IUCN and ACB collaboration to boost ASEAN’s conservation efforts

IUCN and ACB, both regarded as international centres of excellence for biodiversity conservation, are building on mutually shared objectives in biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, particularly in the context of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDG).  As a partner, ACB joins the Regional Steering Committee (RSC) of Mangroves for the Future (MFF), a partnership-based regional initiative co-chaired by IUCN and UNDP which promotes investment in coastal ecosystem conservation for sustainable development. MFF focuses on the role that healthy, well-managed coastal ecosystems play in building the resilience of ecosystem-dependent coastal communities in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Pakistan, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam. As a member of the MFF RSC, ACB shall work with ASEAN member states (AMS), particularly those that are MFF members to ensure that ASEAN’s principles are reflected in MFF’s programmes.

The partnership also calls for IUCN and ACB to identify and implement collaborative projects and activities. Potential areas for collaboration include: protected areas management, particularly in relation to the Asia Protected Areas Partnership (APAP), the ASEAN Heritage Parks Programme, and transboundary protected areas. Both organisations also share an interest in strengthening the capacity of AMS on access and benefit sharing measures, including the Nagoya Protocol. In addition, IUCN and ACB will seek to develop synergies through the exchange of best practices and information related to re-granting mechanisms, species conservation and the illegal wildlife trade. To achieve these aims, both organisations will collaborate on fundraising to support new biodiversity conservation initiatives in the ASEAN region.

 ACB was formally welcomed as MFF's newest institutional partner at the 13th Meeting of the MFF RSC at Sayeman Beach Resort in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on 25 October 2016.