Philippines, Malaysia and More Turns ASEAN Heritage Parks Into 30×30 Conservation Powerhouses Through Ecotourism

Written By: Shreya Saha

Shreya Saha

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September 9, 2026 8:37 AM

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Throughout Southeast Asia, protected natural areas are being transformed from neglected parks into dynamic ecological resources. Given that there is an international commitment to protect thirty percent of lands and oceans by the year 2030, the business side of travel needs to finance habitat protection, not just its own business expenses. The ASEAN Heritage Parks ecotourism concessions are facilitating new forms of public-private partnerships, utilizing commercial investments in order to finance landscapes.
User fees, capped numbers of visitors, and indigenous equity mechanisms, which are part of the concession arrangements, could help guarantee the preservation of critically biodiverse tropical ecosystems for future generations.

Policy and Regulatory Frameworks Governing 30×30 Integration

The adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) established Target 3, widely recognized as the 30×30 target. This international mandate requires nation-states to ensure that at least 30 percent of terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine areas are effectively conserved and sustainably managed by 2030. For member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), achieving Target 3 requires a departure from traditional state-funded conservation models. Historically, protected areas across Southeast Asia faced chronic budget deficits, creating “paper parks”—reserves that existed on administrative maps but lacked the financial resources, personnel, and operational infrastructure required to stop illegal logging, agricultural encroachment, and poaching.

Under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, ASEAN member states are integrating commercial tourism directly into protected area governance. Rather than treating commercial operators as external threats to be excluded, national policy updates position private tour companies, eco-lodge developers, and hospitality chains as legally bound partners in long-term landscape stewardship. Under this paradigm, eco-concession licensing frameworks condition commercial access on verified contributions to habitat restoration, species monitoring, and site security.

Public-Private Partnership Regulations and Tenurial Agreements

The operationalization of commercial tourism within protected zones relies on structured public-private partnership (PPP) legislation and formal tenurial instruments. In the Philippines, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) regulates commercial operations within protected landscapes through the Special Use Agreement in Protected Areas (SAPA). Governed by DENR Administrative Order (DAO) No. 2007-17, DAO No. 2008-26, and updated policies, SAPA provides private concessionaires with secure long-term tenure—typically 25 years, renewable for an additional 25 years—to construct and operate low-impact ecotourism infrastructure in designated management zones.

To ensure commercial activity does not degrade primary forest or core wildlife habitats, SAPA applicants must satisfy rigorous environmental compliance requirements:

• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA): Comprehensive baseline evaluations must be completed to obtain an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) prior to initiating any site development.
• Zonal Value Development Fees: Concessionaires pay annual development fees calculated as 5 percent of the most recent zonal value of the nearest commercial land zone, plus a 1 percent premium on the total value of site improvements.
• Carrying-Capacity Compliance: Daily visitor quotas and physical footprints are legally anchored to carrying-capacity studies conducted by park authorities and approved by local Protected Area Management Boards (PAMBs).
• Conservation Investment Accounting: Concessionaires must submit annual accomplishment reports documenting direct financial and operational contributions to habitat protection, which offset baseline administrative obligations.

In Malaysia and Vietnam, statutory frameworks similarly regulate commercial activities inside national parks and reserves. The Malaysian federal government, working alongside state bodies such as the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) and the Pahang Department of Wildlife and National Parks, issues specialized ecotourism permits that restrict heavy infrastructure to peripheral buffer zones while reserving core wilderness for micro-guided research and low-impact trekking. In Vietnam, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MAE) and the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Agency (NBCA) oversee ecotourism leases within Special Use Forests, requiring private partners to co-finance community forest guard cooperatives and biological monitoring teams.

Regional Governance: The Role of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity

Regional oversight and standardization of these commercial models are driven by the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB). Functioning as the Secretariat for the ASEAN Heritage Parks Programme, the ACB coordinates member states to validate, monitor, and expand the AHP network, which encompasses 69 designated parks across the 10 ASEAN member countries as of late 2025.

During major ministerial convenings, including the 18th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment (AMME-18) in Langkawi, Malaysia, and the 8th ASEAN Heritage Parks Conference (AHP 8) in Quang Ninh, Vietnam, the ACB validated multiple newly nominated protected areas. The ACB evaluates nominated sites against rigorous biological and administrative metrics. To achieve and maintain AHP status, a reserve must demonstrate high ecological completeness, host species of regional or global conservation significance, and execute management plans incorporating Nature-based Solutions (NbS). The ACB continuously monitors designated sites to ensure that national protected area status translates into active ecological management supported by ring-fenced conservation fees and transparent public-private partnerships.

Business Models and Financial Ring-Fencing Mechanisms

Transitioning commercial tourism into a perpetual engine for conservation finance requires institutional mechanisms that prevent revenues from being diverted into general state budgets. Historically, entrance and activity fees collected at state natural parks flowed directly into national central treasuries, leaving park superintendents dependent on unpredictable annual budgetary allocations.

Ring-Fencing Conservation Revenues: The IPAF and PA-RIA Models

To establish financial autonomy for protected landscapes, ASEAN nations are instituting legislative frameworks that ring-fence eco-tourism revenues. A primary model is the Philippines’ Integrated Protected Area Fund (IPAF), established under the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act of 1992 (Republic Act No. 7586) and amended by the Expanded NIPAS Act of 2018 (Republic Act No. 11038).

Under the RA 11038 framework, revenues generated within individual protected areas—including commercial user levies, entrance fees, SAPA development payments, and resource usage tariffs—are allocated through a dual-account structure:

• Protected Area Retained Income Account (PA-RIA): Exactly 75 percent of all gross revenues collected at a site are retained locally and deposited into a dedicated trust fund managed directly by the site’s Protected Area Management Board (PAMB). These funds are legally earmarked for site-specific operational expenditures, including purchasing patrol equipment for park rangers, conducting wildlife population inventories, boundary maintenance, and executing habitat restoration projects.
• Central IPAF Account: The remaining 25 percent is remitted to a central trust account administered by the DENR Central Office. This central fund supports capacity building, emergency conservation responses, and financial assistance for under-resourced protected areas across the national system.

By ring-fencing 75 percent of commercial receipts for direct local reinvestment, the PA-RIA framework ensures that growth in tourism activity directly expands local frontline conservation budgets. In commercial practice, hotel chains, inbound tour operators, and liveaboard vessels collect mandatory conservation fees directly from guests, remitting these funds into PA-RIA accounts to maintain financial transparency.

Eco-Concession Licensing: High-Yield, Low-Impact Tourism Rights

The commercial framework inside AHP biodiversity corridors relies on granting exclusive, low-impact, high-yield concession rights to qualified operators. Open-access mass tourism models prioritize volume, which leads to trail degradation, unauthorized land clearing, waste management failures, and wildlife disturbance. In contrast, 30×30 aligned concession models substitute volume for value by establishing strict carrying-capacity caps while introducing mandatory conservation surcharges.

Concessionaires operating under these high-yield frameworks must adhere to structured operational standards:

• Capital Investment Requirements: Concessionaires construct low-impact eco-lodges utilizing off-grid solar energy systems, advanced greywater treatment facilities, and zero-waste composting protocols.
• Auditable Performance Metrics: Concession rights remain subject to mandatory environmental audits. Operators that fail to maintain certified waste management or violate daily carrying-capacity limits face financial penalties or permit revocation.
• Direct Ranger Support: Concessionaires frequently provide direct operational funding for park ranger outposts, supply equipment (such as uniforms, GPS devices, and night-vision equipment), and assist in organizing joint anti-poaching patrols.

Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC) Equity and Co-Management

Sustainable ecotourism concessions must integrate resident populations into project governance and economic sharing. The Public-Private-People Partnerships (4P) model expands traditional PPP frameworks by establishing Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) as formal equity partners in ecotourism ventures.

In the Philippines, where protected landscapes overlap with Ancestral Domains recognized under the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997 (IPRA / Republic Act No. 8371), commercial operators must obtain Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) before executing SAPA tenurial agreements. This legal requirement establishes binding royalty-sharing agreements, guarantees preferential hiring of local indigenous guides, and integrates customary tribal governance into trail management and spatial zoning. In Malaysia and Vietnam, local community members are integrated as certified heritage guides, botanical experts, and paid members of community forest guard cooperatives, ensuring commercial travel yields tangible local economic security.

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Strategic Paradigm Shift: Operational Metrics Comparison

The transition from conventional mass ecotourism to a 30×30 aligned AHP concession model represents a structural shift in operational priorities, financial tracking, and environmental governance.

Operational Profiles of Emerging ASEAN Heritage Parks

Examining specific emerging, newly designated, and candidate ASEAN Heritage Parks illustrates how these commercial concession and financing models operate across distinct regional landscapes.

Philippines: Pre-emptive Zoning and Watershed Concessions

Mount Balatukan Range Natural Park (Misamis Oriental)

Located in Misamis Oriental, the Mount Balatukan Range Natural Park is an active candidate site for ASEAN Heritage Park designation. The park encompasses a massive volcanic complex that serves as a vital watershed corridor for Northern Mindanao and the traditional ancestral domain of the Higa-onon indigenous tribe.

Because commercial tourism infrastructure in Mount Balatukan is still in its early stages, the DENR and local municipal authorities are implementing pre-emptive concession planning:

• Low-Impact Trekking Concessions: Trail access is strictly regulated, with commercial permits granted exclusively to operators that employ certified Higa-onon cultural guides.
• Watershed Protection Tariffs: Local water utilities and commercial eco-adventure operators contribute to a localized watershed protection fund that pays indigenous forest wardens to conduct anti-logging and anti-poaching patrols.
• Pre-Emptive SAPA Zoning: Designated eco-tourism zones are mapped outside the primary core forest, preventing speculative real estate development before visitor volumes grow.

Mount Inayawan Range Natural Park (Lanao del Norte)

Designated as ASEAN Heritage Park #53 in 2023, Mount Inayawan Range Natural Park covers 4,236 hectares and is recognized as the “green heart” of Lanao del Norte. The park features pristine primary rainforests ranging from lowland dipterocarp to high-elevation mossy forests, functioning as a critical refuge for the critically endangered Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi).

To align commercial travel with bird conservation objectives:

• Philippine Eagle Habitat Concessions: Access to primary nesting zones is restricted to scientific research expeditions and micro-guided birdwatching groups operating under specialized PAMB permits.
• SAPA Development Framework: Commercial facilities are restricted to peripheral buffer zones, with operators paying development fees under DAO 2007-17 that flow directly into the site’s PA-RIA account to fund habitat management.

Pasonanca Natural Park (Zamboanga City)

Designated as ASEAN Heritage Park #52, Pasonanca Natural Park spans over 12,000 hectares of old-growth forest situated immediately adjacent to urban Zamboanga City. It protects one of the oldest municipal watershed reserves in the Philippines, supplying drinking water to the surrounding metropolitan population.

Pasonanca serves as a primary test bed for municipal watershed eco-concessions:

• Regulated Municipal Ecotourism: Adventure operators conducting canopy walks and river trekking pay mandatory environmental user fees that fund city-wide watershed protection patrols.
• Urban-Fringe Corridor Management: Concession agreements mandate that commercial operators maintain zero-discharge waste management systems to prevent contamination of the municipal water supply.

Malaysia: Botanical Micro-Concessions and Tiger-Corridor Protection

Lambir Hills National Park (Sarawak)

Formally onboarded into the ASEAN Heritage Park network in late 2025 (with site operational integration beginning in September 2025), Lambir Hills National Park in northern Sarawak is internationally recognized as a global hotspot for plant diversity and endemism. Despite covering a compact land area of 6,952 hectares, Lambir Hills hosts one of the highest concentrations of tree species in the Palaeotropics. Notably, the park harbors more than half of all fig (Ficus) species recorded across the island of Borneo, sustaining complex wildlife trophic networks that support eight distinct hornbill species, the great argus, banded leaf monkey, red leaf monkey, and western tarsier.

The concession strategy at Lambir Hills focuses on botanical micro-concessions:

• Micro-Guided Botanical Tours: Rather than high-volume trekking, concession permits are tailored for niche botanical, entomological, and ornithological tours limited to small groups.
• Research-Linked Levies: Private tour operators must incorporate a mandatory research levy into package pricing. These funds directly subsidize ongoing forest dynamics plots and botanical inventories managed by the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC).
• Canopy Infrastructure Partnerships: Private concessionaires partner with park authorities to maintain canopy walkways and scientific observation towers, expanding visitor education without clearing core forest habitat.

Tengku Hassanal Wildlife Reserve (Pahang)

Officially designated as an ASEAN Heritage Park at the 18th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment (AMME-18) in late 2025, the Tengku Hassanal Wildlife Reserve in Pahang represents one of Peninsular Malaysia’s largest protected areas. The reserve encompasses primary rainforest corridors essential for the survival of the critically endangered Malayan Tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni), Asian Elephant, and Malayan Tapir.

The park is pioneering strictly regulated tiger-corridor safari concessions:

• Regulated Buffer Zone Safaris: Private operators conduct vehicle and foot safaris strictly limited to designated peripheral tracks, leaving core tiger breeding zones completely off-limits to commercial traffic.
• Anti-Poaching Concession Surcharges: A significant percentage of gross tour revenues is contractually earmarked to finance elite, community-staffed anti-poaching units (APUs) and fund camera-trap arrays deployed across critical wildlife corridors.

Vietnam: Transboundary Habitat Restoration and Wetland Preservation

Pi Mát National Park (Nghệ An Province)

Recognized as an ASEAN Heritage Park at AMME-18 and formally awarded its certification at the 8th AHP Conference in Quang Ninh in December 2025, Pi Mát National Park spans over 94,000 hectares in Nghệ An Province. As the core zone of the Western Nghe An Biosphere Reserve along the Annamite Range, Pi Mát protects forest corridors bordering Laos and harbors rare endemic species, including the critically endangered Saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) and the Annamite Striped Rabbit.

Pi Mát’s ecotourism framework integrates community livelihoods with transboundary protection:

• Ecotourism Leases in Special Use Forests: Private operators lease specific recreational zones, constructing low-impact eco-lodges that adhere to strict architectural and environmental standards.
• Funding Community Forest Guards: Concession revenues directly pay local ethnic minority residents (such as the Thai and Dan Lai communities) to serve as certified forest guards, clearing wire snares and conducting anti-poaching patrols along the Laotian border.
• Cross-Border Eco-Itineraries: Operators work with national park authorities to develop transboundary eco-tours that highlight shared regional biodiversity while generating revenues dedicated to joint cross-border enforcement.

Đồng Nai Culture and Nature Reserve (Đồng Nai Province)

Designated as an ASEAN Heritage Park in late 2025, the Đồng Nai Culture and Nature Reserve covers over 100,000 hectares of inland wetlands and tropical forests surrounding the Tri An reservoir. The reserve maintains a dual mandate: protecting endangered species such as the Asian Elephant and Indochinese Silvered Langur while preserving historical revolution sites and local cultural heritage.

The reserve’s concession model demonstrates cultural-natural integration:

• Integrated Cultural-Ecological Tour Concessions: Private operators offer bundled itineraries combining historical monument visits with guided kayak tours and forest trekking along the Tri An wetland margin.
• Earmarked Wetland Conservation Levies: A dedicated percentage of tour operator licensing fees is allocated to wetland habitat restoration, water-quality monitoring, and invasive species eradication in the lake system.

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Industry Impact, Economic Implications, and Risk Mitigation

The transition to 30×30 aligned ecotourism concessions imposes clear operational obligations on commercial travel companies while opening up valuable long-term market opportunities.

Investor Certainty and ESG Alignment

For hospitality developers, inbound tour operators, and global travel conglomerates, securing a long-term concession in an ASEAN Heritage Park provides regulatory and operational certainty:

• Tenurial Security: Legal instruments like the Philippines’ SAPA protect operators from arbitrary land disputes, municipal regulatory shifts, and informal encroachment.
• ESG Integration: Corporate travel groups operating inside AHPs gain verified Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) metrics. Direct contributions to PA-RIA trust funds, biological monitoring, and indigenous employment provide auditable evidence of positive biodiversity impact, unlocking green bonds and sustainability-linked capital.
• Asset Protection: By directly funding frontline ranger patrols and anti-poaching units through concession fees, operators protect the natural landscapes that form the core value of their commercial products.

Operational Costs vs Long-Term Asset Enhancement

While compliance with carrying-capacity limits and zonal development fees increases initial operational expenditures, the long-term economic returns of low-impact, high-yield concessions often exceed those of mass tourism models:

• Pricing Power: Exclusive concession rights enable operators to command premium rates from eco-conscious travellers seeking authentic, low-density wilderness experiences.
• Reduced Infrastructure Overhead: Capping visitor numbers eliminates the need to construct expansive, high-maintenance mass-tourism infrastructure, reducing ongoing capital expenditure.
• Ecosystem Resilience: Protecting core ecological functions ensures that destination assets remain intact over multi-decennial concession lifespans, insulating operators from the environmental degradation that frequently destabilizes unmanaged tourist hubs.

Strategic Outlook and Regional Roadmaps Towards 2030

As Southeast Asian nations work toward their 2030 biodiversity commitments, the regional framework governing ASEAN Heritage Parks will continue to mature. The upcoming roadmap includes key milestones:

• Expansion of the AHP Network: Additional high-biodiversity sites, such as the Mount Balatukan Range Natural Park, are advancing through nomination pipelines to join the existing 69 designated parks.
• Harmonization of Regional Standards: The ACB is working with member states to standardize carrying-capacity methodologies, revenue ring-fencing protocols, and indigenous equity frameworks across national borders.
• Institutional Convenings: The 36th Meeting of the ASEAN Working Group on Nature Conservation and Biodiversity, along with the 13th Meeting of the ASEAN Heritage Parks Committee, will refine regional guidelines for public-private partnerships, nature-based capital assessments, and sustainable finance mechanisms.

By tying private enterprise to strict ecological outcomes, ring-fenced conservation accounts, and local community co-management, ASEAN Heritage Parks demonstrate how commercial tourism can actively drive biodiversity preservation. This evolving concession model provides a practical blueprint for aligning economic activity with the global imperative to protect 30 percent of the Earth’s natural systems by 2030.

Conclusion

Integration of commercial travel within the framework of the global 30×30 agenda heralds the dawn of a new age in environmental management of Southeast Asia. The ASEAN Heritage Park concept illustrates the idea that conservation of natural habitats does not have to sacrifice its economic sustainability. With the help of enforceable public-private partnerships, designated conservation funds and indigenous co-management, the commercial touristic industry becomes a driver of ecological regeneration processes. The development of new heritage parks in the region calls for compliance with strict concession terms which will ensure financing of rangers’ activities and biodiversity monitoring on an ongoing basis.