Wetlands are vital for maintaining biodiversity, supporting climate mitigation and disaster risk reduction, and ensuring ecological connectivity, such as the flyway for migratory birds. Among all flyways in the world, the East Asian–Australasian Flyway is the most threatened. Critical wetland sites frequently face management constraints due to limited operational capacity, evidence/science-based conservation and technical knowledge. To address these challenges, this project pursued two core objectives:
- enhancing the capacity of site managers and government officials through targeted training in adaptive management, Nature-based Solutions, and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies; and
- strengthening regional networking and knowledge exchange across the Flyway.
Co-organised by WWF-Hong Kong, the ASEAN Flyway Network (AFN), the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) and NParks Singapore, two five-day “train-the-trainers” workshops were held at Mai Po Nature Reserve in Hong Kong SAR during January and March 2026. Twenty-four site managers and government officials from nine ASEAN countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) participated. The January workshop focused on practical, evidence/science-based site management and monitoring for AFN managers, while the March workshop engaged national focal points and decision-makers to strengthen policy advocacy, regional coordination, and strategic planning, catalysing discussions of the AFN-Strategic Action Plan during the 4th ASEAN Flyway Network meeting.
To amplify regional impact, two post-training webinars aligned with World Migratory Bird Day and World Mangrove Day were conducted in May and July 2026. Featuring expert presentations from six participants representing the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand, the sessions engaged nearly 200 attendees and remain accessible via open-access platforms.
In conclusion, the project successfully enhanced technical and strategic capacities among regional practitioners, fostered enduring institutional networks, and advanced collaborative conservation frameworks. These outcomes significantly strengthen adaptive wetland management and flyway-wide ecological resilience across Southeast Asia.
