Description

One stop shop for biodiversity information in southeast area

Established through the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), the ASEAN Clearing-House Mechanism (ASEAN CHM) is a regional online platform for sharing biodiversity information. It serves as the gateway to all available biodiversity-related information in ASEAN, to provide a cohesive and integrated perspective of the Region’s biological resources.

The ASEAN CHM is an entry point to the national CHMs of the ASEAN Member States (AMS), and offers a wide range of online services, such as providing biodiversity-related information and capacity development guides and tools, to aid in conservation planning, monitoring, and decision-making. It contains databases of ASEAN species, bacteria and fungi, invasive alien species, protected areas, lessons learned, and ASEAN Heritage Parks.

The ASEAN CHM provides a vital role in linking ASEAN national CHMs and the ACB’s contribution to science-based decision-making for biodiversity conservation in Southeast Asia. It was designed to support the ASEAN Member States (AMS) in biodiversity-related decision-making, and assist them in the development of ecological and biodiversity-sound policies. Likewise, the ASEAN CHM ensures the AMS’s compliance with multilateral environmental agreements, particularly the Convention on Biological Diversity with special emphasis on meeting the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

Key features of ASEAN CHMs include the species database. Holding almost 40,000 records, the species database is necessary for planning and tracking conservation activities. Apart from this, the ASEAN CHM contains information on the resources and management of the 49 ASEAN Heritage Parks, and over 2,600 protected areas.

Other key features of the ASEAN CHM are the following:

- An interactive mapping tool aids in showing where species are in protected areas, so appropriate management intervention can be implemented

- Auto summaries report that support country analysis of threatened animals and plants can be accessed in just one click.

- Interactive graphs transform statistics into easy to understand visuals on ecosystems and species trends.

- Open source capacity development tools and e-learning platforms are accessible online to assist the AMS in establishing their national CHMs.