The Southeast Asia Communication, Education and Public Awareness (CEPA) and Media Network for Biodiversity
What is the Southeast Asia CEPA and Media Network for Biodiversity?
The Southeast Asia CEPA and Media Network for Biodiversity (CEPA-Net) is a knowledge network composed of about 60 media practitioners, government and NGO information officers, and communication experts from 11 Southeast Asian countries who are committed to help promote the importance of biodiversity conservation in the region.
The group was organized during the “Sub-Regional Capacity Development Workshop for ASEAN Countries on Communication, Education and Public Awareness (CEPA) and Media Relations” from 30 November to 3 December 2009 in Jakarta, Indonesia. The workshop was organized by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) and the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), with support from the Government of Indonesia, the Government of the Netherlands, and the European Commission.
What are CEPA-Net’s objectives?
CEPA-Net seeks to promote the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the work of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity by:
- Facilitating knowledge exchange and learning among civil servants responsible for CEPA activities on biodiversity and media practitioners who report on biodiversity;
- Increase the government and NGO information officers’ awareness of the importance of, and improving skills in, dealing with the media;
- Sensitizing media practitioners to issues on biodiversity conservation and encouraging them to become partners in conservation advocacy;
- Promoting a better understanding of the role of CEPA in strategic communication and change management; and
- Enhancing the CEPA strategies of countries in Southeast Asia.
Why is there a need for CEPA-Net?
The region’s capacity to reduce biodiversity loss is constrained by several roadblocks, including the dire lack of awareness and knowledge on the values of biodiversity. Increased public and leadership awareness is needed to create a groundswell that will catalyze all sectors of society to promote the conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity resources. Communication, education, public awareness and media play a crucial role in this challenge.
Communicating biodiversity is a daunting task. While successes have been achieved on some fronts, a lot of communication gaps still need to be filled. A small fraction of the population don’t understand the values of biodiversity and the consequences of its loss.. CEPA-Net hopes to provide a venue for the exchange of knowledge and best practices, as well as proposed solutions to challenges faced by communicators.
What are CEPA-Net’s proposed activities?
Among the network’s planned activities are forums on biodiversity conservation, regular exchange of best practices on effective communication techniques for biodiversity, sharing of success stories, media advocacy programmes, capacity building activities, and in the long term, the establishment of national CEPA-Net chapters in all Southeast Asian countries.
Who can join CEPA-Net?
Media practitioners, government and NGO information officers, students, professors, and civil society organizations are welcome to join CEPA-Net.
Who will I contact if I wish to join?
Those who want to join may contact Mr. Rolando A. Inciong, Head of ACB’s Communication and Public Affairs Unit, at
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or Ms. Leslie Ann Jose, Development Communication Specialist, at
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.
Background on CEPA
Article 13 (Public Education and Awareness) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) states that Contracting Parties shall:
- Promote and encourage understanding of the importance of, and the measures required for, the conservation of biological diversity, as well as its propagation through media, and the inclusion of these topics in educational programmes; and
- Cooperate, as appropriate, with other States and international organizations in developing educational and public awareness programmes, with respect to conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.
The responsibility for pushing efforts on Communication, Education and Public Awareness (CEPA) in Southeast Asia rests largely with Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), all Parties to the Convention. Their major task is to mobilize all relevant stakeholders to address the primary drivers of biodiversity loss.
While there is no doubt that ASEAN Member States are committed to CEPA, the level of support and availability of resources among the countries significantly vary, from those that have sufficient resources to those that do not have the basic resources to even launch public information campaigns. For many ASEAN Member States, the chronic shortage of budget for CEPA is exacerbated by the multi-sectoral nature of biodiversity issues often leading to the fragmented development of programmes and plans.
Clearly, any complementary effort that supports ASEAN Member States to further promote CEPA beyond the current levels of resources allocated will be a welcome intervention. CEPA-Net seeks to be one support system.
Who is the lead organization for CEPA-related activities?
The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) leads the implementation of CEPA initiatives all over the world.
The Secretariat believes that implementing the Convention and realizing its core objectives requires the involvement of an active and informed citizenry, who are educated as to the relevance of biodiversity to their lives. In this respect, communication, education and public awareness are core components of any national and international implementation strategy. Given the complex nature of biodiversity science and policy, the task is to find elegant and straightforward explanations on the relevance of biodiversity, and the work of the Convention, to the daily lives of citizens and stakeholders around the world.
Faced with this complexity, the Conference of the Parties has increasingly turned to a practical programme of work for CEPA, with a focus on implementation of a few focused instruments and campaigns to act as pilot projects. From these experiences, national and regional programmes will be created. The short list of priority activities from decision VIII 6 is designed, during the current biennium, to provide examples of such activities that can be duplicated across regions. Toolkits, workshops and activities are part of this.
SCBD’s priority in the upcoming biennium will be capacity-building for CEPA, as outlined in Article 13 of the Convention. In support of this, the Secretariat has started to organize a series of sub-regional workshops on CEPA and media, along with partners such as the Commission on Education and Communication of IUCN, InterPress Services, UNESCO, the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, and other organizations. The first of these workshops was held in the Caribbean in November 2008. The Southeast Asia leg was held in November 2009.
What is the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity’s role in CEPA?
The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity is a major partner of the SCBD in Southeast Asia. It recognizes challenges related to communication for biodiversity and looks at enhancing its strategic role by pursuing regional CEPA endeavors aimed at increasing understanding of biodiversity conservation while at the same time culturing advocacy champions who can mobilize support of leaders and critical stakeholders in promoting the biodiversity agenda at all levels of the society.
For more information on CEPA, visit www.cbd.int/cepa/.
For more information about ACB, log on to www.aseanbiodiversity.org.
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