10 October 2014: Following a workshop that examined ‘Mekong Protected Areas and Climate Change – Implications for Livelihoods and Development,’ over 60 participants from the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) are returning home to implement country action plans based on the best practices, tools and adaptation strategies learned at the workshop. The results of the workshop will also inform the ‘Protected Areas, Development, and Climate Change in the GMS (PAD2)’ project, set to commence in 2015.

The workshop convened from 8-10 October 2014, in Bangkok, Thailand, and was organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) GMS Environment Operations Center (GMS-EOC), in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and International Centre for Environmental Management. Environmental policy makers, international and national conservation organizations and protected area managers attended the event.

In designing the event, the organizers aimed to: improve knowledge of climate change impacts on protected areas and biodiversity in the region; provide lessons and practical examples from attempts to cope with climate change and other pressures on biodiversity; teach participants to use climate change impact assessment and adaptation planning tools for natural systems; and identify and develop climate change adaptation strategies for protected areas.

The responses for safeguarding biodiversity and livelihoods collected at the workshop will also inform the Fourth GMS Environment Ministers’ Meeting and other activities and events of the GMS Economic Cooperation Program. The organizers are further planning to follow-up the workshop with a side event at the World Parks Congress, 12-19 November 2014, in Sydney, Australia. [GMS-EOC Press Release] [GMS-EOC Website] [PAD2 Website] [GMS Economic Cooperation Program Website]