4 October 2013: Participants at the Fourth Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Heritage Parks Conference in Tagaytay City, the Philippines, called for the sustainable management of protected areas, along with increased cooperation with the private sector in conserving and managing biodiversity, based on the appropriate valuation of natural resources.

The conference, which convened from 1-4 October, brought together governments, park managers, scientists, indigenous peoples’ representatives, non-governmental organizations and other biodiversity stakeholders to discuss the management of protected areas of high conservation importance in the 10 countries of the ASEAN region. The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), supported by the Government of the Philippines and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) Biodiversity and Climate Change Project, organized the conference under the theme ‘Integrating Global Challenges for Sustainable Development and Effective Management of ASEAN Heritage Parks.’

Keynote speakers presented on: achieving the Aichi Targets; increasing government and private sector investments in ecotourism; increasing the visibility of biodiversity among policy makers in relation to The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB); building resilience to climate change; and supporting the role of indigenous and local communities.

In open discussions, participants raised issues of: invasive alien species; protected areas financing schemes; and conflicting interests in land use. Alongside public sector approaches that focus on the public interest, they highlighted a need to consider private sector conservation approaches that center more on supply chains and delivery of goods and services. While acknowledging some limitations to valuing biodiversity in financial terms, they agreed that placing a cost to biodiversity loss will help promote support for conservation among policy makers.

In a video message, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias noted that the ASEAN region has the highest deforestation and extinction rates in the world, and urged participants to share examples of successful implementation. ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General Alicia dela Rosa-Bala welcomed progress and affirmed the region’s commitment to the CBD through implementation of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint 2009-2014. Raman Letchuman, ASEAN Secretariat, presented the Programme on Sustainable Management of Peatland Ecosystems in ASEAN 2014-2020, which supports peatland ecosystem functions of water storage and regulation, and addresses fire and haze issues, as well as sustainable livelihoods, governance and capacity building. [ACB Meeting Report] [ASEAN Press Release]