Vientiane, Lao PDR | 29 July 2024
OPENING REMARKS
Dr. Theresa Mundita S. Lim
Executive Director, ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity
Distinguished members of the Governing Board of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity,
Atty. Jonas R. Leones, Undersecretary for Planning, Policy and International Affairs Department of Environment and Natural Resources & Chairperson of the ACB Governing Board
Madame Phakkavanh Phissamay, Director General, Department of Planning and Finance, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Lao PDR
His Excellency Ekkaphab Panthavong, Deputy Secretary General of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, ASEAN Secretariat
Heads of delegation, officials and delegates from the AMS and colleagues from the ASEAN Secretariat and the ACB;
Sa bai di (Suh-bai-dee)! Good morning, everyone!
Please allow me to thank and congratulate our gracious host and current ASEAN Chair, Lao PDR, for their kind hospitality and excellent arrangements for this meeting.
Ladies and gentlemen, as this could be my final opportunity to be part of this meeting, please allow me to share highlights of my journey as the Executive Director of the ACB, and a quick preview of today’s discussions.
Six years ago, I laid down my priorities and aspirations for the Centre which include exploring innovative ways on mainstreaming biodiversity, increasing stakeholder engagement, and promoting science-based policy and decision-making for biodiversity through knowledge management and active engagement with our key stakeholders and the public. And despite being slowed down by two years of the pandemic, I am proud to say that we at ACB, have still accomplished much.
We are pleased to share that we have been able to deliver enhanced scientific foundation for policy recommendations and technical support for the AMS. This is through maximising the functions of the ACB’s Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), conduct of biodiversity research studies, capacity development, and technology and knowledge transfer, to name a few. We have also strengthened the centre’s coastal and marine biodiversity portfolio, and prioritised mainstreaming biodiversity with more cross-sectoral engagement, such as agriculture and forestry, climate change, education, tourism, business and finance, one health, and infrastructure development, among others. Recognising the value of youth involvement in these programmes, we also institutionalised the ASEAN Youth Biodiversity Programme.
We are proud to claim that we have expanded our network of partners and forged stronger partnerships. This enabled the Centre to mobilise technical and financial resources that support the ASEAN’s whole-of-society and whole-of-government approach in addressing our region’s most pressing concerns through ACB’s mainstreaming biodiversity agenda.
The ACB managed to promote cross-sectoral and cross pillar cooperation for biodiversity. With the facilitation of the ASEAN Secretariat, the ACB engages and collaborates with the ASEAN BAC, ACHAAZ, ACPHEED, the AHA Centre, and soon to be established ACCC. The ACB also joins nature-related discussions and planning of various ASEAN Working Groups. Aside from nature conservation and biodiversity (AWGNCB), the ACB participates in Meetings on coastal and marine environment (AWGCME); on environment education (AWGEE); climate change (AWGCC), on CITES and Wildlife enforcement (AWG-CITES-WE), and Forestry, among others.
The invaluable contributions of the ACB to sustainability were likewise recognised beyond the ASEAN region. In the past year, the ACB was accredited as an official observer in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and consequently, in the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC). And recently, the ACB topped the list of the world’s 18 regional and sub-regional technical and scientific support centres for the implementation of the Biodiversity Plan.
We likewise initiated institutional reforms to enable the ACB to become the ASEAN region’s centre of excellence in biodiversity. This includes the creation of crucial divisions. The workforce has also grown to include country managers, who serve as our active link to the member states, and a number of key positions that enable us to work effectively and efficiently. We have also standardised and adjusted the salaries and benefits of staff to ensure that the Centre’s most valuable assets, its workforce, are fairly compensated given their hard work, roles, skills, and talents. We are also enhancing operational processes to ensure high service standards for partners and for the AMS.
These achievements were supported by an operational budget that has now increased by more than 80% since 2018. This is vital not only in sustaining ACB operations but more importantly, in leveraging external support for the projects and programmes of the ACB in the ASEAN region.
The ASEAN Heritage Parks Programme comes to mind. Through your support and our collaboration with our partners, the dynamic network of effectively managed globally important parks and nature reserves has grown from 40 to 57 sites in the past six years. The AHP programme now has its operations manual and regional action plan, and ecosystem gap analysis was conducted to enhance protected area coverage.
Today, we will provide updates on our regional programmes and projects that benefit from our cooperation. This includes new AHP sites and new nominations, the implementation of conservation action plans for Threatened Vertebrate Species and for Invasive Species.
To support these initiatives, we have now fully operationalised the ASEAN Biodiversity Fund through direct contributions from existing and new partners. Details of which will be reported later.
We will also hear updates on the first-ever Global Environment Facility-funded project of the ACB – Effectively Managing Networks of Marine Protected Areas in Large Marine Ecosystems in the ASEAN Region (ASEAN ENMAPS). We will likewise present the centre’s proposed workplan and budget for next year as well as updates on the implementation of the comprehensive institutional review. As we gear up for the upcoming UN Conference on Biodiversity, we will also present the draft ASEAN Joint Statement on Biodiversity to the CBD COP 16.
We hope that these achievements and the current initiatives of the ACB will be sustained and will pave the way for the implementation of the ASEAN Biodiversity Plan which will reflect the ASEAN’s contribution to the global biodiversity plan.
In closing, I would like to thank you for your constant support and guidance that led the ACB to where it is today, a model ASEAN Centre and a globally recognised partner of choice for biodiversity for the ASEAN region and beyond.
Khob chai lai lai! Thank you very much.
