Speaking at the opening ceremony, Dr Grethel Aguilar, IUCN Deputy Director General, emphasised that protected and conserved areas are crucial for the survival of the planet. “Protected areas provide Nature-based Solutions for our health, food and water security, disaster risk reduction, poverty alleviation and climate change,” said Dr Aguilar. “Investing in protected areas is one of the best actions to provide hope for our future generations and our wonderful and amazing planet.”

Delegates from almost 50 countries are attending the Congress, representing government agencies, NGOs, indigenous peoples, youth, international organisations, academia and the private sector. Participation from indigenous peoples and local communities is particularly strong, with over 200 representatives taking part.

“Since the modern concept of protected areas was born 200 years ago, these areas have greatly helped humanity conserve nature. But we must be honest with ourselves, and recognise that the environmental movement has also made mistakes,”  Dr Aguilar said. “Too often, protected areas have excluded communities from their ancestral lands and have harmed the people who depend on them. Even now, we see this conflict happening in multiple parts of the world. That is why today, I want us to use the second Asia Parks Congress as the opportunity to turn the page.”

Hosted by Sabah Parks and the State Government of Sabah, in collaboration with IUCN and the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), the conference is being held at the Sabah International Convention Centre. It is one of the largest in-person gatherings of environmental experts to be held in Asia since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Under the banner Parks for Nature and People the Congress will highlight the many benefits that protected and conserved areas provide to society. It will be a forum for sharing expertise and experience, learning from indigenous wisdom and perspectives, embracing new approaches, and seeking insights from youth leaders.

The second Asia Parks Congress is expected to set the agenda for Asia’s protected and conserved areas for the next ten years. It comes at a particularly timely moment, as countries seek to finalise and adopt a new global biodiversity framework later this year.