SEAMEO BIOTROP Presented the Biodiversity Inclusion Study in the SEAMEO Centers Policy Research Network (CPRN) Summit Congress Monday, 03 April 2023 on 9:28am

SEAMEO BIOTROP Presented the Biodiversity Inclusion Study in the SEAMEO Centers Policy Research Network (CPRN) Summit Congress

SEAMEO BIOTROP delegations present the results of the studies of Biodiversity Inclusion in the School Curriculum in the SEAMEO Centers Policy Research Network (CPRN) 2023 Summit Congress organized by SEAMEO Regional Centre for Education in Science and Mathematics (RECSAM). The event takes place in Penang, Malaysia on 6 – 9 March 2023.

SEAMEO Centers Policy Research Network (CPRN) is a network of different policy research centres under the auspices of SEAMEO (Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization). CPRN aims to enhance cooperation between its member research centres in order to produce quality and relevant research in the field of education policy in the Southeast Asia region. The Network is established to enhance the relevance and sharpen the responsiveness of SEAMEO Centres and the Secretariat to the needs of education leaders for policy research to address regional human resource development issues in Southeast Asia.

SEAMEO BIOTROP's participation in the Congress CPRN 2023 Summit is to present studies on Biodiversity Inclusion. The objectives of this study are to promote and increase students' awareness of tropical biodiversity in supporting the inclusion of environmental education in senior high school students at the ASEAN level. The specific objectives of the study are: (1) to obtain baseline data in the Biodiversity Inclusion study, (2) to assess students' awareness of tropical biodiversity, (2) to find out the interest in education in ASEAN related to biodiversity and environmental issues, (3) to produce policy recommendations regarding the inclusion of "biodiversity" material through environmental education among high schools in Indonesia and ASEAN.

“Tropical biodiversity is the world's most valuable asset for the majority of the world's population”, said Dr Zulhamsyah Imran, Director of SEAMEO BIOTROP in his presentation.

Furthermore, he added that biodiversity lost in Indonesia had reached 72%, and at the global level, it has reached 69%. Efforts to conserve and develop biodiversity for a sustainable life can be carried on from an early age, which can be done by enriching material on biodiversity in educational settings in creating measures to protect and conserve the environment.

Ms Risa Rosita, Coordinator of the Biodiversity Inclusion study, reported that Saving biodiversity in early education by including biodiversity in environmental education in the curriculum of High school or vocational students at the ASEAN level is critical. The current biodiversity crisis requires increased understanding and awareness of ecological concepts.

Based on the survey conducted in Bogor City to more than 100 respondents from senior high school and vocational students, none of the respondents got a higher score than 50%. The results indicate that the student’s awareness of biodiversity knowledge and conservation is still low to moderate.

“It is the time for the newer generation (high school), as future leaders, to have a better understanding of the role of biodiversity conservation for their future”, Mrs Risa Rosita emphasised.

The 2023 SEAMEO CPRN Summit Congress theme is “Embracing Inclusivity in Education, Science and Culture towards a Future-Ready Southeast Asia”. The Summit theme has been carefully chosen to emphasise that change is constant and accelerating faster than ever. Our community are facing unprecedented challenges driven by accelerating globalisation and a faster rate of technological development. At the same time, those forces have opened up countless new opportunities for human advancement.

The SEAMEO CPRN 2023 Summit on Education, Science and Culture aims to:


  1. Strengthen and align the SEAMEO Centres’ Policy Research Network projects with the SEAMEO Strategic Plan for 2021–2030 and the recent SMPeF and High-Level Forum declarations.
  2. Allow SEAMEO Centres and the Network to share policy research and knowledge management updates. Provide capacity-building activities and networking opportunities to the CPRN summit participants.
  3. Improve and consolidate the CPRN Action Agenda for 2023.
  4. Share SEAMEO CPRN policy research outputs (Summit Report and Proceedings) with other SEAMEO member countries


This congress was attended by more than 29 SEAMEO Centers in Southeast Asia, as well as the Malaysian Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Education. Participants who attended were academics, researchers and researchers from the SEAMEO Regional Centers and Network of education, science and culture. (Risa Rosita/Editor: Haritz Cahya)

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