About AHP8
The ASEAN Heritage Parks (AHP) Programme, one of ASEAN’s flagship initiatives, was established to recognise and safeguard outstanding protected areas with exceptional biodiversity and conservation values. It promotes collaboration among the ASEAN Member States (AMS) to safeguard these sites, enhance their management, and showcase them as models of conservation excellence in the region and the world. The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), as the AHP Secretariat, conducts the AHP Conference every three years in partnership with the AMS and development partners. The conference serves as a regional platform for AHP managers, protected area authorities, technical experts, and institutional partners to enhance knowledge, strengthen partnerships, and build capacity for effective protected area management.
The Eighth AHP Conference (AHP8) will focus on aligning regional efforts with broader biodiversity goals. The ASEAN Biodiversity Plan (ABP) provides a strategic roadmap for the region to enhance biodiversity conservation, sustainable use, and equitable benefit-sharing, while the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM GBF) sets global targets to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. Recent decisions at the 16th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 16) also emphasise the need for coherence between the CBD and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Anchored in these global commitments, AHP8 adopts the theme ASEAN Heritage Parks: ASEAN’s Contribution to Achieving the Biodiversity Plan, highlighting how AHPs advance biodiversity targets through nature-based solutions, climate action, sustainable resource management, and inclusive governance. It will also highlight the vital roles of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women, and youth in safeguarding biodiversity, and underscore the importance of sustainable finance and strong regional cooperation to achieve lasting conservation outcomes.
By convening a diverse set of stakeholders, the Conference will foster cross-sectoral dialogue, strengthen regional cooperation, and showcase best practices that demonstrate ASEAN’s leadership in achieving biodiversity targets while contributing to sustainable development and climate action.
The main objective of AHP8 is to strengthen the role of AHPs in contributing to the implementation of the ASEAN Biodiversity Plan. It will provide a regional platform for the AHP managers, key development partners and other stakeholders to enhance protected area management through science-based and inclusive approaches, promote nature-based solutions for climate resilience, ecosystem restoration, and sustainable livelihoods, and mobilise resources and partnerships to sustain conservation impact across the ASEAN region.
