Mr. Lonkham Atsanavong, Acting Director General, Department of Environmental Quality Promotion, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Government of Lao PDR, welcomed the members of the GB. He recalled that the ASEAN region is one of the most biologically rich areas in the world; its biodiversity having significant economic value. However, this diversity is under threat, which consequently threatens biodiversity, food security and livelihoods. He emphasized that these issues need to be addressed through biodiversity conservation programmes. He commended ACB in collaborating with partners to
ensure that ecosystem services are made available to the ASEAN people. He recognized the mechanisms employed by ACB that brought together several areas of cooperation in biodiversity conservation. He also commended the successful conduct of the Second ASEAN Conference on Biodiversity (ACB2016); the approval of new ASEAN Heritage Parks in Indonesia and in the Philippines; and the conduct of several cooperation projects including the mobilization of data from AHPs. He enjoined everyone to work together to achieve the Aichi Biodiversity Targets by 2020. He expressed his support to the nomination of Bai Tu Long National Park of Viet Nam as the 38th AHP. He wished to have a productive Meeting and declared the Meeting officially open.