The recent ASEAN Conference on Biodiversity 2009 provided an opportunity for the World Agroforestry Centre to showcase its work at one of the region's most important gatherings for the year.

"We were able to highlight our work in climate change and biodiversity conservation to a wider audience," said Dr Rodel Lasco, Senior Scientist and Philippine Programme Coordinator for the Centre.

Dr. Meine van Noordwijk and Dr. Lasco presented during the parallel sessions on Climate Change and Biodiversity, and Ms Beria Leimona (RUPES Project Coordinator) during the session on Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity.

Dr van Noordwijk spoke about reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) and sustainable forest management in the UNFCCC negotiations. He remarked on the difficulties with such a mechanism when there are conflicts and discrepancies in definitions of forest. He emphasised the need to protect biodiversity so that natural forests will be the focus of conservation. Van Noordwijk presented the case for reducing emissions across all land uses rather than just forests, adding that he hoped that there would be an agreement on this during the COP 15 in Copenhagen in December.

Dr. Lasco introduced the concept of Ecosystem Based Adaptation (EBA) as a promising strategy to address climate change.

"EBA involves enhancing resilience of ecosystems so that they can continue to provide ecosystems services to local communities," he explained, stressing that "we should explore combining EBA with ecosystems-based mitigation". One such example is agroforestry which helps in carbon sequestration while enhancing resilience of farmers to cope with climate risks.

Ms Leimona's presentation focused on field experiments in Indonesia to design a direct incentive scheme for reducing soil erosion in a watershed setting. According to Leimona, allowing flexibility is recommended to increase the effectiveness of conservation efforts.

The Centre also participated in the Conference exhibition together with ASEAN member states and the Conference's partners in biodiversity conservation efforts.

As International Year of Biodiversity draws near, countries all over the world are assessing their performance against the 2010 Biodiversity Target of significantly reducing the loss of biological diversity.

The ASEAN Member States, home to 20 percent of the world's known species of flora and fauna, are actively participating in international efforts to determine the real status of biodiversity and to reduce biodiversity loss.

Themed "Biodiversity in Focus: 2010 and Beyond," the Conference brought together over 300 key biodiversity stakeholders from the ASEAN region and other parts of the world to discuss the pressing issue of biodiversity loss. Held at the Republic Polytechnic in Singapore, it became a venue for discussions on emerging trends, issues, and concerns on biodiversity conservation and sustainable management.

The Conference was co-organized by the World Agroforestry Centre and hosted by the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) and the National Parks Board, Singapore (NParks). Visit www.aseanbiodiversity.org for more information.*