BERLIN, 03 November 2026 – The Philippine Embassy in Germany, in partnership with the BÖLT Meer project at the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE), convened a workshop “ASEAN Scientists in the Diaspora for Biodiversity Conservation” at the Philippine Embassy in Berlin on 2 November 2026, as part of Berlin Science and Culture Festival.
The event brought together over 30 scientists and researchers from Southeast Asia as well as Australia, China and Taiwan, who are now associated with different institutions across Germany to discuss how transnational scientific expertise can contribute to biodiversity conservation, climate resilience, and sustainable development in Southeast Asia.
The Embassy organized the event in line with the Philippines’ Chairship of ASEAN in 2026, and the Philippines’ long-standing commitment to advancing regional and international cooperation on sustainability, climate action, and biodiversity conservation.
In her welcome remarks, Philippine Ambassador to Germany Maria Teresa T. Almojuela highlighted that the Philippines is concluding its ASEAN Chairship in two weeks, with a Leaders’ Summit in Manila, and one of the key outcomes expected is a Leaders’ Declaration is the ASEAN Strategic Plan for the Environment for up to 2045.
Ambassador Almojuela underscored the role of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), hosted by the Philippines, as ASEAN’s intergovernmental centre of excellence for biodiversity conservation and as a platform through which scientific expertise can contribute to collective regional action. The ACB is administering a network of seventy-one (71) ASEAN Heritage Parks in the region, which is home for over 25 per cent of the world’s flora and fauna even if its 11 member states account for less than 3 percent of the earth’s land.
The Ambassador pointed out that this natural wealth faces mounting pressures from habitat loss, pollution, overexploitation, and climate change. Because these threats cross borders, she stressed that responses must likewise be regional and collective. “These pressures do not respect national boundaries. And neither can our response,” Ambassador Almojuela said.
In his keynote address, Dr. Jerome L. Montemayor, Executive Director of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity discussed the Centre’s work in facilitating cooperation among ASEAN Member States and partners, supporting the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and strengthening regional capacity for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use.
He highlighted ACB’s platforms for facilitating exchange, dialogue and collaboration with the scientific community, including through the Scientific Advisory Committee and the Biodiversity Science Conferences. He invited the participating scientists to contribute to the ASEAN Biodiversity Outlook, a publication of the ACB, and to touch base with the Centre’s science team to find out how to align with and support the ACB’s research agenda.
A highlight of the event was a panel discussion where Dr. Montemayor; Ms. Thanh Tu Mai, Doctoral Researcher, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) and Professor Dr. Denise Margaret Matias of the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development. The panel examined pathways by which scientists working outside Southeast Asia can support research, policy, conservation practice, and capacity-building in their countries and region of origin.
Several participants also delivered PechaKucha presentations, sharing their research and personal journeys as scientists in the diaspora. The session reflected the Berlin Science Week theme, “In Touch,” by exploring how researchers remain connected to the communities, landscapes, and ecosystems that first inspired their work. The workshop emphasized the value of sustained collaboration and the synergies that can be created among scientists in the diaspora, regional institutions, national agencies, local researchers, conservation practitioners, Indigenous Peoples, and communities closest to the ecosystems being protected. –END