Focusing on aligning regional efforts with global biodiversity goals, the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), in partnership with the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Agency (NBCA) of Viet Nam, is organising the Eighth ASEAN Heritage Parks Conference (AHP8) in Quang Ninh Province, Viet Nam.
With the theme, “ASEAN Heritage Parks: ASEAN’s Contribution to Achieving the Biodiversity Plan”, this milestone conference brings together park managers, protected area authorities, technical experts, institutional partners, and other key stakeholders to foster cross-sectoral dialogue, strengthen regional cooperation, and showcase how AHPs contribute to global biodiversity targets through nature-based solutions, climate action, sustainable resource management, and inclusive governance.
According to ACB Executive Director Dr. Jerome Montemayor, “We are very pleased that we are partnering with the Government of Viet Nam through the NBCA in organising AHP8 as a platform for knowledge exchange, partnership-building, and capacity development. We hope that this is an opportunity for us to highlight the crucial role of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women, and youth in achieving biodiversity goals.”
AHP8 will include plenary sessions, parallel technical discussions, interactive exhibits, and field visits to showcase best practices in protected area management and ecosystem restoration. The technical sessions will focus on nature-based solutions to climate change; health and biodiversity; engaging indigenous peoples and local communities, youth, and women in conservation; ecosystem restoration; the 30×30 biodiversity target; and sustainable financing for protected areas.
There is also a marketplace of biodiversity-based products, exhibits, and several side events scheduled alongside AHP8.
The AHP8 is being organised by the ACB and Viet Nam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Environment through the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Agency, with support from the European Union, the Federal Republic of Germany through KFW, the Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, and IMA World Health.
The ASEAN Heritage Parks Programme
The AHP Programme is one of the flagship initiatives of ASEAN. It was established to recognise and highlight the importance of biodiversity and of outstanding protected areas in regional and global efforts towards biodiversity conservation. From 11 original protected areas of high conservation importance named through the ASEAN Declaration on Heritage Parks and Reserves on 29 November 1984, the network has now grown to a total of 69 AHPs across the ASEAN Member States.
As the secretariat of the AHP Programme, the ACB organises a conference every three years in collaboration with ASEAN Member States 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.
