{"id":137,"date":"2009-03-15T00:00:44","date_gmt":"2009-03-15T00:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/upvarrons.org\/wp_tudla\/?p=137"},"modified":"2016-10-12T10:10:02","modified_gmt":"2016-10-12T17:10:02","slug":"rod-fuentes-on-conservation-and-biodiversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/upvarrons.org\/wp_tudla\/rod-fuentes-on-conservation-and-biodiversity\/","title":{"rendered":"Rod on Conservation & Biodiversity"},"content":{"rendered":"
Rodrigo “Rod” Fuentes (Montreal ’76) obtained his BS Forestry in 1980 from the College of Forestry, University of the Philippines Los Ba\u00f1os and his MA in Urban in Planning and Regional Planning in 1984 from UP Diliman. He was the Grand Varron of the Forestry Chapter in 1979-1980.<\/h5>\n
\n
\"Rod<\/a>

Rod<\/p><\/div>\n

You have been the Executive Director of ACB for almost two years now. Can you give us a brief rundown of what you are doing as its director?<\/span><\/strong><\/em>
\nThe\u00a0ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity<\/a> is a newly established intergovernmental institution supported by the ten Member States of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). As an intergovernmental organization, the Centre functions as a facilitative and collaborative institution geared towards assisting member states sustainably manage and use their diverse biological resources. ACB\u2019s predecessor institution was the ASEAN Regional Centre for Biodiversity Conservation (ARCBC) Project implemented from 1999-2004. ARCBC provided valuable lessons and experiences for defining the role of regional institutions that the ten Member States decided to elevate the status of ARCBC into a regional intergovernmental centre to which the ACB is structured.<\/p>\n

My function as Director of ACB is to steer the Centre perform its key role of being a facilitative and collaborative regional organization specifically on the following aspects: Policy and Programme Development; Human and Institutional Capacity Development; Biodiversity and Knowledge Management which backbone is Biodiversity Information Sharing Service (BISS) and the public awareness and advocacy on biodiversity. Two other components are being pursued namely, Institutional Development of ACB that focuses on fully establishing the legal identity of the Centre thereby gain international recognition as an institution and Sustainable Financing which concentrates on mobilizing resources that will provide the cost cover for the operations of the Centre and support to implement its country\/ programmatic activities. Concretely, ACB is envisioned to provide service to the needs of the AMS by pursuing the following functions:<\/p>\n

(1) Serving as an effective coordinative body to facilitate discussion and resolution of cross-country biodiversity conservation issues;
\n(2) Providing a framework and mechanism for sharing information, experiences, best practices and lessons learned for efficient access of AMS;
\n(3) Implementing a pro-active approach in monitoring and assessing biodiversity conservation status as a strategic approach towards identifying critical issues and future trends;
\n(4) Delivering\/facilitating conduct of capacity-building services and technology transfer through engaging relevant and appropriate expertise;
\n(5) Enhancing common understanding of biodiversity conservation issues strengthening ASEAN regional positions in negotiations and in compliance with relevant multilateral environmental agreements;
\n(6) Promoting regional public awareness to develop champions and enhance support at different stakeholder levels on biodiversity concerns; and
\n(7) Undertaking innovative resource generation and mobilization measures to pursue impact activities that will enhance biodiversity conservation in the region.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Why was ACB created and why is it based in the Philippines? Is there any advantage for the Philippines for it to be located locally?<\/span><\/strong><\/em>
\nThe establishment of ACB is driven by the fact that the ASEAN has thousands of plant, bird, marine, insect and other animal species that are endemic to the region. ASEAN occupies only a meager three percent of the earth\u2019s total surface but it is home to 20 percent of all known species of plants and animals, making it critically important to global environmental sustainability. Southeast Asia has one-third or 284,000 square kilometers of all coral reefs, which are among the most diverse in the world. The region has three of the world\u2019s seventeen mega-diverse countries: Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. It is of no surprise that the ten countries of ASEAN are signatories to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, one of the three global environmental covenants (the two others are the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and UN Convention to Combat Desertification) that was a product of the 1992 Earth Summit held in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Rod<\/a>

Rod Fuentes (4th from left) with other delegates to the 16th Environment Congress for Asia and the Pacific in Nagoya, Japan (from left) UN Development Programme Technical Adviser Mr. Sameer Karki, Convention on Biological Diversity Executive Secretary Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, ACB Director Clarissa Arida, His Excellency Mr. Khieu Muth (Secretary of State of Cambodia), and UN Environment Programme Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Region Dr. Surendra Shresta. Photo courtesy of the Public Affairs Office, ACB.<\/p><\/div>\n

While these factors reflect the positive aspects of the region, ASEAN has also some negative aspects that make a case more compelling for establishing a biodiversity centre. First, the region has 7 of the 34 known biodiversity hotspots in the world. Biodiversity hotspots, as defined by the Conservation International, are areas that contain at least 1,500 species of vascular plants (> 0.5 percent of the world\u2019s total) as endemics, and have lost at least 70 percent of its original habitat. Second, ASEAN has one of the fastest rates of habitat loss globally. For example ASEAN\u2019s forest resources: for the period 2000-2005 alone, FAO reported that the average annual forest change is placed at 1 percent as against the global average of only 0.18 percent per annum, making region having the highest rate of forest loss in the world. The same pattern is reported with regard to our coastal and marine resources where it is estimated that more than 80% of the reefs are at risk from destructive fishing practices and coral bleaching. Third, ASEAN in general has diverse economies with some countries having very high standards of living while others belonging to the category of least developed countries with GDP per capita of less than a thousand US dollars. With such income disparity, the drive for economic prosperity, particularly by countries trying to catch up economically can be intense using their natural capital as the source for propelling their respective country\u2019s development prospects. The pressure on the biodiversity resources of the region can be unrelenting brought about by the desire of countries to urbanize and industrialize without due regard for the negative consequences of an irreversible environmental deterioration.<\/p>\n

These factors provide the raison d\u2019 etre for the creation of the Centre.<\/p>\n

Why here in the Philippines? More than the reason of being political, the Philippines represents the key characteristics of a biologically diverse country in the region but facing tremendous environmental challenges as described above.<\/p>\n

Just consider the following facts about the Philippine biodiversity:<\/p>\n