MANILA, PHILIPPINES -- The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) and Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) Resource Facility are jointly organizing a virtual session on October 21, 2021 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. to discuss the status and progress of conservation and transboundary management of coastal and marine biodiversity in the region. Titled “Managing Networks and Transboundary Cooperation on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the ASEAN Region,” the session is one of the pre-congress events of the upcoming 2021 East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress hosted by the Royal Government of Cambodia on December 1-2, 2021.
Expected participants include the national focal points of the ASEAN Working Group on Nature Conservation and Biodiversity (AWGNCB) and ASEAN Working Group on Coastal and Marine Environment (AWGCME), as well as local, national, regional and international stakeholders and development partners working on coastal and marine conservation.
Speakers include Dr. Theresa Mundita Lim, ACB Executive Director; Dr. Ca Vu Thanh, PEMSEA Executive Committee Member; Mr. Sopon Thongdee, AWGCME Chairperson and Director-General of Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; Dr. Jose Padilla, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Regional Technical Advisor; Ms. Clarissa Arida, ACB Programme Development and Implementation Director; and Dr. Handoko Adi Susanto, UNDP/GEF Arafura and Timor Seas Ecosystem Action Phase II (ATSEA-2) Regional Project Manager.
The session will underscore the various initiatives and collaborative actions on sustaining healthy coastal and marine ecosystems through transboundary cooperation. Among the topics to be discussed include effective management practices, capacity development tools, communication, education and public awareness, and possible collaborations among the ASEAN Member States.
Virtual Poster Presentations
Among the unique features of the session are the virtual posters to be presented by the proponents of various projects involved in transboundary resource management. The posters will provide insights into implementing cross-border cooperation efforts and how threats concerning the management effectiveness of these MPAs have been addressed. Additionally, the virtual posters will show approaches, tools, and technologies being implemented by their respective projects.
Dr. Arvin Diesmos, Director of the ACB’s Biodiversity Information Management (BIM) Unit, will be presenting the ASEAN Biodiversity Dashboard. Presentations from ASEAN Member States on transboundary park initiatives will feature virtual posters from selected ASEAN Heritage Parks (AHP), and ASEAN-Norwegian Cooperation Project on Local Capacity Building for Reducing Plastic Pollution in the ASEAN Region (ASEANO).
The event is free and open to the public. Interested participants can sign up via https://tinyurl.com/ACB-MPA- RegForm until October 19 to receive the link and other updates, or visit the EAS Congress 2021 website at https://eascongress2021. pemsea.org for more information. (ACB)
