#WinningWednesdays: Stories of Biodiversity Champions across ASEAN

KUALA LUMPUR, 26 JULY 2026 —

Hidden away in a tranquil corner of Gunung Leuser National Park in Indonesia, a group of women is turning nature into wearable art. Known as Kaya Ecoprint, the community-led brand uses natural dyes extracted from leaves and flowers to create unique designs on shirts, shawls, bags, wallets, and other fabrics. By harnessing ecoprinting techniques, these women entrepreneurs are not only earning additional income for their families but are also promoting ecological and sustainable fashion.

From 20 November 2024 to 9 July 2025, the campaign on the ACB’s social media pages showcased stories of 117 projects on biodiversity conservation, capacity building, and sustainable livelihood development of different communities in and around selected ASEAN Heritage Parks in Indonesia, Myanmar, and Viet Nam. To date, it has reached over 1.1 million people, generating 43,000 views, and inspiring more than 2,500 meaningful engagements.

From ecoprinted fabrics, handwoven textiles, artisanal crafts, to organic food, beverages, and farm produce, each story is contained in the special edition of the ASEAN Biodiversity Magazine—a tribute to biodiversity champions who are working for a future where people and nature thrive together. Discover how small grants fueled big impacts on biodiversity conservation. Catch these stories by scanning the QR code below!

IMA World Health is a leading public health organisation that delivers solutions to health-related problems across the developing world. The organisation works with local partners and governments to strengthen existing health systems, prevent and treat diseases, improve maternal and child health, promote nutrition and WASH, and contribute to global health security. Learn more about IMA World Health here: https://imaworldhealth.org/ The EU also plays a leading role in international efforts to promote sustainable development.

Environmental challenges do not stop at borders. More action is needed globally to ensure clean air, oceans and other water resources and to ensure that land and ecosystems are used sustainably and that climate change is kept to manageable levels. Learn more about the European Union here: https://op.europa.eu/webpub/com/eu-what-it-is/en/#chapter2 The Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) is a Philippine-based investment management and holding company registered with the Philippine Securities Exchange Commission.

It is a leading infrastructure holding company with a diverse set of assets held through operating companies. Through acquisitions and strategic partnerships, MPIC seeks to create value by upgrading infrastructure, improving operational efficiency, increasing customer coverage and working closely with regulators and other partners in government.

Learn more about MPIC here: https://www.mpic.com.ph/about-us/our-company/ Known as one of the world’s leading promotional banks, the KfW Development Bank is committed to improving the social and economic living conditions of people around the world, while promoting environmental and ecological sustainability. On behalf of the Federal Government of Germany and the federal states, the KfW provides financial support to governments, public enterprises, and commercial banks in developing countries.

Learn more about KfW here: https://www.kfw-entwicklungsbank.de/International-financing/KfW-Entwicklungsbank/ Hosted by Viet Nam, a field trip is scheduled at Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is recognised for its geological and geomorphological value due to the development of karst limestone formations over billions of years. These limestone features are the result of Earth’s tectonic deformation, uplift, erosion, weathering, and sea level changes.

Ha Long Bay also represents one of the areas where sea level changes have occurred throughout Earth’s evolutionary history from the Cretaceous period to the present. Thus, Ha Long Bay serves as a living record of global climate change.

It also exemplifies the interaction between geological and biological processes, creating a rich and diverse ecosystem Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural and modified ecosystems in ways that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, to provide both human well-being and biodiversity benefits.

This underpins the benefits that flow from healthy ecosystems and targets major challenges like climate change, disaster risk reduction, food and water security, and health are critical to economic development. This interactive session will explore how Nature-based Solutions (NbS) can be scaled and adapted across ASEAN Heritage Parks (AHPs) to enhance biodiversity conservation, climate adaptation, and community resilience.

Using the ASEAN NbS Platform as a foundation, the sessions will connect landscape-based NbS strategies with the unique ecological an d cultural contexts of AHPs. The increasing prevalence of zoonotic disease underscores the need for integrated approaches to managing health risks at the interface of humans, animals, and ecosystems. This urgency was reinforced during the CBD COP 16 with the adoption of the Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health .

This milestone document promotes preventive, ecosystem-based strategies to address key drivers of zoonotic disease, including habitat loss, illegal wildlife trade, and unsustainable wildlife management. In Southeast Asia, the ACB plays an active role in implementing these principles, having been involved in the development and implementation of the ASEAN One Health Joint Plan of Action (ASEAN OH JPA) following the ASEAN Leaders Declaration on One Health in May 20