Forest Foundation Philippines, Foundation for the Philippine Environment, Foundation for a Sustainable Society and Peace & Equity Foundation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to empower communities in Palawan by strengthening their financial, environmental and social assets, with a long-term strategic investment in establishing protected areas and social enterprises.
Called STARTREK 3, the project builds on the gains of STARTREK 1 and 2 by expanding development initiatives to the Northern Palawan Corridor. According to the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD), the Northern Palawan Corridor covers around 185,000 hectares of predominantly lowland forests. A total of 46 communities are nestled within and around the areas, and directly depend on the forests for livelihood.
In partnership with the Palawan Center for Appropriate Rural Technology (PCART), the project covers the following areas: San Vicente-Taytay-Roxas Forest Block and Cleopatra’s Needle Critical Habitat.
The Foundation’s support to the collaborative project will be allocated to the conservation of the forests, development of a social enterprise and capacity building of the people’s organizations within the area. Atty. Jose Andres Canivel, Executive Director of Forest Foundation, shared, “There is a need for an integrated response to the intertwining problems of poverty and biodiversity loss. Clearly, livelihoods must be improved, but it should be grounded on the continuous conservation and protection of the environment.”
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About Forest Foundation Philippines
Forest Foundation Philippines is a non-profit organization that provides grants to organizations that empower the people to protect the forests.
About Foundation for the Philippine Environment
FPE is a non-profit organization that leads actions in biodiversity conservation and sustainable development toward healthy ecosystems and resilient communities.
About Foundation for a Sustainable Society
FSSI is a social investment organization committed to support the development of sustainable communities through social entrepreneurship.
About Peace & Equity Foundation
PEF is a non-profit organization that aspires to drive positive change in poor Filipino household communities by investing in social enterprises that will provide them with viable livelihood and better access to basic services.
