Side Event

Investing in Biodiversity and Economic Prosperity: An Integrated Approach to an economically and environmentally prosperous Greater Mekong Subregion

Organizer
Asian Development Bank

Date and Time
25 October 2010 18:15 - 19:45

Meeting
Tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 10)

In 1992, the governments of the six countries that host the Mekong River formed the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Program, a platform for promoting investments in key priority sectors through stronger economic integration. As with economic development challenges, threats to biodiversity and related environmental and landscape management targets in the GMS Subregion do not stop at country borders. Recognizing this, the GMS Working Group on Environment was formed in 2005 to provide guidance to the Economic Cooperation Program on subregional environmental issues through the GMS Core Environment Program and Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative (GMS CEP-BCI). This side event will share lessons learned from the CEP-BCI and discuss future plans for working with GMS governments to manage important biodiversity conservation landscapes. The final part of the side event will engage potential development, implementing and parallel partners in a dialogue on how to mobilize broad coordinated support for GMS countries to work together to achieve national and regional biodiversity conservation outcomes.