Home to more than 300 million people, its vast wealth of human and natural resources makes it a new frontier for economic growth in Asia. The adoption of a Strategic
Development Framework in 2001 saw countries increasingly linked through transportation, telecommunication, energy production and usage, and cross-border trade.
Over the past decade, the economic gains have led to increased per capita incomes, improved education and health, and a better quality of life for many of the
subregion's population.
This economic transformation, however, brings with it an inevitable transformation of the natural environment. Evidence from the GMS countries shows that all forms
of biodiversity - ecosystems, species, and genetic resources - are being lost at unprecedented rates. Rates of degradation in land, forests, fresh water, and marine
habitats are a reflection of species loss. If corrective steps are not taken, the GMS will lose more than 50% of its remaining land and water habitats over the next
century (a third over the next few decades), leading to impoverished and unstable natural, social, and economic systems.
