AKECOP was launched in July 2000 by ASEAN-Korea Environmental Cooperation Unit (AKECU), associated with the Seoul National University (SNU). For the past 20 years, AKECOP has supported the restoration of degraded ecosystem and conservation of biodiversity in ASEAN through research, capacity building, and technology transfer.

Under AKECOP, each ASEAN member state has conducted researches on their forests to share aggregate knowledge of vegetation and species. More than 50 researches were available. For capacity building, ASEAN organizations carried out more than 20 training programmes on different themes, including research skills, agroforestry technology, and tending of timber species. More than 20 scholars obtained their postgraduate degrees from SNU through the programme.

AKECOP has impacted on communal forests restoration in the region. In Indonesia, AKECU, in cooperation with Bogor Agricultural University, established a model of forest restoration at Mountain Walat in which 213 farmers participated. In the Philippines, AKECOP built a communal plant nursery in Mountain Makiling and transferred plant propagation technologies to the local farmers.