THE governing board of the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) recently held its 13th meeting at Brunei’s capital city of Bandar Seri Begawan. The meeting discussed ACB’s work plan for 2012, which includes regional initiatives aimed at helping meet the new biodiversity targets set at the 10th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity held in Nagoya, Japan, in October 2010; partnerships in biodiversity conservation with development organizations, donor community and countries outside the Asean; and the establishment of an Asean Biodiversity Fund.
The delegates were welcomed, on behalf of The Sultan and Yang DiPertuan of Brunei Darussalam, by Haji Mohd Rozan Bin Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Yunos, permanent secretary for administration and finance of the Ministry of Development and Brunei’s Asean Senior Official on the Environment.
Yunos said, “Environmental degradation threatens to affect our lives in unimaginable ways and that we must improve our ability to identify emerging problems and assess our responses to protect the region’s environment.”
He said that emerging challenges like global warming and climate change warrant regional cooperation and, therefore, a strong spirit of solidarity needs to be embraced by all Asean member states.
Dr. Vann Monyneath, chairman of the ACB governing board, thanked the government of Brunei for hosting the meeting and the warm welcome afforded to the delegates.
Emphasizing that since biodiversity is core to human well-being and survival, Monyneath said conservation must be prioritized and mainstreamed in policies and programs.
He appealed for sustained participation in all regional initiatives, including support to ACB and the Asean Biodiversity Fund, the Asean Heritage Parks Program, as well as the Heart of Borneo, the Coral Triangle Initiative, and the Greater Mekong Subregion Initiative.
Host country plays a key role in Southeast Asia’s and the world’s biodiversity. Its natural richness include over 500 species of fish and insects; about 300 resident bird species; about 100 nonflying mammal species; five large terrestrial herbivorous mammal species—bearded pig, two mouse deer species, barking deer, and sambur deer; and 81 species of flora, among others.
Brunei is part of Borneo, the world’s largest island and one of the most important centers of biodiversity on earth. With thousands of species of plants and animals still waiting to be discovered, the island has an estimated 15,000 plant species, a tree diversity of 1,175 species, about 6,000 endemic plant species, and 155 dipterocarp tree species.
Borneo produces valuable timber, aromatic oils and resins, and provides habitat and food for a vast range of plants and animals.
Brunei is rich in biodiversity and, like other Asean member-states, this country is also facing the challenge of protecting, conserving and sustainably managing biological resources for the benefit of humankind.
This challenge is the primary reason Brunei is actively supporting The Heart of Borneo Initiative, a transboundary initiative to conserve the last remaining frontier forests in Southeast Asia involving Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam.
The country is also supporting the Asean Heritage Parks Program. This initiative aims to instill greater awareness, promote conservation, and provide a sense of pride and enjoyment of Asean’s 28 Heritage Parks among the Asean peoples. In 2010, Brunei hosted the Third Asean Heritage Parks Conference which gathered the managers of these special parks.
Brunei is a strong supporter of the Asean Centre for Biodiversity and is among the six Asean member-states that have ratified the ACB Establishment Agreement.
Besides the government of Brunei, the private sector is actively supporting ACB initiatives. The HSBC and Brunei Times participated in the first Asean Champions of Biodiversity. HSBC was declared Champion in the Business Category while Brunei Times placed second in the Media Category.
(Rolly Inciong/ACB)
