BIMP-EAGA MINISTERS LAUNCH HISTORIC EQUATOR ASIA BRAND

2010-02-18

TOURISM Ministers of Brunei, Indonesia , Malaysia & the Philippines representing the East ASEAN Growth Area or BIMP-EAGA gathered in Brunei Darussalam for the historic launching of the “EQUATOR ASIA” brand hailed as the world’s most biologically productive last January 25, 2010. The launching was in conjunction with the ASEAN Tourism Forum.

The brand EQUATOR ASIA which claims to be mother earth’s true center of Biodiversity, carries as its brand position the “HEART OF BIODIVERSITY”.

EQUATOR ASIA Is located along the equator covering the East ASEAN Growth Area. It includes Brunei Darussalam; Indonesian Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Irian Jaya, Maluku; Malaysian Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan; and Philippine Mindanao and Palawan .

According to several authoritative independent studies including the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), EQUATOR ASIA is the world’s most biologically productive and diverse ecosystem - in terms of major terrestrial habitat type as home to the world’s largest tropical and sub-tropical moist broadleaf forest and marine ecoregion. Diversity is found in species richness, endemism, higher taxonomic uniqueness, presence of extraordinary ecological or evolutionary phenomena and global rarity of the major habitat type. More than half of the world’s richest flora and fauna are found there. One of the three remaining lowland forests is located there in New Guenia. The infamous coral triangle is the largest tropical coral reef in the world is located there. Because of its richness, biodiversity is expected to flourish despite poor conservation status and the growing rate of climate change.

The frontrunner of Equator Asia, the BIMP-EAGA Tourism Council, pointed to the sea vents “black smokers” at the bottom of the sea that carry the rich minerals from under the earth’s core as the building blocks of marine life. The richest concentration of underwater minerals from the earth’s core can be found at the center of the world’s largest cluster of archipelagos. It is surrounded by the “Ring of Fire” in South East Asia along the Equator. It is cradled by the deepest trenches in the ocean, she added. This is the life support of the most basic forms of life like the planktons and marine algae. We are pleased with the outcome of the brand because it took a lot of time, effort and resources from all the stakeholders to unite and develop this brand. We are grateful to the German Development Cooperation (GTZ) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) for their continued support.

Dr. Peter Richter, the representative of GTZ and BMZ stressed that the EQUATOR ASIA Brand will be a boon to those advocating world conservation. He said that the brand will usher an era of world cooperation where the stakeholders of these four countries will work with its indigenous communities so they can play a more active role in conserving the wealth of their biodiversity while improving their livelihood through community based eco-tourism related activities. He said, cooperation from the rest of the world is will be valued given the growing trend in responsible tourism where more and more traditional tourists are discovering that they can have a more fulfilling and meaningful vacation while contributing to conservation when they visit and support community based eco-tourism.

He said that the Japanese actually began patronizing EQUATOR ASIA a few years back when they commissioned a study of its potential as a tourist destination. In fact, they fondly and literally called it “Equatorial Asia”.

He urged tourists to visit Equator Asia adding that apart from giving their share in worldwide efforts to preserve global ecological heritage, they not only get to experience the full splendor of Biodiversity, but they also experience the magical diversity of the Indo-Malay race.

From now on, EQUATOR ASIA will be known as earth’s HEART OF BIODIVERSITY.