Chiang mai: Stretching from Bhutan to Papua New Guinea, the Indo-Malaya Forest biome harbors one of the last major primary forest areas in the world, hosting more than 5,000 threatened species. Sixty per cent of its original vegetation is already lost, and the remaining primary forests are under pressure from unsustainable agriculture, logging, and competing land use.
According to Lao News Agency, over 560 million people in the region depend on the resources provided by these forests, including water regulation, carbon sequestration, and timber and non-timber forest products. To maintain the integrity of these primary forests, a new initiative, the Southeast Asia and the Pacific Forests Integrated Programme, has been launched. Funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the programme aims to bolster the health and connectivity of primary forests across the region for biodiversity, climate benefits, and sustainable livelihoods.
The initiative, unveiled at an inception workshop in Chiang Mai, Thailand, hosted by the Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Thailand, channels USD 42.4 million in GEF grants and USD 185 million in co-financing to projects in the Lao PDR, Papua New Guinea, and Thailand, as well as a regional coordination project. It aims to improve the management of 3.2 million hectares of protected areas and over 7 million hectares of landscapes, restore 8,500 hectares of degraded ecosystems, mitigate 34 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions, and benefit nearly 20,000 people.
Country projects will be implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and executed by the respective national authorities. The Regional Coordination Project, led by IUCN and FAO, will bring together countries across the region to align their strategies, share knowledge, and catalyze coordinated action across the biome.
Eight countries participated in the inception workshop-Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao PDR, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam-to further develop the program’s objectives and coordination mechanisms. The countries and partners agreed on priority outputs, including a regional vision on primary forests, a primary forest investment forum, and a knowledge and learning hub.
The programme supports the development of coherent policies, frameworks, and strategies at national and regional levels to minimize primary forest loss and promote area-based conservation mechanisms. It is one of five GEF integrated investments for primary forests under the GEF-8 replenishment and will connect with other global forest programmes to drive systems change in tropical forest landscapes.
Carlos Manuel Rodrguez, GEF CEO and Chairperson, emphasized the programme’s alignment with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and its benefits for human development and ecosystems. Grethel Aguilar, IUCN Director General, highlighted the importance of transboundary collaboration for conservation impact, while Alue Dohong, FAO Assistant Director-General, stressed the programme’s role in driving down biodiversity loss and climate change risks for better regional outcomes.
