• India has been chosen as the co-chair of the IUCN-supported Asia Protected Areas Partnership (APAP) for a period of three years till November 2023.
• The APAP is chaired by IUCN ( International Union for Conservation of Nature) Asia and co-chaired by an APAP nation member on rotational basis.
• India will replace South Korea ,which held the post for 3 years until November, 2020.
• As a co-chair, India would be responsible to assist other Asian countries in managing their protected areas.

Asia Protected Areas Partnership (APAP) :

• The APAP was formally launched in 2014, at the IUCN World Parks Congress in Australia.
• It is a regional platform to assist governments and different stakeholders to collaborate for more practical administration of protected areas (PA) within the area.
• Currently there are 21 members from 17 international locations.