ALOR SETAR: Malaysia has enhanced its efforts and commitment in regional biodiversity conservation with the nomination of three protected areas as ASEAN Heritage Sites (AHP) at the 27th ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) Governing Board (GB) meeting in Langkawi, today.
The meeting was chaired by the Undersecretary of the Philippine Policy, Planning and International Affairs Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Jonas R. Leones as the Chairman of ACB GB and the Secretary of the Biodiversity and Forestry Management Division, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRES) S. Siva Kumar who is also the Deputy Chairman of ACB GB.
NRES in a statement announced that the meeting had decided to nominate three sites as AHPs, namely the Tengku Hassanal Wildlife Reserve, Pahang; Bako National Park and Bukit Lambir National Park, Sarawak.
According to NRES, the meeting also agreed to nominate three new sites in Vietnam, namely Xuan Thuy National Park, Pu Mat National Park and Dong Nai Culture and Nature Reserve.
“In addition, the launch of ‘Enhancing Conservation and Restoration of Wetlands and Peatlands in ASEAN’ (EnCORE Wetlands) was officially introduced with Maludam National Park, Sarawak selected as Malaysia’s pilot site along with Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary in the Philippines.
“The meeting also welcomed the formulation of the ASEAN Biodiversity Plan (ABP) 2024–2030 which is aligned with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF),” said NRES.
Today’s ACB GB meeting was held to strengthen regional biodiversity initiatives and finalise preparations for ASEAN’s participation in the COP 17 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to be held in Yerevan, Armenia next year.
Among the main agendas of the meeting hosted by NRES is the coordination of an action plan for the development of an ASEAN Joint Statement (AJS) on biodiversity, which will reflect regional priorities and will be delivered by the Chairman ASEAN 2026 (Philippines) during the high-level segment at COP 17.
The AJS development process involves a series of consultations with ASEAN member states and is expected to be finalised by mid-2026. – Bernama
