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Consultation Workshop for the Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative in the Greater Mekong Subregion

The Consultation Workshop for the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative (BCI) was conducted on 26-27 April 2005 at the Siam City Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand.

The primary outputs of the workshop are the updated draft Strategic Framework, Action Plan, and the Phase I pilot site proposals covering the period 2005-2008.

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For participants to:

1. Review the draft Strategic Framework, Action Plan, and the Phase I pilot site proposals covering the period 2005-2008;
2. Agree on at least one pilot site proposal in each GMS country currently involved in the BCI and endorse the institutional set up proposed for pilot site implementation as well as regional coordination;
3. Endorse the Strategic Framework 2005-2014 and Action Plan (2005-2008) for consideration by the GMS decision makers; and
4. Agree on preparatory steps for implementing the BCI activities nationally and regionally.

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There were over 65 participants from Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, People’s Republic of China, Thailand, and Viet Nam as well as various bilateral, multilateral, and nongovernment institutions. These participants were representatives of national government agencies to be involved in the implementation of the proposed GMS BCI, national experts in biodiversity and in policy/institutional/legal matters, bilateral/multilateral donors with interests in the BCI, NGOs working on conservation efforts in the GMS, and other development partners.

Participating development partners include IUCN -The World Conservation Union, United Nations Environment Program Regional Resource Center for Asia and the Pacific (UNEP RRC.AP), the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Mekong River Commission, Royal Netherlands Embassy, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Swedish International Biodiversity Programme, and the World Bank; BirdLife International, Conservation International, Fauna and Flora International, The Nature Conservancy, Western Forest Elephant Conservation Network, WildAid, and Wildlife Conservation Society.

View the list of participants. [ PDF: 187kb | 2 pages ]

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The Consultation Workshop for the GMS BCI was conducted on 26-27 April 2005 in Bangkok, Thailand. The primary outputs of the workshop were the updated draft Strategic Framework, Action Plan, and the Phase I pilot site proposals covering the period 2005-2008.

In his message to the participants, MKAE Director Urooj Malik set the tone for the workshop: “Every now and again, in the history of a region, a major leap forward in the thinking and evolution of policy and institutions takes place. We are at such a point in the GMS with a rapidly spreading realization among senior decision makers that urgent and strong conservation action is now critical to the continuing development of the region.”

MKAE Director Urooj Malik stressed that “…For our joint efforts to be successful we would need a strong partnership among all stakeholders, a strong ownership of the pilot projects and indeed the GMS Environmental Program as a whole, and a strong leadership of the heads of governments to deliver effectively on our shared goal of biodiversity conservation.”

The PRC delegation agreed on the Xishuangbanna pilot site, which will connect the five reserves of the Xishuangbanna conservation complex.

Thailand supported the biodiversity conservation corridors project that aims to develop an extensive corridor for protection and sustainable use of natural resources, linking the 19 conservation areas that make up the Western Forest complex and Kaeng Krachan complex in the Tenasserim Range.

The Viet Nam group endorsed the Ngoc Linh – Xe Sap pilot site. The initial work will focus on links between three nature reserves in the western part of the country with an adjacent conservation area in the Lao PDR.

There were over 65 participants from Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, People’s Republic of China, Thailand, and Viet Nam as well as various bilateral, multilateral, and nongovernment institutions.