ASEAN Heritage Parks Launch 10-Year Strategic Roadmap for Enhanced Conservation

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) have launched a ten-year strategic roadmap aimed at improving the management, protection, and conservation of ASEAN Heritage Parks (AHPs) across member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The framework, named the AHP Regional Action Plan 2026-2035, will provide a shared regional plan to enhance ecosystem representation in Southeast Asia and ensure that AHPs are managed, protected, and conserved effectively through stronger management capacities, ecosystem restoration, sustainable financing, partnerships, and regional cooperation. During a briefing at the ASEAN Heritage Parks Forum 2026, ACB Executive Director Jerome L. Montemayor stated that the roadmap would address questions on how to further enhance conservation and restoration of protected areas in the region, including the Philippines. The DENR and the ACB will also launch the Philippine ASEAN Heritage Parks Network. This initiative aims to strengthen collaboration among AHPs in the Philippines and enhance their contribution to the implementation of biodiversity commitments, such as the Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. In his keynote address at the forum, Environment Secretary Juan Miguel T. Cuna said that the network will bring together the managers and representatives of the country’s AHPs, while also providing a space for protected areas pursuing AHP nomination to learn from those who have already achieved it. “Through the network, we hope to create a stronger bridge between individual experiences and our collective commitments, connecting park managers to one another, connecting national priorities with regional cooperation, and connecting the work we do on the ground with the broader global agenda for biodiversity and sustainable development,” Mr. Cuna said. AHPs comprise 69 national parks and natural reserves across Southeast Asia, with 14 located in the Philippines. Two new parks are slated for future addition, one in Cambodia and another in the Philippines.