The Southeast Asia and the Pacific Forests Integrated Programme will bolster the health and connectivity of primary forests across the region for biodiversity, climate benefits, and sustainable livelihoods.

(KPL) 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.

Over 560 million people in the region depend on the resources provided by these forests, such as water regulation, carbon sequestration, and timber and non-timber forest products.

To maintain the integrity of these primary forests, so they can deliver biodiversity, climate, and livelihood benefits, a newGlobal Environment Facility (GEF) funded initiative—the Southeast Asia and the Pacific Forests Integrated Programme—was launched 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. The programme will be led by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The programme channels USD 42.4 million in GEF grants and USD 185 million in co-financing to three country projects in the Lao PDR, Papua New Guinea, and Thailand and one regional coordination project aiming to protect the primary forests of Southeast Asia and the Pacific. 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 FAO and UNDP and executed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Lao PDR, the Conservation and Environment Protection Authority of Papua New Guinea, and the Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Thailand.

The Regional Coordination Project, led by IUCN and FAO with partners such as CIFOR-ICRAF and Grow Asia, will bring together countries across the region to align their strategies, share knowledge and practical experience, and catalyze coordinated action across the biome.

Eight countries in the region participated in the inception workshop – Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao PDR, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam – and further developed the program’s objectives and coordination mechanisms. Countries and partners agreed on priority outputs that the six-year programme should address, including a regional vision on primary forests, a primary forest investment forum, and a knowledge and learning hub.

The programme will support the development of coherent policies, frameworks, and strategies at national and regional levels to help minimize the loss of primary forests and promote the recognition of other effective area-based conservation mechanisms in primary forest landscapes. The regional coordination project will enhance collaboration and south-south cooperation to facilitate knowledge exchange, technical support, and capacity development for improved management of primary forests across borders.

The programme is one of five GEF integrated investments for primary forests under the GEF-8 replenishment. The programme will connect with the GEF-8 Critical Forest Biomes Integrated Programmes for the Amazon, Guinean Forests, Mesoamerica, and the Congo Basin to drive global systems change in globally important tropical forest landscapes.

Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, GEF CEO and Chairperson said that conserving primary tropical forests is the best response to the urgent environmental crisis that is a threat to human well-being globally and doing so can support green development. “This programme embodies strong commitment and political will to address the drivers of forest loss in proactive and innovative ways. These efforts have many benefits for human development as well as for ecosystems and are fully aligned with implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.”

Grethel Aguilar, IUCN Director General, noted that the Indo-Malayan Forest biome is one of the world’s most ancient and ecologically rich ecosystems — a living reservoir of biodiversity, culture, and climate resilience.

“By uniting governments, regional and international organisations, civil society, and the private sector, we are building a cohesive framework for transboundary collaboration that will amplify conservation impact across the entire Indo-Malayan region. IUCN is proud to contribute to this collective effort, bringing our global expertise, trusted knowledge products, and proven tools to the table,” added Grethel Aguilar.

“These primary forests provide essential services to the whole region, especially rural communities who depend on forest resources for their livelihoods and food security. This Integrated Programme boosts regional action to conserve, protect, restore and promote sustainable use of precious primary forest landscapes in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, where most remaining primary forests are located outside any formal protection status. This collaboration across countries and organizations will drive down the risks of biodiversity loss and climate change for better production, better nutrition, better environment, and better life,” said Alue Dohong, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific.

KPL