About ACB

Profile

The ASEAN CENTRE FOR BIODIVERSITY (ACB) is an intergovernmental and international regional centre of excellence of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which aims to create, promote, and develop links with the public, private sector, civil society, international development institutions, and donor community for the sustainable use of biodiversity.

ACB's raison d e'tre is to build strategic networking and partnerships so that resources could be mobilized optimally to augment effective programmes and enable knowledge management. The key outcome is to achieve socially responsible access, equitable sharing, utilization and conservation of natural ecosystems and the biodiversity they contain for the present and future generations of ASEAN Member Countries (AMC).

The ACB is managed by a Governing Board, which is composed of the ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment (ASOEN) and the Secretary-General of the ASEAN. The Board assumes overall responsibility and accountability for the operations of the Centre, and is chaired by the Chairman of the ASOEN. The management team of the ACB includes an Executive Director and other key Directors which drives Networking, Partnership & Resource Mobilization; Programmes and Development; Biodiversity Information Management; and Administration& Finance.

Funded by the ASEAN and the European Union, ACB- like its predecessor, ARCBC- will further enhance the collaboration among ASEAN nations to fulfill obligations to relevant treaties on conservation.

History

ACB is a development and continuation of the ASEAN Regional Centre for Biodiversity Conservation (ARCBC), which was a joint cooperation project of the ASEAN and European Union (EU), and hosted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the Philippines, wherein from 1999 to 2004, ARCBC successfully established the bridge that fostered strong collaboration among ASEAN Member Countries and between ASEAN and EU partner institutions, and gained recognition in the regional and global arena for biodiversity. The Financing Agreement inked in 2005 between EU and ASEAN provided the necessary funding for ACB's operationalization which will enhance AMCs' collaborative capacity to fulfill obligations to relevant treaties and conventions on biodiversity.

The Agreement on the establishment of the ASEAN centre for Biodiversity (ACB) was signed by the Environment Ministers of the ASEAN member countries (AMCs) composed of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam on behalf of their respective governments. The ACB was launched at the 9th Informal ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on 27 September 2005. The Agreement also establishes the ASEAN Biodiversity Fund with voluntary contributions of the AMCs, other governments and organizations as approved by the Governing Board. The Fund is to be utilized to meet the expenses of the Centre and its various initiatives.

The President of the Philippines, Her Excellency Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has recommended to the Senate President and Members of the Senate the ratification of the Host Country Agreement (HCA) between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity. The HCA was signed on 8 August 2006 in Manila. The HCA provides that the Philippines shall be the Host Country for the ACB which is currently operationalized at the University of Philippines at Los Baños. Subject to concurrence by the Senate, the Philippine Government will grant immunities and privileges to the ACB and its staff later. The Department of Environment and Natural resources (DENR), Department of Finance (DOF), Bureau of Immigration (BI), Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the University of the Philippines, Los Baños (UPLB) have endorsed the ratification of the HCA.