During 2010, being the International Year of Biodiversity, APAARI and its stakeholders in the Asia- Pacific region adopted the Suwon Agrobiodiversity Framework that shows the way forward towards the sustainable management and use of agrobiodiversity, equitable access and benefit sharing of genetic resources, and evoking required awareness concerning genetic resource management through regional collaboration and partnerships among stakeholders. The recommendations embodied in the framework need to be translated into action by the respective countries and organizations and build on the momentum for future agrobiodiversity research and development activities in the region. We are delighted that to implement the recommendations of the Suwon Agrobiodiversity Framework, APAARI and Bioversity International, in collaboration with GFAR, FAO and ADB organized this follow-up “Regional Workshop on the Implementation of Suwon Agrobiodiversity Framework through Strengthened Regional Collaboration” at Kuala Lumpur on 4-6 November, 2011. We are glad that the workshop further developed and refined the regional road map for implementing the framework and strengthened networking and collaboration among various stakeholders in the Asia-Pacific region. We are extremely happy that during the workshop, several projects have been identified as regional priorities for further development into concept notes and full project proposals.
We also note with great interest and appreciation the continuing involvement of various stakeholders in pursuing the implementation of Suwon Agrobiodiversity Framework and acknowledge with thanks the active involvement in this workshop of NARS from Malaysia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, South Korea and China, NGOs like the Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD) and Asian NGO Coalition (ANGOC), and international organizations (FAO, IRRI, Bioversity International, ICRAF, ICRISAT). We are grateful to ADB, GFAR and FAO for providing financial support that enabled us to organize the workshop and MARDI for co-hosting the event. The Suwon Agrobiodiversity Framework is a useful mechanism for mainstreaming important regional initiatives that aim to strengthen the conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity. It is also useful in influencing policy makers on specific policies and targeted interventions to counter the loss of agrobiodiversity. It is an important and useful guide in developing national programs which can propel activities with maximum impact. The discussions and recommendations from this very important workshop are presented in this publication which will be immensely useful to policy makers, research managers, development agencies, and even the farmers and students. We hope that the proceedings will be strategically disseminated to the relevant stakeholders and used to generate awareness on the much needed actions to be taken for the implementation of the Suwon Agrobiodiversity Framework.
