Southeast Asia steps up biodiversity policy

Deforestation, urbanization among factors which put many species at risk

Southeast Asian countries will need to incorporate biodiversity issues in their policy programs to arrest the loss of the region's natural resources including the wild flora and fauna, according to insiders.

Theresa Mundita Lim, executive director of the ASEAN Center for Biodiversity, said mainstreaming biodiversity policies is one of the commitments that member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations made under the Aichi Biodiversity Targets to be achieved by 2020.