IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

Partner Development Officer
BirdLife International (Asia Division)
4F TM Suidobashi Bldg..
Misaki-cho 2-14-6 Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 101-0061
Japan
Tel: ++81 3 5213 0461
Fax: ++81 3 5213 0462
Email: mailto:cristi@birdlife-asia.org
http://www.birdlife-asia.org

• Brunei Darussalam
• Cambodia
• Indonesia
• Lao People's Democratic Republic
• Malaysia
• Myanmar
• Philippines
• Singapore
• Thailand
• Viet Nam
  

The South East Asian region comprises only 3 percent of the global land surface of the world but of the over 100,000 protected areas documented at the World Parks Congress in 2003, only 1000 are in the region. The region is home to almost 20% of know species in the world and many of the threatened ones as well. It is a fast developing region yet the pace of development of protected area have been quite slow. There is a lot of catching up to do. Some of the protected areas in the region were declared not on the basis of biodiversity but for some other reasons such as for historical importance. Most of these as well are state or nationally declared protected areas. With the growing trend in decentralization and the recognition of other stakeholders in protected areas management other than the state, other governance mechanisms are being identified. These means new protected areas are added.

Twenty-seven of these protected areas in South East Asia are considered ASEAN Heritage Sites.

The ASEAN declaration of Heritage parks indicates "that common cooperation is necessary to conserve and manage ASEAN Heritage Parks for the development and implementation of regional conservation and management action plans as well as regional mechanisms complementary to and supportive of national efforts to implement conservation measures".

 In the WCPA action plan for the region, it was identified that capacity building and financial sustainability are the main areas needing focus in the region. In terms of capacity building needs, a study by IUCN in preparation for the 5th World Parks Congress showed that the need to improve community particpation was apparent. The pilot actions for three selevted protected areas hope to develop protools to encourage meaningful participation of local communities in protected area mangement.

The Project aims to strengthen a core of protected area manager and the network of protected areas in 4 hotspot areas - Sundaland, Indo-Burma, Wallacea and the Philippines. We hope that through this we are able to increase the number of protected ares and expand the area covered under protection in the region. But number and coverage alone is not useful if the protected areas are not effectively managed. Capacity building will help improve management of protected areas in the region.

The project directly supports the conservation of 4 hotspots through the identifcation of potential protected areas to ensure representativeness of systems of protected areas in the region. These were done through workshops and meetings of experts, production of maps using available information. The maps showing the gaps and potential protected areas are used to support justification for new protected areas for use by decision makers. This information will be disseminated to local, mational and regional decision makers. It will also be shared with environmental non-government organizations and local community leaders.

General Objective:

• To strengthen the protected area managers and the network of protected areas in 4 hotspots areas - Sundaland, Indo-Burma, Wallacea and the Philippines.

Specific Objectives:

1. To ensure representative protected area networks in 4 hotspots in the South East Asia Region (Sundaland, Indo-Burma, Wallacea and the Philippines) based on best available information;
2. To build capacity of a core of protected area managers, decision makers and local community leaders in South East Asia on management effectiveness assessment, governance, communications and sustainable financing; 
3. To develop and pilot in 3 selected protected areas better commnications and improved relationship among protected area managers and local communities