Viet Nam is one of the Southeast Asian countries with the highest number of ASEAN Heritage Parks, totaling 12 areas. Accordingly, linking and building a network to share information among Viet Nam's ASEAN Heritage Parks is essential to strengthening and enhancing the natural heritage system while improving these sites' management and environmental protection.
To achieve this goal, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has assigned the Department of International Cooperation, which serves as the Secretariat for the ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment (ASOEN), to take the lead in coordination with relevant units within the Ministry to carry out the task of "Connecting ASEAN Heritage Parks during the 2023 - 2025 period according to the national action program on biodiversity." This task is set to be implemented in 2024.
The mission aims to vigorously promote the implementation of international commitments to nature conservation and biodiversity during the new decade (2021-2030), sharing rights and benefits among stakeholders in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in line with sustainable development.
The main contents of the task include: Surveying and assessing the actual situation of Viet Nam's ASEAN Heritage Parks; Developing technical guidelines and criteria for Viet Nam's ASEAN Heritage Parks; Linking and building a network of Viet Nam's ASEAN Heritage Parks and connecting with ASEAN Heritage Parks in other ASEAN countries; Organizing workshops to review and assess the current status of ASEAN Heritage Parks after their recognition; Organizing workshops to evaluate the compliance of ASEAN Heritage Park criteria in the new context; Conducting field trips to share experiences on sustainable management models and solutions for ASEAN Heritage Parks; Communicating effective models and solutions for sustainable management and biodiversity conservation in newly recognized ASEAN Heritage Parks.