In the heart of Cambodia, where the ancient stone spires of Angkor Wat reach towards the heavens, a different kind of monumental effort recently took place. The vibrant city of Siem Reap served as the backdrop for the 10th ASEAN Plus Three Junior Science Odyssey (APT JSO-10), held from 22 to 26 July 2024. This … Embracing Unity in Science: Gifted ASEAN+3 Youths Race Against Climate Change in Siem Reap
Illegal wildlife trade is a major driver of biodiversity loss. Conservationists note that most trafficked species are already endangered or at-risk. Poaching and trafficking these species accelerate their depletion and damage the ecological balance.
Gretel Seet Jia Xuan (25) is the Coordinator of the Global Youth Biodiversity Network Southeast Asia. Her interest in biodiversity began at the Festival of Biodiversity, organised by the Singapore National Parks Board. There, she discovered that Singapore is not only a concrete jungle but also home to a wide variety of species and habitats. … Keeping Green from Turning Grey: Gretel Seet, Coordinator, Global Youth Biodiversity Network Southeast Asia
Brikko Martillo Dumas, known as Bricx, is a 34-year-old Filipino artist, educator, and climate advocate. He was born in Leyte, in the Philippines’ Eastern Visayas region, and moved to Manila as a teenager. When Typhoon Haiyan (locally known as Yolanda) devastated Leyte in 2013, Bricx returned home to bring his grandmother to safety and volunteer. … Capturing the Threads That Connect Us: Bricx Dumas, 2022 ACB Young ASEAN Storyteller
Twenty-five-year-old Thae Eaindra Hsu was born and raised in Mawlamyine, Mon State, Myanmar. Mawlamyine is known for its golden pagodas and its proximity to the Gulf of Mottama Ramsar site, a coastal wetland area recognised for its biodiversity and the communities that depend on it. Growing up near the coast drew her into conservation work. … On Dolphins and Coastal Life in the Gulf of Mottama: Thae Eaindra Hsu, 2023 Youth Biodiversity Leader
Mark Liao’s journey into biodiversity work began in 2017 when he joined the Borneo Eco-Warriors programme under the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI). He was 22 then when he latched onto this idea and, in the same year, established an environmental NGO that similarly focuses on community-oriented conservation.
Thirty-four-year-old Megawati, a community worker based in Wangi-wangi Island in Wakatobi Regency, Southeast Sulawesi, joined the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity’s Effectively Managing Networks of Marine Protected Areas in Large Marine Ecosystems in the ASEAN Region (ENMAPS) Programme in 2025 at the start of its five-year implementation. Megawati is a perfect fit, having been born and … Women-Led Mapping on Wakatobi’s Coast: Megawati, ENMAPS Programme Enumerator
Zoonotic threats emerge where humans, animals, and the environment interact—through livestock production systems, wildlife interfaces, food chains, markets, and ecological conditions that shape exposure opportunities. That is why One Health surveillance is not an “add-on” to epidemic intelligence; it is the core operating model for detecting spillover early enough to prevent amplification.
Biodiversity is essential for sustaining the lives of people, animals, plants, and microorganisms, and for creating healthy ecosystems that provide clean air and food. However, biodiversity is under threat from human activities, including overfishing, overhunting, pollution, overdevelopment, and climate change. These disturbances can alter the abundance of organisms, population dynamics, and ecological interactions, thereby affecting … The Nature of Health: Linking Biodiversity, Animal Habitat Loss, Human Illnesses and One Health in ASEAN
In September 2023, the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) and the ASEAN Business Advisory Council established the ASEAN Business and Biodiversity Initiative (ABBI), a dynamic platform to accelerate progress in achieving biodiversity and climate goals across the region. This involves building partnerships with the business sector and expanding this network to integrate biodiversity considerations in … Business Sector Responds to ASEAN’s Biodiversity Challenge