ASEAN Champions of Biodiversity Announced

Laguna, Philippines — From mobilizing students to educate their fellow youth on the values of biodiversity to supporting forest research to gather information on the impact of climate change on forests, the winners of the first ASEAN Champions of Biodiversity awards are championing the web of life in their own spheres of influence.

 

HSBC Brunei, the GMA Network,s Born to be Wild television program in the Philippines, and Green Community youth organization from Indonesia are the winners in the Business, Media and Youth categories, respectively, of the inaugural ASEAN Champions of Biodiversity, the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) announced.

 

The announcement followed the launch of the United Nations Decade in Southeast Asia in Malacanang and forms part of the celebration of the International Day for Biological Diversity 2011 and the International Year of Forests.

 

Supported by the ASEAN Foundation, the European Union, GIZ, the Government of Japan through the Japan-ASEAN Solidarity Fund, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, UNESCO and the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication, the ASEAN Champions of Biodiversity is a recognition program for ongoing projects on biodiversity conservation and advocacy in the ASEAN region. The award is aimed at generating greater leadership, public and media awareness of the problems facing the region's rich but highly threatened biodiversity and the need for a concerted effort in biodiversity conservation and advocacy.

 

The champions from the business, media and youth categories received their award at a ceremony and forum held in the Philippines. HSBC Brunei was recognized for being the first corporation to support the Heart of Borneo (HoB) Initiative and for advancing climate change research in the forests of Brunei. Born to be Wild topped the Media Category for effectively bridging the gap between scientists and the public and for going the extra mile in assisting viewers in implementing their own conservation initiatives. The study group Green Community won for its efforts to introduce young students to conservation at an early age and bringing the results of their biodiversity inventory activities to communities in Semarang, Indonesia.

 

PTT Public Company Ltd. of Thailand and Chevron Philippines, Inc. won second and third place in the Business Category, while The Brunei Times and the Philippines' BusinessMirror ranked second and third in the Media Category. The second and third spot in the Youth Category were bagged by Sahabat Alam of Indonesia and the Architectural Students' Association of the Philippines – University of the Philippines Diliman Chapter (ASAPhil-UP).

 

"The global target of significantly reducing biodiversity loss remains unmet. However, rather than dwell on this grim reality, the best approach is to move forward and continue to take action. Now more than ever, biodiversity is in urgent need of champions that people from various sectors can identify with – modern-day heroes who can inspire them to take action and conserve biodiversity. Through the ASEAN Champions of Biodiversity, we were fortunate to be acquainted with individuals and organizations who are working to conserve the web of life," Mr. Rodrigo U. Fuentes, executive director of ACB, said.

 

According to Dr. Makarim Wibisono, executive director of the ASEAN Foundation, the winners truly exemplify a cadre of champions who will serve as ambassadors of goodwill for biodiversity conservation and advocacy in the ASEAN region. "The ASEAN Champions of Biodiversity addresses the lack of awareness of ASEAN especially among the youth as well as the dearth of information about biodiversity in the region. We hope our Champions and their commitment to biodiversity conservation will inspire others to give importance and support various efforts in preserving the region's rich biodiversity," he said.

 

For Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, recognizing and promoting work in biodiversity conservation is one of the best ways to get biodiversity to the forefront of the international consciousness. He says that this is particularly true for Southeast Asia, which is home to almost a fifth of all plant and animal species as well as to a large proportion of the world's population – over half a billion people.

 

"Allow me to appeal to governments, NGOs, the media, businesses, youth and civil society to continue supporting the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity and the Champions project. The actions that we take in the next ten years will determine the future of biodiversity for the next centuries, if not millennia. Let us celebrate and emulate the work of Champions of Biodiversity, and, in so doing, realize a future of life in harmony with nature," he said.

 

For more information on the ASEAN Champions of Biodiversity, log on to www.aseanbiodiversity.org or www.aseanfoundation.org. The Secretariat may be reached via e-mail at champions@aseanbiodiversity.org.