BBP Project partners during the MOC signing with the Viet Nam government. From left to right: Dr. Dicky Simorangkir, ISB Project Director, GIZ; Atty. Roberto Oliva, ACB Executive Director, Dr. Berthold Seibert, Programme Director, GIZ, Dr. Pham Anh Cuong, Director Biodiversity Conservation Agency, Vietnam Environment Administration, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam, Ms. Clarissa Arida, ACB-PDI Director. The photo was taken during the 26th Meeting of the ASEAN Working Group on Nature Conservation and Biodiversity (AWGNCB), held on 25-26 May 2016 in Hanoi, Viet Nam.
The governments of Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Viet Nam have signed memoranda of agreement (MOC) with the ASEAN Centre of Biodiversity (ACB) and GFA Consulting Group GmbH, formally signifying their commitment to the Biodiversity-Based Products (BPP) Project.
The 4-year project will implement pilot measures designed to promote biodiversity-based products in selected sites in the three countries. Using a value chain promotion approach, the project seeks to ensure that the promotion of BBP products will also lead to improvement of livelihood and biodiversity conservation.
“The MOCs provide the basis for the whole cooperation for this project, and we’re eager to work with the partners and proceed with the implementation of the planned measures and other activities on the ground,” said Dr. Martin Falke, the GFA BBP Project Team Leader. The ACB-GFA project team signed the MOCs with Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment, Lao PDR’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and Viet Nam’s Biodiversity Conservation Agency.
The project team has been closely collaborating with government officials, park management authorities, nongovernment organizations, and other stakeholders in the three countries in developing the strategic activity and finance plans to be followed by the project. Major activities include resource assessments, sustainable harvesting measures, training on business planning as well as marketing strategies and other initiatives designed to enhance BBP value chains.
Selected sites for the project include three biodiversity-rich ASEAN Heritage Parks and one national park in Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Viet Nam. It is hoped that lessons from the project can also be used to help improve livelihood and biodiversity conservation in the rest of the ASEAN member states.
The BBP project is funded by the German development cooperation agency GIZ and co-implemented by GFA and ACB.
