Addressing threats to species in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is hugely rich in biodiversity and is home to a vast range of threatened and endemic species. There is a relatively short history of conservation across much of the region, and therefore a limited skills base. Much conservation is still of limited effectiveness, and there is a generally low level of public awareness of species loss. Overall, the species in this region face higher levels of threat than in neighbouring parts of Asia or other parts of the tropics.
Our Programme
The Asian Species Programme aims to address an urgent extinction crisis. Southeast Asia has suffered ever-increasing ecosystem loss (particularly of forests and wetlands), as well as escalating pressure from hunting and wildlife harvest. This has resulted in a shocking number of species being at risk of extinction – for example, almost 30% of mammals are listed as threatened in the region. The mission of the Asian Species Programme is to catalyse conservation efforts for the most threatened and overlooked species in Asia, mobilising resources and capacity to reverse their decline.
