UN

The United Nations Decade on Biodiversity has been launched in South-East Asia by the President of the Philippines, Benigno S. Aquino III, who also issued a Presidential Proclamation declaring a National Decade.

The event took place on 30 May 2011 at the Malacanang Palace with the participation of diplomats from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam; high-level government officials; and representatives of media, conservation organizations and the business community.

President Aquino's proclamation of 2011-2020 as the National Decade on Biodiversity in the Philippines recognized the United Nations Decade as an excellent opportunity to increase public awareness of the values of biodiversity and promote actions at the national, regional and local levels to conserve and sustainably manage the nation's rich natural heritage.

The Philippines Environment Secretary Ramon Paje handed over a copy of the Presidential Proclamation to Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, with President Aquino witnessing the presentation.

As a further demonstration of his country's commitment to the objectives of the Decade, the President declared: "The Strangler Fig Tree, known in the Philippines as Balete, located in front of this hallowed hall, as our Heritage Tree. This Balete tree, which is more than 100 years old, has been a mute witness to the unfolding of the Philippines' rich history. He went on to say: "In declaring the Balete as a Heritage Tree, we will constantly be reminded of our obligations as citizens of this planet to protect, conserve and sustainably use our biodiversity resources."

Prior to the South-East Asia launch of the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity, President Aquino launched a National Greening Programme, the aim of which is to plant 1.5 billion trees over more than 1 million hectares of land across the Philippines from 2011 to 2016. The programme was part of the Philippines launch of the 2011 International Year of Forests.

The ceremony followed the successful Asia and Pacific launch of the United Nations Decade in New Delhi on 23 May, as well as the national launch by the Republic of Korea, held in Sangjo on 20 May.

Recently, on the occasion of the International Day for Biological Diversity, the Philippines expanded the protection of 109 threatened species in about 400,000 hectares of conservation sites through the New Conservation Areas in the Philippines Project (NewCAPP). The project was made possible through the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Following his meeting with the President, Mr Djoghlaf stated: "Responding to the biodiversity challenges calls for the full engagement of all stakeholders without exception. Last week in Seoul, I had the immense privilege of meeting H.E. Lee Myung-bak, the President of Korea. Today, I had the unique privilege of meeting the President of the Philippines, H.E. Benigno S Aquino III. My meetings with these two tremendous supporters of sustainable development demonstrated to me that leaders are taking up the challenge."

The South-East Asia launch of the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity coincided with the week-long celebration in the Philippines of the International Day for Biological Diversity, on 22 May, and the awards ceremony for the ASEAN Champions of Biodiversity. The winners were HSBC in Brunei Darussalam (business), "Born to be Wild", a Philippines television programme (media), and the Green Community of Indonesia (youth). The ASEAN Champions of Biodiversity recognized the outstanding biodiversity conservation and advocacy initiatives of business, media and youth organizations in Southeast Asia. The awards were organized by the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity and supported by the ASEAN Foundation, European Union, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Mr. Rodrigo Fuentes, Executive Director of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity said the Philippines launch of the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity and the awarding of ASEAN Champions of Biodiversity was very timely. He went on to say: "The Philippines is one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries while South-East Asia, occupying only three per cent of the Earth's surface, boasts of globally significant terrestrial and marine biodiversity that include an astonishing 18 per cent of all species assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is but fitting that South-East Asia and the Philippines play a major role in global conservation efforts and celebrations."

Regional launches for the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity are planned throughout the coming months. The Caribbean launch will take place in Havana on 4 July, to be followed on 22 July by the regional launch for Africa in Addis Ababa. Later this year, Costa Rica and Ecuador will host the regional launches for Central America and for Latin America, respectively. Japan, as the current President of the

Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and the country of origin of this initiative will host an international event to launch the Decade in December 2011.