MANILA, Philippines – Forest Foundation Philippines supported the Philippines’ 2026 ASEAN Chairship by contributing to the ASEAN Heritage Parks (AHP) Forum 2026, helping advance conversations on sustainable financing, partnerships, governance, social marketing, and Nature-based Solutions (NbS).
Carrying the theme “Navigating Our Future, Together,” the Philippines’ 2026 ASEAN Chairship calls for strengthened regional cooperation anchored on three priorities: Peace and Security Anchors, Prosperity Corridors, and People Empowerment. The AHP Forum provided an important platform for bringing these priorities into conversations on the conservation and sustainable management of ASEAN’s natural heritage.
Connecting People, Parks, and Partnerships
As part of the Forum, the Foundation supported discussions on governance and social marketing, bringing together perspectives on how ASEAN Heritage Parks can strengthen engagement with communities and stakeholders. The Foundation, along with members of the NbS Support Network, also contributed to discussions on NbS, highlighting the role of nature and healthy ecosystems in building resilience and addressing shared environmental challenges across the region.
Beyond these discussions, Forest Foundation Philippines served as a resource person on sustainable financing and partnership engagement, sharing perspectives on the importance of building diverse and lasting partnerships to support conservation efforts. These conversations reflect the Foundation’s commitment to strengthening the enabling conditions for environmental conservation, where financing, partnerships, good governance, and meaningful engagement with people work together to sustain ecosystems.
Sharing the Work of Forest Foundation Philippines
Forest Foundation Philippines also participated through an exhibition booth, providing an opportunity to introduce its work as a conservation financing platform that works with partners to support communities in the protection, restoration, and conservation of the environment. The booth also highlighted the Foundation’s work with partners and grantees across the Philippines, and its commitment to supporting communities who depend on and care for these landscapes and landscapes.
Celebrating ASEAN’s Natural Heritage
As part of its support to the Forum, the Foundation also provided locally made tokens for resource persons and country representatives. The tokens included Theo & Philo chocolates and coaster sets featuring ASEAN Heritage Parks in the Philippines. The coaster designs were created by Cynthia Bauzon-Arre, its grantee, and feature Mount Makiling Forest Reserve, Mount Kitanglad Range Natural Park, Balinsasayao Twin Lakes Natural Park, and Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park. Through these locally crafted pieces, Philippine natural heritage was brought into the Forum as a small but meaningful reminder of the landscapes that ASEAN works together to protect.
As ASEAN continues to navigate a changing future, protecting its natural heritage will require collective action, from governments and conservation organizations to communities, funders, businesses, and individuals. Together, we can help ensure that ASEAN’s natural heritage continues to thrive for generations to come.
About Forest Foundation Philippines:
Forest Foundation Philippines (doing business as Philippine Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation, Inc.) is a non-stock, non-profit, non-governmental organization that serves as a conservation financing platform to facilitate the flow of conservation funds from international and other donors to communities in the Philippines.
Established in 2002, the Foundation has been managing the Tropical Forest Conservation Fund, created through a debt-for-nature swap between the Governments of the Philippines and the United States. The Foundation works with government agencies and development partners in implementing grantmaking programs such as the Mount Mantalingahan Protected Landscape (MMPL) Endowment Fund, the Philippines-Canada Partnership on Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for Climate Adaptation (PCP4NbS), the Eighth Operational Phase of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP8), and the Integrated Approach in Management of Major Biodiversity Corridors in the Philippines (Biodiversity Corridor Project).
To strengthen collaboration in ecosystem restoration efforts, the Foundation also leverages financial resources and in-kind contributions through public-private-community partnerships.
