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FPE, Now the GEF-SGP5 Grants Manager in the Philippines

Posted on September 17, 2014

The Foundation for the Philippine Environment (FPE) has taken on the critical role of NGO Responsible Party (RP) or grants manager for Operational Phase 5 of the Global Environment Facility’s Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP).

In this role, FPE shall take on these four key responsibilities:

• On project proposal review, organize and convene the Project Technical Review Committee (PTRC), which will serve as recommendatory body to the National Steering Committee (NSC). FPE will draft the Terms of Reference and nominate names for approval of the NSC.
• On grants management, ensure the grantees compliance to the contract and recommend release of grants.
• Monitor and evaluate project implementation and determine accomplishments and milestones vis-à-vis target outcomes.
• Together with the Country Programme Management Unit (CPMU), provide technical support to local communities in project development and management.

GEF-SGP5 aims to secure global environmental benefits through community-based biodiversity conservation initiatives and actions in selected priority sites in the Philippines. Approved in June 2012 as a US$ 4.5M grant facility, the fifth phase of the program is a joint undertaking by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), and Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Aside from promoting community-based conservation, GEF-SGP5 also involves efforts on mainstream biodiversity conservation and sustainable use into production landscapes, seascapes and sectors (PLS), as well as crosscutting capacity development and knowledge management.

Previous phases of the program have resulted in a notable number of accomplishments in the field of environmental conservation. Examples include:

• Support for local level management and policy interventions;
• Slowing down forest degradation and decreasing hunting pressure by addressing the incidence of hunting/fishing and gathering of threatened species, slowing down habitat destruction, establishment of no-take zones, approval of local policies to establish protection or maintenance of several single species populations, facilitation of multi-stakeholder protection;
• Support for traditional indigenous people cultures to protect ancestral lands with diverse endemic flora and fauna in its biodiversity-rich areas;
• Assistance in securing Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) for indigenous peoples;
• Support for the establishment or expansion of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) for food and security;
• Support for a range of renewable technology options such as micro-hydro-power energy and solar energy power and also piloted small-scale off-set of Green House Gas emissions of rice mills and other engines; and
• Creation of baseline studies for reference in planning and evaluation of other projects and programs.

The first call for project proposals for grants from GEF-SGP-5 is currently ongoing (details here). Up to US$ 50,00 will be mobilized to support community projects on biodiversity conservation from June 2013 to July 2017, particularly in Palawan, Samar Island (Northern Samar, Eastern Samar and Western Samar), and Sierra Madre (Laguna, Rizal, Quezon, Bulacan, Aurora, Quirino, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Viscaya, Isabela and Cagayan).

To learn more about GEF-SGP-5, please click here.