Protected Areas (PAs), such as national parks and nature reserves serve as refuges for species and ecological processes that cannot survive in intensely managed or altered landscapes.  The 7th Conference of Parties (CoP7) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) drew up a the Programme of Work on Protected Areas (PoWPA) in 2004, which aims to improve the coverage, representativeness, and management of protected areas nationally, regionally and globally. The CBD proposed that governments carry out a gap analysis to find out if and where a country’s current PA system falls short of protecting all biodiversity. The CBD emphasizes that the aim is not simply to increase the number of PAs but that these, as far as possible, should be designed and located in the best places to conserve biodiversity and that they should be determined by a multi-stakeholder process. An early stage in identifying new PAs is carrying out a gap analysis of biodiversity and existing protected areas to identify what should be included in the protected area network.

To help guide the preparation of the proposed gap analysis, Dudley and Parish (2006) distinguished three types of gap in PA coverage: representation gaps; ecological gaps; and management gaps.  In April 2007, a Gap Analysis Workshop attended by representatives from the national PA agencies of nine of the ten AMS was held in Singapore.  Together with several experts on biodiversity in the region, the participants discussed the preliminary gap analyses and the national gap analyses already conducted in the AMS, and identified the actions required to prepare gap analyses at the national and regional levels.
The report compiled by Birdlife International, IUCN-WCPA Southeast Asia, et al (2007) on the studies presented during the Singapore workshop indicated that although national gap analyses have already been conducted for several countries in the ASEAN region (e.g., Brunei Darussalam, Thailand), some of these analyses might need to be updated.  In most cases the recommendations from these analyses for changes to national PA systems have not yet been fully implemented.  At the Singapore workshop, it was proposed that gap analyses are required for Cambodia, Indonesia (particularly Sulawesi and Maluku), Lao PDR, Vietnam, and Peninsular Malaysia.

Technical Assistance (TA) is, hence, being proposed for the identified AMS for the conduct of national gap analysis for terrestrial PA coverage.

I. Objectives of the TA

Supplemental funding to a maximum of FIVE THOUSAND United States Dollar (USD 5,000.00) to the AMS (i.e., Cambodia, Indonesia Lao PDR, Vietnam, and Peninsular Malaysia) will be provided in support of activities for data compilation, processing, analysis, and reporting on national Gap Analysis in (Terrestrial) Protected Area Coverage.  These activities may include stakeholders’ consultation meetings, data compilation and consolidation, processing and analysis, and draft report writing.  The TA may cover costs of supplies and communication, and is meant for the implementation of activities within five (5) months.

II. Target Beneficiaries

At the Singapore workshop, it was proposed that gap analyses are required for Cambodia, Indonesia (particularly Sulawesi and Maluku), Lao PDR, Vietnam, and Peninsular Malaysia.

III. Expected Outputs

The overall output per AMS is a draft national Terrestrial Gap Analysis report (Annex 1: Suggested Report Format) which will be presented in a proposed Gap Analysis Workshop in September 2009. In addition, the AMS will provide ACB the following:

• Stakeholders Consultation Meeting Minutes/Action Plan
• Compiled electronic files of statistics and maps

See Procedures to Request for the TA