Donors/ Technical Partners:  IUCN – The World Conservation Union / United Nations Development Program / United Nations Development Program / United Nations Environment Program / The Global Environment Facility (GEF)    Duration:    2000-2001    |    Location:    Asia Region (17 countries)About: Governments of Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Germany  ICEM provided the technical support and facilitation in an IUCN initiated process of consultation and review of the experience with national biodiversity  planning in 17 Asian countries.

Most countries in Asia have now developed – or are preparing – a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan as a critical process in reversing the negative trends in biodiversity loss. In this project which ran over two years, more than 30 leading conservation managers and policy makers in the countries and key international agencies working in the region were involved in a series of sub-regional meetings and drafting activities to share their views on progress  made and on the challenges which lie ahead. Country studies explore how effectively national biodiversity strategies and action planning have been in meeting these goals. They identified the main obstacles to progress, the strengths and weaknesses of the process, its main achievements and the opportunities for improvement.