Lim was appointed head of the ACB in 2018, changing into the physique’s first feminine govt director. Previous to this appointment, she chaired the Philippines’ Biodiversity Administration Bureau (BMB) as its director for 15 years beneath the Division of Surroundings and Pure Assets (DENR).
Lim is succeeded by Clarissa Arida, senior director of the ACB’s programmes division, as performing govt director. The physique remains to be within the course of of choosing its new govt director.
In a farewell deal with, Lim famous that the ACB marked her first time main a world organisation – after serving most of her profession as a nationwide official within the Philippine authorities.
“This shift was each daunting and thrilling, pushing me to navigate challenges that got here with main [biodiversity conservation] on a regional scale and adapting to a broader, extra advanced panorama of worldwide collaboration,” she mentioned.
Throughout her tenure, Lim remobilised the Asean Biodiversity Fund, a sustainable financing mechanism for nature and biodiversity conservation efforts within the area, and launched the Asean Enterprise and Biodiversity Initiative, a regional platform championing nature-based options within the strategic priorities of the area’s enterprise sector. She was additionally pivotal within the declaration of at the least 22 new protected Asean heritage parks.
At COP16 in Colombia earlier this 12 months, Lim and the ACB led the launch of the Asean Biodiversity Plan – a framework that outlines how Asean member states can scale up the implementation of their Nationwide Biodiversity Methods and Motion Plans (NBSAP) to contribute to international biodiversity ambitions.
Between 2017 and 2018, Lim additionally chaired the subsidiary physique on scientific, technical, and technological recommendation on the United Nations Conference on Organic Variety (CBD).
Dr Theresa Mundita Lim is succeeded by Clarissa Arida, senior director of programmes at ACB, as performing govt director. Picture: Asean Centre for Biodiversity
A wildlife veterinarian by occupation, she has led regional technical working teams on island biodiversity, migratory sharks and wildlife enforcement beneath programmes by the Conference on Worldwide Commerce in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the United Nations Surroundings Programme (UNEP) Conference on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) and the CBD, amongst others.
Established in 2005, the ACB was created by the member states of the Affiliation of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to facilitate intergovernmental cooperation and coordination on the conservation and sustainable use of the area’s pure ecosystems and organic range.
