Last week I joined senior officials from four South-East Asian countries – the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia – for a high level dialogue on the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity. Jointly organised by the British Embassy and the ASEAN Center for Biodiversity or ACB (which is based in Los Banos near Manila), the meeting was intended to highlight the importance of correctly valuing biodiversity in a country’s economic planning, and how failing to account for the value of ecosystems and biodiversity loss risks wrong choices and decisions.
That may sound like a technical subject for economists but it goes to the heart of the region’s future development and prosperity. Just three South East Asian countries support more than 70 percent of the planet’s biological diversity. A substantial part of the region’s human population (and often the poorest part of the population) depends directly on these biodiversity resources to provide food, medicine, shelter, clothing and other needs. Already in the Philippines we are seeing the impact of poor environmental management on coral reefs – threatening the livelihoods of fishermen and undermining the potential for tourism development.
In my opening address I highlighted the impact of climate change as one of the key drivers of biodiversity loss in the region. Pushpam Kumar from the UN Environment Programme in Nairobi gave a persuasive overview of valuing natural capital. Adam Tomasek of WWF outlined how the concept is being applied in the Heart of Borneo project, while Bruce Dunn of the Asian Development Bank DB outlined their plans for a $2m project to integrate the issue into the policies of Asian countries. My colleague John Pearson from the British High Commission in Singapore described the UK’s National Ecosystem Assessment. The Assessment analyses the economic value that natural systems provide in the UK and includes recommendations for actions that can be taken, to ensure that these economically valuable systems are maintained and developed.
John Pearson, Head Southeast Asia Climate Change Network
I couldn’t resist offering the reflection that we were holding this event at the start the Chinese new year of the Water Dragon. Ironically, the Water Dragon is not part of South-East Asia’s biodiversity, being the one mythical creature in the Chinese Zodiac. Nevertheless, the Water Dragon is reputedly characterised by great energy and vigour. I hope that as we carry forward the dialogue we’ve begun (there will be a next round in Bangkok on 9 February and an ACB-organised training workshop in Hanoi on 29/30 March) we’ll be able to harness some of that energy and vigour, and to combine it with the huge well of expertise which our dialogue participants represent. That way, we can work towards a future that is not only more prosperous, but more sustainable.
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Very interesting and relevant to my current home island of Camiguin. We are striving through a range of tourism and coastal resource management led initiatives to maintain and enhance the islands ecosystems & biodiversity.
I am leading a registered charitable Eco Tourism group which plans to develop a tree plantation in the foothills of Mt Timpong the national park. There are significantly rare hardwoods, ferns and orchids which we plan to preserve and cultivate, whilst offering a place to study and retreat.
If you have any links leads to offer our group we would appriciate the help greatly.
Phil Sykes – Community Warden Camiguin Island
The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity has some publications related to which might be of interest to your organisation’s initiatives. The ACB website can be found via http://www.aseanbiodiversity.org/ . Good luck on your conservation efforts.
Did you by any chance discuss agricultural biodiversity specifically? Or was it all about “nature”? I would have thought that in the region it would be really important to include the many benefits derived from agrobiodiversity, culturally diverse landscapes, crop and animal wild relatives and so on.
Thank you for your question. The event did not have any specific discussion on agrobiodiversity. Nonetheless, the Asean Centre for Biodiversity, our project partner during the event might have studies related to your interest. For your reference, the ACB website can be found via http://www.aseanbiodiversity.org/
I wonder if the wild relatives of crops have been included in any of these discussions. They have provided some incredibly valuable traits for pest and disease resistance, yield, and tolerance of abiotic stresses, estimated at $115 billion annually to global agricultural production by Pimentel et al (1997). It is clear that populations of these plants in the wild have great value and yet many are being developed and lost.
Thank you for taking interest in my blog and sharing your views. Wild crops were not discussed during the event.
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Yes, in order for a more prosperous and sustainable future we need to integrate biodiversity into our economic system. It’s the only way.