (AMCs), with the

exception of Brunei Darussalam (non-Party) and Myanmar,

have prepared their NBSAP Myanmar is still preparing its

first NBSAP Moreover, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore

and Thailand have completed NBSAP revisions and

viet-nam has completed a draft NBSAP revision Eight of nine

Parties have submitted a Third National Report (TNR) to

date, representing a noteworthy increase as compared with

the number of First and Second National Reports received

Submission of TNRs is particularly relevant in terms of

the information they provide to measure achievement of the 2010 biodiversity target goals

All thematic areas are substantially covered in the NBSAPs of the AMCs, except for dry and sub-humid lands

biodiversity (see Table 2) The same can be said about

cross-cutting areas, with the exception of the following five areas, that are not included in the large majority of NBSAPs:

• Climate change and biological diversity (63%)

• Global strategy for plant conservation (50%)

• Global taxonomy initiative (38%)

• Ecosystem approach (25%)

• Liability and redress – Article 14(2) (0%)

Country NBSAP (year of adoption) First national report Second national report Third national report

Brunei Darussalam

Yes (revised NBSAP for period 2003-2020 adopted

in 2003)

Yes (Second NBSAP Iteration completed in 2002)

Yes (revised NBSAP for period 2003-2007 adopted

in 2002)

* 3rd NR received March 2006 states that draft

of Biodiversity Action Plan to 2010 and vision toward

2015 has been completed

Table 1 NBSAPs and National Reports submitted to SCBD

Table 2 CBD Thematic Areas and Cross-cutting Issues in the NBSAPs

Dry and sub-humid lands

Cross-cutting Areas

Access to genetic resources and

benefit-sharing

Climate change and biological

Economics, trade and incentive

Global Strategy for Plant

Technology Transfer and

cooperation

Traditional knowledge, innovations

and practices

There is also no reference to the CBD Strategic Goal and

2010 Biodiversity Target in all ASEAN NBSAPs (see Table

3.) But with the exception of Singapore’s Green Plan, 2012

- 2006 Edition, adopted in 2006, all NBSAPs and NBSAP

revisions have been completed prior to the promotion of the

incorporation of the 2010 targets in these documents

Overall coverage of the six key elements in strategy development is fragmented and particularly weak in some

areas (see Table 4) Indonesia comes closest to

cover-ing all six elements in its NBSAP While all countries have identified objectives and actions in their NBSAPs, vietnam has only included locale-specific work to be undertaken Fifty percent of countries (Indonesia, Lao PDR, Singapore, Thailand) have assigned an overall timeframe for NBSAP implementation, however, only 25% (Indonesia, vietnam) have set implementation timeframes against each objective/action Also, only 25% (Cambodia, Indonesia) have assigned priority levels to objectives/actions in the NBSAP document itself All countries have identified the lead agency responsible for overall NBSAP implementation, although only 38% (Cambodia, Indonesia, vietnam) have identified the lead agency, key players, partners and agencies against each activity A small majority of countries provide general descriptions of the non-marketable and marketable values of biodiversity

Table 3 Referencing the CBD 2010 Target in the NBSAPs

Country

Does the NBSAP make any reference / linkage to the CBD strategic goal and 2010 target?

Singapore Thailand Vietnam

WHAT – Have objectives and actions

been identified? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

WHERE – Do actions identify

locale-specific work to be undertaken? No No No No No No No Yes

WHEN – Does the NBSAP have an

overall timeframe? (i.e the strategy is

from year X to year Y)

No Yes

(2003-2020) Yes (Strategy to 2020;

Action Plan to 2010)

No No Yes

(2006 - 2012) (2003-2007) Yes No

x Has a timeframe for

implementation been set against each

obj/action?

No Yes No No No No No Yes

x Has distinction been made between

the varying ‘priority levels’ of any one

objective/action within the NBSAP

document itself?

Yes Yes, priorities

distinguished according to specific timeframe assigned

No No No No No No

WHO – Has the Lead Agency

responsible for overall NBSAP

implementation been identified?

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

x Has the lead agency been identified

against each activity?

Yes Yes No No No No No Yes

x Have the key

players/partners/agencies associated

with implementing each obj/action

been identified against each activity?

Yes Yes No No No No No Yes

WHY – (A) Does the NBSAP outline

the ‘Non-marketable’

values of biodiversity?

Yes (minimally) Yes No Yes (minimally) Yes (minimally) No ? (main body of

NBSAP is not available to SCBD)

Yes (minimally) Yes Yes

(minimally) (minimally) Yes No No ? (main body of NBSAP is not

available to SCBD)

Yes

HOW – Have separate implementation

plan(s) been developed since the NBSAP

production?

Not that SCBD

is aware of Not that SCBD is aware of Not that SCBD is aware of Not that SCBD is aware of Not that SCBD is aware of Not that SCBD is aware of Not that SCBD is aware of Not that SCBD is aware of

A S E A N B I O D I V E R S I T y • 

The use of both targets and indicators as tools for

monitoring and evaluating implementation is included

in the NBSAP of Thailand only (see Table 5) However,

the targets and indicators developed by Thailand are

overarching ones (separate targets and indicators for

actions have not been developed)

Table 5 Targets and Indicators

Country

Does the NBSAP have integral measurable TARGETS? integral INDICATORS? Does the NBSAP have

Examples of national policies, plans and other strategies

produced that reflect biodiversity conservation concerns

are reflected in Table 6

Table 6 Policies, Plans and other Strategies

Cambodia x National Environmental Action Plan (1998)

x Participatory Land Use Planning

x National Strategic Development Plan (2006-2010)

x National Strategy for Poverty Reduction

(2003-2005)

x National Forest Policy

x Sustainable Forest Management Policy

x Rectangular Strategy (2004)

x Forestry and Fishery Reform Policy

x National Action Plan for Land Degradation

Indonesia x National Development Program 2000-2004

(relevant biodiversity sections)

x Strategic Plan (Ministry of Forestry)

x ASEAN Action Plan developed by Ministry of

Forestry to curb illegal wildlife trade in ASEAN countries

x Action Plan for the Indonesian Summit for

Sustainable Development

Lao PDR x NBCA Management Plan

x National 5th Socio-economic Five Year Plan

x National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP)

Malaysia x Five Year Development Plans

x Outline Perspective Plans

x National Development Plan

x National Physical Plan for Mountain and Land Use

x Crocker Range Park Management Master Plan

(2004)

x Sabah Conservation Strategy (1992)

x Sabah Structure Plan (2020)

x Sarawak Forest Policy (1954)

Philippines x Philippine Development Plan

x National Action Plan (NAP) to combat

desertification, land degradation, drought, and poverty (2004-2010)

x National Wetlands Action Plan

x National Physical Framework Plan

x Sustainable Agriculture and Marginal Uplands

Development Program

x DENR General Plan of Action

x Revised Master Plan for Forestry Development

x Policy on transfer of genetic resources

x Philippine Biodiversity Conservation Priority

(PBCP) Program

Singapore x Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Master Plan

(2003)

x Plant Conservation Strategy

x Bird Conservation Strategy

Thailand x 9th National Economic and Social Development

Plan

x Environmental Quality Management Plan

x ASEAN Strategic Plan of Action on the

Environment (1994 – 1998)

x ASEAN Environmental Education Action Plan

(2000 – 2005)

x ASEAN Regional Haze Action Plan

Vietnam x National Strategy for Environmental Protection to

2010

x Comprehensive Strategy for Growth and Poverty

Reduction

x Orientations for Sustainable Development in

Vietnam (known as Vietnam’s Agenda 21)

x National Strategy for Environmental Protection to

2010 and its Orientations towards 2020

x Aquatic Resources Protection and Development

Programme

x Management Strategy for a Protected Areas

System in Vietnam to 2010

x Five Million Hectares Forestation Programme

x Plan for Conservation and Sustainable

Development of Wetlands (2004-2010)

x National Conservation Strategy (1985) * one of

the first of its kind developed in a developing country

x National Plan on Environment and Sustainable

Development for 1991-2000 (1991)

x Tropical Forestry Action Plan (1991)

x Ministry of Forestry Decision 276 banning the

hunting of 38 wildlife species (1989)

x Regulations on the hunting of forest wildlife

x National Physical Plan for Mountain and Land Use

x Crocker Range Park Management Master Plan (2004)

x Sabah Conservation Strategy (1992)

x Sabah Structure Plan (2020)

x Sarawak Forest Policy (1954)

Philippines x Philippine Development Plan

x National Action Plan (NAP) to combat desertification, land degradation, drought, and poverty (2004-2010)

x National Wetlands Action Plan

x National Physical Framework Plan

x Sustainable Agriculture and Marginal Uplands Development Program

x DENR General Plan of Action

x Revised Master Plan for Forestry Development

x Policy on transfer of genetic resources

x Philippine Biodiversity Conservation Priority (PBCP) Program

Singapore x Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Master Plan

(2003)

x Plant Conservation Strategy

x Bird Conservation Strategy

Thailand x 9th National Economic and Social Development

Plan

x Environmental Quality Management Plan

x ASEAN Strategic Plan of Action on the Environment (1994 – 1998)

x ASEAN Environmental Education Action Plan (2000 – 2005)

x ASEAN Regional Haze Action Plan

Vietnam x National Strategy for Environmental Protection to

x National Strategy for Environmental Protection to

2010 and its Orientations towards 2020

x Aquatic Resources Protection and Development Programme

x Management Strategy for a Protected Areas System in Vietnam to 2010

x Five Million Hectares Forestation Programme

x Plan for Conservation and Sustainable Development of Wetlands (2004-2010)

x National Conservation Strategy (1985) * one of the first of its kind developed in a developing country

x National Plan on Environment and Sustainable Development for 1991-2000 (1991)

x Tropical Forestry Action Plan (1991)

x Ministry of Forestry Decision 276 banning the hunting of 38 wildlife species (1989)

x Regulations on the hunting of forest wildlife (1963)

x Marine turtle conservation action plan to 2010

Table 7 lists examples of domestic legislation produced

by ASEAN countries as a result of / that are associated

with the NBSAP

sPECIaL REPoRt

sPECIaL REPoRts

Cambodia x Environmental Law (1996)

x Law on Environmental Protection and Natural

Resource

x Management Law on Wildlife Hunting and Trade

x Forestry Law (2002)

x Land Law

x Forestry and Environmental Law of the rights of

indigenous and local community

x Sub-decree on Community Forestry

x Sub-decree on Community Fisheries

Indonesia x Act No.5/1990 on Conservation of natural

resources and ecosystem

x Government Regulation No.7/1999 on Preservation

of Plant and Animal Species

x Act No.24/1992 on Spatial Planning

x Presidential Decree No.32/1990 on Protected

Areas

x Act No.5/1994 on the Ratification of United

Nations Convention on Biological Diversity

x Act No.23/1997 on Environmental Management

x Act No 25/2000 on National Development

Environmental Impact Assessment

x Act No 25/1999 on Fiscal Balance between the

Central Government and the Regions

x Act No 14/2000 on Patents

x National Agenda 21 (1997)

x Act No 41/1999 on Forestry

x Government Regulation No 8/1999 on the

Utilization of Wild Species of Flora and Fauna

x Presidential Decree No 43/1978 on Ratification of

CITES

x Presidential Decree No 48/1991 on Ratification of

the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

x Act No 12/1992 on Plant Cultivation System

x Act No 29/2000 on Plant Variety Protection

x Law No 8/2001 regarding fertilizer for agricultural

purposes

x Ministerial Decree No 10/2002 on Integrated

Coastal Zone Management and draft law on Coastal Zone Management

x Government Regulation No 34/2002 regarding

Forest Planning, Management, Utilization and Land Use

x Forestry Decree No 456/2004

Lao PDR x The Forestry Law (1996)

x The Water and Water Resources Law (1996)

x The Electricity Law (1997)

x The Mining Law (1997)

x The Agriculture law (1998)

x The Environmental Protection law (1999)

x Decree On agreement and Endorsement of the National Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 and Action Plan to 2010

x The Decree on the implementation of Environmental Protection Law (2001)

Malaysia Federal

x Environmental Quality Act (1974)

x Fisheries Act (1985)

x Pesticides Act (1974)

x Plant Quarantine Act (1976)

x Customs (Prohibition of Exports) (Amendment) (No.4) 1993

Peninsular Malaysia

x Waters Act (1920)

x Protection of Wildlife Act (1972)

x Aboriginal Peoples Act (1954)

x Land Conservation Act (1960)

x National Land Code (1965)

x National Parks Act (1980)

x National Forestry Act (1984)

Philippines x Republic Act 9147 on the Wildlife Resources and

Conservation and Protection Act

x Clean Air Act 1999 (RA 8749)

x Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2002 (RA 9003)

x Republic Act 7586, otherwise known as the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Law

x Environmental Impact Assessment Law – The Philippine EIA System had been in place since

1978 with the issuance of Presidential Decree

Singapore x Wild Animals and Birds Act

x National Parks Board Act

x Parks and Trees Act

x Fisheries Act

Thailand x Forestry Act B.E 2484 (1941)

x Environmental Quality Promotion Act B.E 2535 (1992)

x Plant Varieties Act B.E 2518 revised 2535 (1975 revised 1992)

x Plant Varieties Protection Act B.E 2542 (1999)

x Protection and Promotion of Traditional Thai Medical Intelligence Act B.E 2542 (1999)

* The last two acts promote and support indigenous and local knowledge on plant utilizations

Vietnam x Forest Protection and Development Law

(amendment)

x Decree No.11/2002/ND-CP on management of import, export and transit of wild animals and plants

x The Environmental Protection law (1999)

x Decree On agreement and Endorsement of the National Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 and Action Plan to 2010

x The Decree on the implementation of Environmental Protection Law (2001)

Malaysia Federal

x Environmental Quality Act (1974)

x Fisheries Act (1985)

x Pesticides Act (1974)

x Plant Quarantine Act (1976)

x Customs (Prohibition of Exports) (Amendment) (No.4) 1993

Peninsular Malaysia

x Waters Act (1920)

x Protection of Wildlife Act (1972)

x Aboriginal Peoples Act (1954)

x Land Conservation Act (1960)

x National Land Code (1965)

x National Parks Act (1980)

x National Forestry Act (1984)

Philippines x Republic Act 9147 on the Wildlife Resources and

Conservation and Protection Act

x Clean Air Act 1999 (RA 8749)

x Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2002 (RA 9003)

x Republic Act 7586, otherwise known as the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Law

x Environmental Impact Assessment Law – The Philippine EIA System had been in place since

1978 with the issuance of Presidential Decree

Singapore x Wild Animals and Birds Act

x National Parks Board Act

x Parks and Trees Act

x Fisheries Act

Thailand x Forestry Act B.E 2484 (1941)

x Environmental Quality Promotion Act B.E 2535 (1992)

x Plant Varieties Act B.E 2518 revised 2535 (1975 revised 1992)

x Plant Varieties Protection Act B.E 2542 (1999)

x Protection and Promotion of Traditional Thai Medical Intelligence Act B.E 2542 (1999)

* The last two acts promote and support indigenous and local knowledge on plant utilizations

Vietnam x Forest Protection and Development Law

(amendment)

x Decree No.11/2002/ND-CP on management of import, export and transit of wild animals and plants

sPECIaL REPoRt sPECIaL REPoRts

x Decree No.48/2002/ND-CP on amendment and

supplement for the directory of rare and precious wild animals and plants

x Ordinance on plant varieties (2004)

x Ordinance on domestic animal varieties (2004)

x Ordinance on plant protection and quarantine

x Law on Environmental Protection (1994)

x Ordinance on Forest Protection (1972)

x 1988 Land Law (revised 1993)

x Decree on Mineral Resources (1989)

x Health Protection Law (1989)

x Decree on Protection of Water Resources (1989)

x Legislation on protection of dams and dykes

(1989)

x Law on Ocean Shipping (1990)

x Law on Environmental Protection (1994)

x Decree on Forest Protection (including protection

for wildlife) (1973)

x Law on Forest Protection and Development (1991)

x Ordinance on Fisheries Resources Protection

(1989)

x Government Decree No.12-CP (1997) provides

detailed guidelines on implementation of Vietnam’s Foreign Investment Law

x Government issued Decree No.121/2004/ND-CP

regarding to regulations on administrative fines in the field of environmental protection

x Law on Forest Protection and Development

(amended)

x Decree No 13/2001/ND-CP on Protection of new

plant varieties

x Ordinance on Plant Protection and Quarantine

x Decree No 11/2002/ND-CP on Management

Export, Import and Transit of Wild Animals and Plants

x Decree No 48/2002/ND-CP issued by Government

on amending and supplementing the list of precious and rare wild plants and animals, issued together with Decree No, 18/HDBT of January 17, 1992 of the Council of Ministers prescribing the list of precious and rare forest plants and animals and the regime of management and protection thereof

x Ordinance on plant varieties (2004)

x Ordinance on domestic animal varieties (2004)

x Ordinance on plant protection and quarantine

x Law on Environmental Protection (1994)

x Ordinance on Forest Protection (1972)

x 1988 Land Law (revised 1993)

x Decree on Mineral Resources (1989)

x Health Protection Law (1989)

x Decree on Protection of Water Resources (1989)

x Legislation on protection of dams and dykes (1989)

x Law on Ocean Shipping (1990)

x Law on Environmental Protection (1994)

x Decree on Forest Protection (including protection for wildlife) (1973)

x Law on Forest Protection and Development (1991)

x Ordinance on Fisheries Resources Protection (1989)

x Government Decree No.12-CP (1997) provides detailed guidelines on implementation of Vietnam’s Foreign Investment Law

x Government issued Decree No.121/2004/ND-CP regarding to regulations on administrative fines in the field of environmental protection

x Law on Forest Protection and Development (amended)

x Decree No 13/2001/ND-CP on Protection of new plant varieties

x Ordinance on Plant Protection and Quarantine

x Decree No 11/2002/ND-CP on Management Export, Import and Transit of Wild Animals and Plants

x Decree No 48/2002/ND-CP issued by Government

on amending and supplementing the list of precious and rare wild plants and animals, issued together with Decree No, 18/HDBT of January 17, 1992 of the Council of Ministers prescribing the list of precious and rare forest plants and animals and the regime of management and protection thereof

x Decree No.48/2002/ND-CP on amendment and supplement for the directory of rare and precious wild animals and plants

x Ordinance on plant varieties (2004)

x Ordinance on domestic animal varieties (2004)

x Ordinance on plant protection and quarantine

x Law on Environmental Protection (1994)

x Ordinance on Forest Protection (1972)

x 1988 Land Law (revised 1993)

x Decree on Mineral Resources (1989)

x Health Protection Law (1989)

x Decree on Protection of Water Resources (1989)

x Legislation on protection of dams and dykes (1989)

x Law on Ocean Shipping (1990)

x Law on Environmental Protection (1994)

x Decree on Forest Protection (including protection for wildlife) (1973)

x Law on Forest Protection and Development (1991)

x Ordinance on Fisheries Resources Protection (1989)

x Government Decree No.12-CP (1997) provides detailed guidelines on implementation of Vietnam’s Foreign Investment Law

x Government issued Decree No.121/2004/ND-CP regarding to regulations on administrative fines in the field of environmental protection

x Law on Forest Protection and Development (amended)

x Decree No 13/2001/ND-CP on Protection of new plant varieties

x Ordinance on Plant Protection and Quarantine

x Decree No 11/2002/ND-CP on Management Export, Import and Transit of Wild Animals and Plants

x Decree No 48/2002/ND-CP issued by Government

on amending and supplementing the list of precious and rare wild plants and animals, issued together with Decree No, 18/HDBT of January 17, 1992 of the Council of Ministers prescribing the list of precious and rare forest plants and animals and the regime of management and protection thereof

Table 8 provides an overview of countries’ ratification

of the other Rio Conventions, five biodiversity-related

conventions and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

Overall mainstreaming of NBSAPs with particular

strategies has been moderately successful (see Table 9)

About 50% of countries (Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia,

Philippines) have linked their NBSAPs with National

Sustainable Development Strategies, and 50%

(Cambo-dia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Thailand) with National CBD Biosafety Frameworks However, only 25% (Cambodia, Lao PDR) have created linkages with Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), and 25% (Cambodia, Singapore) with Climate Change Adaptation Strategies

Notably, no country has mainstreamed its NBSAP with action plans for achieving the Millennium Develop-ment Goals

Table 8 Party Membership of MEAs and Associated Agreements

Brunei Darussalam

Myanmar (NBSAP