Manila, Sept. 8 -- Environment Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna has called for stronger funding, management, and community participation to protect ASEAN Heritage Parks (AHPs), warning that protected status is not enough to stop biodiversity loss across the region.

At the inaugural ASEAN Heritage Parks Forum held in Quezon City on Tuesday amid the country's Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) chairship, Cuna said Southeast Asia's forests, reefs, wetlands and other ecosystems face growing pressure from deforestation, illegal wildlife trade, unsustainable resource extraction and worsening effects of climate change.

"The lesson is clear: declaring an area protected is only the beginning. Protection must be matched by adequate resource...