Green Livelihoods Alliance (GLA) – Palawan organizations reconvened for the Capacity Development Training on Project Finance Management in Crown Hotel Palawan, Puerto Princesa, Palawan, last February 7-8, 2025.
Through the continuous joint efforts of the Sustainable and Inclusive Landscape Governance Program (SILG) of the Forest Foundation Philippines, Non-Timber Forest Products – Exchange Programme (NTFP-EP) Philippines, Institute for the Development of Educational and Ecological Alternatives Incorporated (IDEAS) and Environmental Legal Assistance Center (ELAC) follow-through activities of the previous initiatives on the indigenous youth were pushed through in Southern Palawan landscape — one of the key focal landscapes of the Alliance.
The series of training started with Trainer’s Training on Facilitation and Dialogue, which occurred last March 23-24, 2024 in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. The said training hopes to create safe spaces for the youth to enhance their capacities to engage with forest conservation efforts without having the fear of being judged or underestimated. An identified need agreed upon by the Southern Palawan municipalities Youth Core group. After this, another training workshop was set to happen in November that same year.
To know more about the Capacity Development Training on Project Development and Management last November, you may read: https://www.forestfoundation.ph/news/upskilling-southern-palawan-youth-training-focuses-on-project-development-and-management/.
The training gathered delegates from various active youth organizations in the Southern Palawan municipalities. These organizations have been existing networks of the Alliance for some years already and have been its audience and partners within various initiatives, such as the BioChamps youth camps and complementary capacity development activities. As primary actors and beneficiaries of the abundant resources of the environment, the Alliance prioritizes the capacity-building and empowerment of the indigenous groups with the hope that it could help and assist them in their own advocacies and community-initiated activities where the forest could benefit.
Understanding numbers in overall project planning
Centered on the prioritization of building more skills and capacity among the youths of Southern Palawan in accessing grants, and on being equipped and knowledgeable in forwarding their initiatives in their communities, 25 youths from the municipalities of Narra, Rizal, Bataraza, Brooke’s Point, Quezon, came together to test their knowledge and capability in accomplishing budget proposals for their initiatives. To achieve this, a simulated workshop was facilitated that targets each youth organization to be granted a ‘make-believe’ grant agreement and funding by the end of the workshop.
Guide. Ms. Sanico (left), of the Forest Foundation Philippines, as she guides and provides answers to the concerns raised by Florei (right), one of the youth participants. Screenshot captured on the video produced by Sri Malvas and his team.
While not all organizations were able to finalize their outputs, guest speakers and facilitators from the GLA network in Palawan assisted the youths with their questions on how to finalize the details that were lacking and confusing in their outputs.
“Given that budgeting is an area of expertise that many among us are not extremely knowledgeable about, we acknowledge how important this opportunity is as this could further enhance the skill that we have that we may use in the future,” one of the youth attendees who joined the workshop expressed through a video interview.
The two-day training workshop tackled topics including: the importance of the budget cost estimate, cost assumptions and forecasting, and a detailed presentation of the budget templates to allow the participants to 1) understand the context of proposal submissions to access grant opportunities, 2) have an actual application of the knowledge they have gained in the previous lessons, and 3) accomplish budget plans according to their initially identified projects so they could eventually submit to reliable and existing funding institutions.
Ma. Beatriz Sanico and Nur-Aine Jaizzah Isla, the training’s speakers made sure to emphasize how management of finances are a crucial part in the development and management of any project — and thus, while the skill cannot be perfected and fully learned in just two days, constant effort and willingness to learn by experience is crucial to understanding and better practice of the skill.
Step-by-step. Ms. Nur-Aine Jaizzah Isla enumerates the various steps on how to come up with a budget proposal in her presentation.
The last day was focused on the discussion of disbursement processes, internal control in finance management, and proper bookkeeping and liquidation of expenses, with an assumption that the youths were already able to access funding. Lastly, For. Nelissa Maria Rocas of the SILG Program and Ms. Kate Mana-Galido of NTFP-EP Asia shared various organizations from which the youths could reach out and access possible support for their projects.
What’s next?
The Green Livelihoods Alliance in Palawan continues to organize, partner with Indigenous communities, and come up with programs and events that would contribute and provide safe spaces for all stakeholders to capacitate themselves and talk about their own lived truths to advocate for the protection of the forest and a sustainable future for them, their families, and Indigenous communities.
To learn more about the Sustainable and Inclusive Landscape Governance (SILG) program, a joint initiative of Forest Foundation and Tropenbos International, visit www.forestfoundation.ph.
