PROFILE ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, working to conserve Southeast Asia’s biodiversity for future generations Biodiversity is the short way of saying biological diversity, which includes all the various forms of life on Earth. Also referred to as the web of life, biodiversity provides us with air, water, food, medicine, shelter, livelihood and a host of ecosystem services. This web of life, however, is fast becoming endangered due to the demands of growing human population, as well as our wasteful and inefficient consumption patterns. Biodiversity in Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also known as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, occupies only three percent of the world’s total land area, but it is home to 19 percent of all plant and animal species assessed by IUCN (IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2012.2). The region has three of the 17 known mega-diverse countries 140 THE ASIA REGIONAL FORUM ON BIODIVERSITY (Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines), but it has four of the world’s 34 biodiversity hotspots (Indo- Burma, Philippines, Sundaland and Wallacea). Southeast Asia is home to 28 percent, almost 70,000 square kilometers, of all known coral reef areas. About 95 percent are at risk from local threats, with almost half in the high and very high threat categories (Burke, et.al, 2011). Out of 12,699 species assessed in the region, 2,786 are threatened (IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2012.2). Composed of ten Member States (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam), the ASEAN region continues to lose many of its plant and animal species due to climate change, deforestation, habitat change, illegal wildlife trade, pollution, population growth, and other causes.
In Celebration of His Majesty the King of Thailand’s 84th Birthday Anniversary
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