ASEAN Heritage Parks

The Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Heritage Parks are representative of efforts to conserve areas of particular biodiversity importance or exceptional uniqueness throughout ASEAN member states. The ASEAN Ministers of Environment cooperatively signed the ASEAN Declaration on Heritage Parks on 18 December 2003. The ASEAN Member Countries agreed that

"common cooperation is necessary to conserve and manage the AHP for the development and implementation of regional conservation and management action plans as well as regional mechanisms complementary to national efforts to implement conservation measures."[1]

The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) serves as the secretariat of the ASEAN Heritage Parks Programme and is responsible for reviewing the following principles:[2]

  • Maintenance of the essential ecological processes and life-support systems;
  • Preservation of genetic diversity;
  • Maintenance of species diversity of plants and animals within their natural habitat;
  • Ensure sustainable utilization of resources; and
  • Provision of opportunities for outdoor recreation, tourism, education and research to make people recognize the importance of natural resources.

37 ASEAN Heritage Parks have been designated since the last inscription in November 2015. 4 sites are designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Kinabalu National Park of Malaysia, Lorentz National Park of West Papua, Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park of the Philippines, and Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary of the Philippines.

List

ASEAN Heritage Parks[3]
ParkCountry
Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park Myanmar
Ao Phang-Nga - Mu Ko Surin - Mu Ko Similan National Park Thailand
Apo Natural Park Philippines
Ba Be National Park Vietnam
Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Singapore
Chư Mom Ray National Park Vietnam
Gunung Leuser National Park Indonesia
Gunung Mulu National Park Malaysia
Hoàng Liên Sa Pa National Park Vietnam
Mounts Iglit-Baco National Park Philippines
Indawgyi Lake Wildlife Sanctuary Myanmar
Inlé Lake Wildlife Sanctuary Myanmar
Kaeng Krachan National Park Thailand
Kerinci Seblat National Park Indonesia
Khakaborazi National Park Myanmar
Khao Yai National Park Thailand
Kinabalu National Park Malaysia
Mount Kitanglad Range Natural Park Philippines
Kon Ka Kinh National Park Vietnam
Lampi Kyun Wildlife Reserve Myanmar
Lorentz National Park Indonesia
Mount Malindang Range Natural Park Philippines
Meinmhala Kyun Wildlife Sanctuary Myanmar
Nam Ha Protected Area Laos
Nat Ma Taung National Park Myanmar
Preah Monivong (Bokor) National Park Cambodia
Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Singapore
Taman Negara National Park Malaysia
Tarutao National Marine Park Thailand
Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park[4] Brunei
U Minh Thượng National Park Vietnam
Virachey National Park Cambodia
Mount Makiling Nature Reserve Philippines
Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park Philippines
Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary Philippines
Timpoong and Hibok-Hibok Natural Monument Philippines
Way Kambas National Park Indonesia
Bái Tử Long National Park Vietnam

ASEAN Heritage Domain

Various scholars from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, and Singapore have expressed the need to establish a cultural-counterpart of the ASEAN Heritage Park, as the current ASEAN heritage list only focuses on ASEAN's natural heritage sites. disregarding its cultural domains such as the Borobudur, Bali's heritage structures, Intramuros, Thai and Cambodian royal palaces, Bagan, Huế, and Vientiane, among many others. Among the reasons for the establishment of such a list are the severe degrading of various cultural sites in the region, the lack of funding to maintain such sites because of the lack of education of its significance to a nation and the region, and the lack of established management plans in the local level - causing more degrading moves to the region's cultural heritage, especially as modernization have been creeping in various heritage zones in the country such as Jakarta, Manila, Bangkok, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Surabaya, Cebu City, Chiang Mai, Vientiane, Ternate, Yangon, and Bandar Seri Begawan.

The formation of a comprehensive ASEAN Heritage Site program can also be the precursor of the enlistment of more UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Southeast Asian region, a needed push as Southeast Asia is one of the lagging regions of the world when it comes to UNESCO World Heritage Site designations, especially when compared with East Asia, West Asia, and South Asia.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Regional Action Plan for ASEAN Heritage Parks and Protected Areas (ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, 2008) pp. 5, accessed 11, May 2011
  2. ↑ "ASEAN Heritage Parks". biodiversitya-z.org.
  3. ↑ "ASEAN Heritage Parks". aseanbiodiversity.org.
  4. ↑ "ASEAN Heritage Parks". aseanbiodiversity.org.
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