The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) is an intergovernmental regional centre of excellence that facilitates co-operation and co-ordination among the members of

ASEAN ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...

, and with relevant national governments, regional and

international organisation An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states an ...

s on the Conservation and

Sustainable use Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...

biological diversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') lev ...

. It is acknowledged as the first regional initiative to save the ASEAN's rich but highly threatened biodiversity and is a continuation of the ASEAN Regional Centre for Biodiversity Conservation (ARCBC), which was a joint co-operation project of the ASEAN and

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

(EU), and hosted by the

Department of Environment and Natural Resources The Department of Environment and Natural Resources ( fil, Kagawaran ng Kapaligiran at Likas na Yaman, DENR or KKLY) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for governing and supervising the exploration, developmen ...

of the Philippines. The Executive Director of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity is Dr Theresa Mundita S Lim.

Funding the centre

From 1999 to 2004, ARCBC successfully established the bridge that fostered strong collaboration among ASEAN Member States (AMS) and between ASEAN and EU partner institutions, and gained recognition in the regional and global arena for biodiversity. A year later in 2005, the ASEAN and EU agreed to establish the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity to carry on the work of the completed ARCBC project. The Financing Agreement inked between EU and ASEAN provided the necessary funding for the establishment of ACB. The centre was established primarily to facilitate co-ordination and co-operation among AMS on the sustainable use and conservation of biological diversity. The Agreement on the establishment of the centre was signed by the Environment Ministers of

Brunei Darussalam Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by the ...

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Lao PDR __NOTOC__ Lao may refer to: Laos * Something of, from, or related to Laos, a country in Southeast Asia * Lao people (people from Laos, or of Lao descent) * The Lao language * Lao script, the writing system used to write the Lao language ** Lao (U ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

the Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

on behalf of their respective governments.

Government relations

Th
National Biodiversity Centre
represents

in the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity and is the national agency involved in biodiversity conservation and research in Singapore.

Launch

ACB was launched at the 9th Informal ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on 27 September 2005. The Agreement also established the ASEAN Biodiversity Fund with voluntary contributions of the AMS, other governments and organisations as approved by the Governing Board. The Fund is to be utilised to meet the expenses of the centre and its various initiatives. The

President of the Philippines The president of the Philippines ( fil, Pangulo ng Pilipinas, sometimes referred to as ''Presidente ng Pilipinas'') is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of t ...

Her Excellency

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House Deputy Spe ...

has recommended to the

Senate President President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for ex ...

and Members of the Senate the ratification of the Host Country Agreement (HCA) between the Government of the

Republic of the Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity. Signed on 8 August 2006 in Manila, the HCA provides that the Philippines shall be the Host Country for the ACB which is currently headquartered at the University of Philippines in

Los Baños, Laguna Los Baños, officially the Municipality of Los Baños ( tgl, Bayan ng Los Baños), colloquialy 'elbi' or simply LB, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 115,353 ...

. Subject to concurrence by the Senate, the

Philippine Government The Government of the Philippines ( fil, Pamahalaan ng Pilipinas) has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative and d ...

will later grant immunities and privileges to ACB and its staff. The Department of Environment and Natural resources (DENR), the Department of Finance (DOF), the Bureau of Immigration (BI), the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC),

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (; commonly abbreviated as BSP in both Filipino and English) is the central bank of the Philippines. It was established on July 3, 1993, pursuant to the provision of Republic Act 7653 or the New Central Bank Act ...

(BSP), and the

University of the Philippines Los Baños The University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB; fil, Unibersidad ng Pilipinas Los Baños), also referred to as UP Los Baños or colloquially as Elbi (), is a public research university primarily located in the towns of Los Baños and Bay ...

(UPLB) have endorsed the ratification of the HCA.

Focus and scope

Dr.

Ahmed Djoghlaf Ahmed Djoghlaf (born 25 November 1953 in Algiers), was the executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) until 2012. As Executive Secretary of the Convention, he had a key rol ...

executive secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

the United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Convention on Biological Diversity The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, is a multilateral treaty. The Convention has three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); the sustainable use of its ...

(CBD), calls ACB "a unique mechanism that uses the bottom-top approach to deal with the

biodiversity loss Biodiversity loss includes the worldwide extinction of different species, as well as the local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat, resulting in a loss of biological diversity. The latter phenomenon can be temporary or permanent, de ...

problem." Now on its 41st year, the ASEAN has resolved to further strengthen its commitment to protect its biodiversity from degradation. "As part of the ASEAN action to save the region’s biodiversity, the countries declared 27 areas as

ASEAN Heritage Parks ASEAN Heritage Parks (AHP) are selected protected areas in the ASEAN region that are known for their unique biodiversity and ecosystems, wilderness and outstanding values in scenic, cultural, educational, research, recreational and tourism. Its vi ...

and designated 1,523

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

s based on the

World Conservation Union The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

(IUCN) category," Executive Director Rodrigo Fuentes said. He added that "promoting national and regional cooperation to address measures related to

environmental agreement An international environmental agreement or sometimes environmental protocol, is a type of treaty binding in international law, allowing them to reach an environmental goal. In other words, it is "an intergovernmental document intended as legall ...

s, and establishing a regional database containing an inventory of the region’s biological resources are also part of the action to curb biodiversity loss." Now on its third year, ACB reinforces its efforts to engage more sectors and stakeholders in the quest to save the region's biodiversity. It forms alliances with key stakeholders in the regional and global levels.

References

External links

ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity
official site. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
ASEAN Biodiversity Dashboard
ASEAN Biodiversity Dashboard. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
ASEAN Clearing House Mechanism
ASEAN Clearing House Mechanism. Retrieved 10 January 2023.

Biodiversity Information Management Unit

* Dr. Arvin Diesmos, Director * Christian Elloran, Database Specialist * Dr. Ma. Renee Lorica, Knowledge Management Specialist * Jerome Alano, GIS Officer * Erica Villavelez * Evan Reblora, Web Application Programmer * Carmel Eje * Carl Callangan * Patricia Rafols * Jahn Zylke Ong, KM Associate {{ASEAN Heritage Parks Biodiversity Los Baños, Laguna ASEAN