ACB PRESS STATEMENT ON ITS ANNIVERSARY (27 SEPTEMBER 2026)
Dr. Jerome L. Montemayor
Executive Director, ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB)
For more than two decades, the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) has been playing a critical role in catalysing cooperation and coordination among the ASEAN Member States (AMS) and with various regional organisations for the conservation and sustainable use of the region’s immense natural wealth. In celebration of its 21st founding anniversary, the ACB is participating in the 17th UN Biodiversity Conference, a key global dialogue and policymaking for biodiversity among environmental leaders to chart transformative solutions for the world’s natural heritage. Also known as CBD COP 17, the Conference will be held in Yerevan, Armenia, from 17 to 30 October 2026.
This biennial global event brings together policymakers from almost 200 countries to review progress and set new directions for the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF). As ASEAN’s hub for biodiversity conservation and as one of the 18 regional and subregional technical and scientific support centres for the implementation of the KMGBF, the ACB plays a pivotal role in ensuring that the AMS engage in this global dialogue as one strong and unified community. By translating international goals into regional actionable targets, the ACB accelerates efforts on the ground to safeguard Southeast Asia’s biodiversity.
During the last CBD COP in Cali, Colombia, the AMS launched the ASEAN Biodiversity Plan (ABP), which aims to contribute to the implementation of the KMGBF through regional interventions and complement the efforts of the AMS in carrying out their respective national biodiversity strategies and action plans.
Contributing to the ASEAN Biodiversity Plan
To date, the ASEAN region has already made strides in the ABP implementation. Among many others, these initiatives are also aligned with the KMGBF and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Strategic Plan.
Just recently, the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment has approved the nomination of Mount Balatukan Range Natural Park in the Philippines and of Prek Toal Ramsar Site in Cambodia as ASEAN Heritage Parks. This brings the number of protected areas of high conservation importance to 71, mirroring the region’s commitment to the ABP Target 1, on integrated management, spatial planning, and ecosystem-based management. In relation to this, we have likewise recently launched the AHP Regional Action Plan (2026-2035), a shared regional framework to enhance ecosystem representation and ensure that the AHPs are effectively managed, protected, and conserved through stronger management capacities, ecosystem restoration, sustainable financing, partnerships, and regional cooperation.
The ACB has also promoted science and knowledge-based terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine ecosystem restoration through initiatives such as the ASEAN Green Initiative and the Enhancing Conservation and Restoration of Wetlands and Peatlands in ASEAN as Effective Sinks and Reservoirs of Greenhouse Gases (EnCORE Wetlands) Project.
Aligned with ABP Target 21, the ACB has different initiatives to ensure that biodiversity data, information, and knowledge are accurate and updated, communicated, and accessible to target stakeholders. One example is the ASEAN Biodiversity Knowledge Management Platform, a dynamic space that offers quick access to curated knowledge products aimed at enhancing conservation efforts in the ASEAN region. We have also reactivated the ASEAN Biodiversity Communicators Network, which aims to provide an active platform for regional knowledge and information sharing for science communication professionals and media practitioners covering different biodiversity-related issues in Southeast Asia.
Furthermore, the ACB has also ensured participation of the women, the youth, representatives of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and other non-state actors in biodiversity-related dialogues, discussions, and meetings and in its other initiatives and projects like the Small Grants Programme and theEffectively Managing Networks of Marine Protected Areas in Large Marine Ecosystems in the ASEAN region.
Bringing one voice to the global stage
The AMS will deliver the ASEAN Joint Statement (AJS) on Biodiversity to the UN Biodiversity Conference, outlining the common position, goals, and conservation strategies of the 11-member political bloc.
Beginning January 2026, the ACB, alongside the ASEAN Secretariat, facilitated the preparation of an AJS to elucidate the region’s key messages on biodiversity and its priorities for the CBD COP 17.
The AJS covers the region’s steadfast commitment to the implementation of the ASEAN Biodiversity Plan and the KMGBF, reaffirming ASEAN’s longstanding priorities on the conservation, restoration and resilience of ecosystems, biodiversity mainstreaming and sustainable use, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources, including digital sequence information and associated traditional knowledge.
The ASEAN Pavilion at the CBD COP 17
Since the CBD COP 10 in Nagoya, Japan, the ACB has maintained an active presence during the global meetings. Exhibits and side events are also held to help enrich the discourse in the main sessions and provide a platform for showcasing and sharing information on issues, recent developments, and accomplishments related to the CBD COP meeting and the CBD objectives.
Building on its experiences in previous CBD COP Meetings in Montreal, Canada, and in Cali, Colombia, the ACB, in collaboration with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the Philippines, and the ASEAN Secretariat, is setting up the ASEAN Pavilion at the CBD COP 17. The ASEAN Pavilion and ASEAN’s participation at the CBD COP 17 are supported by the European Union, through the Technical Assistance Facility to the Green Team Europe Initiative (TAF-GTEI), Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, and SD Guthrie.
The ASEAN Pavilion serves as the headquarters of the AMS during the meetings and is a venue to showcase knowledge products, stage mini side events and hold side meetings with existing and potential partners.
As we celebrate the ACB’s 21st anniversary and look forward to the CBD COP 17, we thank all our collaborators within and beyond the ASEAN Member States. More importantly, we continue to amplify our call to different stakeholder groups and new partners to actively take part in our current initiatives and to continue exploring opportunities for collaboration as we navigate towards a sustainable future together.
