Partnerships and regional cooperation are critical to help stop biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation in the Asia and Pacific region, ADB Vice-President Ursula Schaefer-Preuss said today.
“ADB is broadening its partnerships with the developing countries in Asia and the Pacific in implementing biodiversity conservation and livelihood development programs, particularly for poor rural communities that depend on natural resources for their welfare,” Ms. Schaefer-Preuss said in a speech at the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD-COP10) in Nagoya, Japan.
Officials from 193 countries are meeting in Nagoya to discuss important decisions about the future of biodiversity conservation. These decisions could affect how we protect, manage, and make use of the planet’s diversity of life for decades to come.
The Asia and the Pacific region is home to many of the earth’s species and its richest ecosystems. Around 60% of the world’s plants and animals, half of the planet’s remaining coral reefs, and 17% of its wetlands are found in the region. The coasts and oceans of Southeast Asia and the western Pacific contain the world’s highest diversity of corals, fish, and shellfish. The region is also home to the world’s third largest rainforest, found on the island of Borneo.
Much of the region’s natural resources are now threatened by the demands of rapid population growth and development. Industrialization and sprawling megacities are causing loss of biodiversity, water scarcity, deforestation and land degradation. Increased pollution also harms ecosystems.
Ms. Schaefer-Preuss said that conserving biodiversity and laying the groundwork for low-carbon and climate-resilient development go hand-in-hand. Looking ahead to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations this December in Cancun, Mexico, she emphasized the need to enhance synergies between the biodiversity and climate change agendas.
“The protection of ecosystems and biodiversity is critical to both mitigating climate change and increasing our resilience to the already unavoidable impacts,” Ms. Schaefer-Preuss said. “To ensure success in both, it will be essential to establish integrated approaches and financing mechanisms, such as carbon market mechanisms for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.”
Many of ADB’s projects directly support sustainable natural resources management, and safeguard provisions aim to ensure that no net loss of biodiversity occurs as a result of any ADB project. Recognizing opportunities to provide both local and global benefits, ADB is supporting three country-driven regional programs to sustain critical ecosystems.
The Great Mekong Subregion (GMS) Core Environment Program assists six GMS countries to ensure sustainable development, poverty reduction, and the conservation of the biologically diverse Mekong landscape. The Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security provides a framework for six Asia and Pacific countries to address threats to an area known as the “Amazon of the seas,” which sustains the livelihoods of 120 million coastal people and generates $6 billion in annual income from fisheries and tourism.
The Heart of Borneo Initiative supports the governments of Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia to conserve and manage the rainforest - often referred to as the “lungs of Asia” - on the island of Borneo. Covered by 22 million hectares of contiguous forest, the island’s huge forests and peatlands provide massive carbon storage.
