APAP’s work focuses on three areas: knowledge sharing and capacity building, transboundary and regional cooperation, and awareness raising and advocacy.
Several activities, which will be further defined by the Partnership’s members, are envisioned under each focus area:
Knowledge sharing and capacity building
- Convene the regional protected area community to share best practices and inspiring solutions, for example, through the organisation of experience sharing workshops on priority themes, the holding of the Asia Parks Congress at regular intervals, and the facilitation of site visits to observe best practice on the ground.
- Organise specific capacity development and training opportunities, in partnership with protected area agencies in other parts of the world, the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), academic and training institutions, and other organisations. There is a wide array of potential topics that could be covered, including: application of the IUCN Protected Area Management Categories and Governance Types; adaptation to climate change; tourism management; effective patrolling; prevention and management of human-wildlife conflict; participatory management approaches and benefit sharing; landscape scale approaches and systems planning; prevention and management of invasive alien species; and protected areas and disaster risk reduction.
- Promote access to protected area information and guidelines, for example, by translating the IUCN WCPA Best Practice Guidelines into Asian languages.
Transboundary and regional cooperation
- Organise experience sharing opportunities to enable APAP members to learn from transboundary collaboration in other parts of the world.
- Organise training workshops on transboundary approaches to protected area management.
- Make the IUCN WCPA Best Practice Guidelines on Transboundary Protected Areas widely available, including through translation.
- Facilitate dialogue among countries wishing to explore the potential for transboundary collaboration.
- Assist with the development of funding proposals for specific transboundary/regional projects and initiatives.
Awareness raising and advocacy
- Facilitate studies which highlight the economic and other benefits of protected areas, and help ensure that the results are widely disseminated.
- Strengthen the voice of the Asia protected area community at regional and global policy fora, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Read about APAP's objectives and the Asia Parks Congress where it was initiated.