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Complementation and Leveraging LGU Funds for Conservation in Busuanga, Palawan

Posted on February 28, 2014

FPE Executive Director Mr. Godofredo Villapando, Jr., FPE Project Development Unit manager Mr. Fer Ramirez, FPE BOT member Dr. Filemon Romero, and C3 Philippines head Mr. Rey Ramilo iron out the details of the project during their negotiation meeting.

FPE's Project Development Committee recently approved the project, "Enhancing Biodiversity Conservation in Busuanga, Palawan by Communities" by the C3 (Community Centred Conservation) Philippines, Inc.

The project covers barangays Concepcion, Salvacion, Sagrada, and Bogtong. These barangays hold 15,000 hectares of forest cover and 2,048 hectares of mangrove forest. They are part of the Palawan biodiversity corridor, a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) and habitat to threatened and endemic Philippine species, such as the Philippine Cockatoo and Palawan Hornbill, and the vulnerable dugong (seacow). The area is also a turtle nesting site.

The ridge-to-reef approach to holistic natural resource management will be adopted in an effort to mitigate the impacts of the destruction of the area’s forests and coastal and marine resources. Strategies such as C-TREES for forest restoration and protection, C-SHORE for coastal and marine resources management, and C-PEOPLE for capacitating local communities will likewise be used.

To ensure that project gains and benefits will be sustained in the future, there will be an accreditation of protection and monitoring teams, local legislation and funding, community-based ecotourism, and fund support from the local DENR office.

The Board of Trustees approved a grant amount of one million pesos (PhP 1 M) to fund the project, provided that the LGU will co-support the project with at least PhP 0.5 M, in cash and in kind. Another provision that FPE ensured before committing to support the C3 project was community participation, including the involvement of barangay LGUs and the municipal LGU.

Last February 18 to 19, 2014, the FPE team led by Dr. Filemon Romero (BOT Mindanao representative), conducted a negotiation meeting with the C3 management, together with Atty. Liza Osorio (BOT secretary), Mr. Godofredo Villapando, Jr. (Executive Director), and Mr. Fernando Ramirez (Project Development Unit manager).

The project commitment was formalized upon the turnover of the official document signed by Busuanga Mayor Samuel de Jesus. The document manifests the LGU’s commitment to provide financial and technical support to the project.

FPE and C3 Philippines representatives discuss the project with Busuanga Mayor Samuel de Jesus (third from left).

Established in 2009, C3 Philippines Inc. began its operations in Busuanga island. Its programs include endangered species status assessment, habitat mapping, and awareness raising, among others. C3 has earned recognition among the international conservation community, having been awarded on two occasions the Future Conservationist Award given by the Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP) of Birdlife International, Conservation International, Fauna and Flora International, and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

(Contributed by Fer Ramirez, FPE Project Development Unit Manager and concurrent Acting Manager of the Luzon Regional Unit.)