[...]... of coastal zones ASEAN Coastal Facts and Figures ASEAN Coastline 173,000 km2 ASEAN Mangrove Forests 35% of the world total (1998) ASEAN Coral Reefs (most diverse in the world) 25-30% of world total (1998) Global Coral Reefs at Risk 58% (27% at high/very high risk) ASEAN Coral Reefs at Risk 80% (55% at high/very high risk) ASEAN Marine Fish Production 14% of the world total (1998) ASEAN Overall Fish... vulnerable segments of society ASEAN also welcomed efforts to deal comprehensively and effectively with the debt problems of developing countries and to make the management of debt sustainable in the long term Figure 1 ASEAN Institutional Framework for Environmental Cooperation ASEAN Summit (ASEAN Heads of State/Government) ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) (ASEAN Foreign Ministers) ASEAN Ministerial Meeting... conditions, their impact and interrelationships with various sectors in the ASEAN The ASEAN also hopes to harmonise national and regional databases to support environmental analysis, modelling, and forecasting for environmental assessment and monitoring ASEAN s Governance and Cooperative Mechanism ASEAN s governance mechanism, which has evolved gradually over the years, is now very much institutionalised and... coordination at the national level in each of the ASEAN member countries is undertaken by a dedicated ASEAN department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ASEAN Environmental Management Framework ASEAN cooperation on the environment started in 1978 with the establishment of an ASEAN Experts Group on the Environment (AEGE), which has since been elevated as the ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment (ASOEN)... monitoring The ASEAN member countries have shown their commitments to address this problem with the signing of the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution in June 2001 Public Awareness and Environmental Education ASEAN promotes public awareness of environmental issues through annual national environmental campaigns and the ASEAN Environment Year, which is observed once every three years The ASEAN Environmental... meet the needs of the ASEAN; • strengthen the national and collective ASEAN capacity on the issues of health implications from globalization and trade liberalization; and • enhance the competitiveness of ASEAN and healthrelated industries taking into account the strengths and diversity of ASEAN member countries Sustainable Management of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection ASEAN s environment... highest decision-making body of ASEAN is the Meeting of the Heads of State and Government or ASEAN Summit held every year The Annual Meeting of Foreign Ministers, better known as the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) is responsible for the formulation of policy guidelines The AMM is supported by the ASEAN Standing Committee (ASC) and the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM), while the ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM)... remains a major source of pollution in ASEAN, transboundary haze pollution from land and forest fires has become more serious in recent years As a result, the Hanoi Plan of Action calls for the: • full implementation of the Regional Haze Action Plan; • strengthening of the ASEAN Specialized Meteorological Center to monitor forest and land fires; and • establishment of the ASEAN Regional Research and Training... identified needs of developing countries; and accord priority to regional policies developed within the ASEAN institutional framework • ASEAN called for declarations and commitments such as those contained in the Rio Declaration, Agenda 21, Millenium Declaration and the Monterrey Consensus on Financing for Development to be implemented expeditiously Additionally, ASEAN called for developed countries to fulfill... virus (HIV) or the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) pandemic The ASEAN Heads of State and Government recognises that at least 1.6 million people in the region are living with HIV/AIDS, and if left unchecked will undermine social and economic development of ASEAN As such, at the 2001 ASEAN Summit, ASEAN leaders adopted the ASEAN Summit Declaration on HIV/AIDS, acknowledging that prevention is . E R S I T Y 7 ABOUT YOU AND US Editorial 10 years after Rio  By John R. MacKinnon T he United Nations Conference on Environment and Develop ment in Rio launched many im- portant initiatives. Measures undertaken by ASEAN in this direction include the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), the ASEAN Investment Area (AIA) and the ASEAN Industrial Cooperation (AICO) Scheme. ASEAN Free Trade Area. Environmental Activities (ASEAN Secretariat) Haze Technical Task Force (HTTF) ASEAN Secretariat (Bureau of Functional Cooperation) ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment (ASOEN) ASEAN Standing Committee (ASC) ASEAN