ASEAN Working Group on Nature Conservation and Biodiversity (AWGNCB)

The Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary (AMWS) was nominated as an ASEAN Heritage Park (AHP) with complete documentation submitted in August 2018. This was deliberated and approved by the ACB Governing Board and subsequently endorsed to the AMME for approval. The AMME approved via ad referendum the nomination of AMWS as the 44th AHP on 8 November 2018. Possible new AHP protected areas in the Philippines for nomination are the Pasonanca Natural Park in Zamboanga City and the Turtle Islands Heritage Park in Tawi-Tawi.
The Philippines was also asked to review the ACB's "Draft ASEAN Guidelines on Mainstreaming Biodiversity Across Relevant Sectors Through Biodiversity-based Value Chains" and provide inputs on lessons learned from a similar project implemented.
At the 20th Meeting of the AWGNCB, the ACB in behalf of the Philippines presented the proposed project on "Taxonomic Capacity Building on DNA Barcoding of Indigenous Flora and Fauna." As Indonesia has also proposed a project entitled "ASEAN Wildlife Forensic Information Sharing System Protocol" to the ASEAN Senior Officials on Forestry this will be taken into consideration to avoid duplication and ensure complementarity of efforts.
In the presentation of the ACB on the progress of the implementation of the Aichi Targets, Targets 11, 17 and 19 are on track. Part of the report was based on the 6th National Reports on Biodiversity of which only the Philippines, Myanmar and Thailand were able to submit as of April 2019.