PALAWAN, PHILIPPINES – Forest Foundation Philippines and USAID Protect Wildlife recently organized a Social Marketing for Behavior Change Workshop for the Mt. Mantalingahan Protected Landscape Protected Area Office (MMPL PAO).
During the workshop, the participants developed a communication strategy to encourage the communities to conserve and protect the MMPL by positively influencing their knowledge, attitudes and behavior.
Ms. Mildred Suza, Protected Area Superintendent of the MMPL PAO, shared, “The workshop greatly helped the MMPL PAO in developing a communication strategy to promote the conservation values of MMPL to its stakeholders.”
Mr. Roger Garinga, Executive Director of IDEAS Palawan and NGO representative to the newly-created Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) of the MMPL, added, “While we have learned a lot during the workshop, this is only the first step in conserving and protecting the MMPL. The more important thing is to ensure that we can follow through on our commitments and plans.” He noted that the communication plan must not be stand-alone project. It should be implemented parallel to the plans of the other stakeholders in the MMPL.
The MMPL PAO is planning to roll out its communication strategy by July 2018.
The MMPL is a protected area located in the southern part of Palawan, Philippines. It is a mountain range along the central spine of mountains in southern Palawan and is bounded by Victoria Peak in the north and Mt. Bulanjao in the south. The peak reaches about 2,086 meters above sea level (masl) and is the highest among the mountains of the island.
As a key biodiversity area, the MMPL hosts a diversity of plants and animals. Most of the threatened and restricted-range birds of the Palawan Endemic Bird Area are present in the Mantalingahan range and the adjacent lowlands. With the recent discoveries of several potentially new species of plants and animals by Conservation International Philippines, the MMPL represents a significant contribution to the known pool of global biodiversity. Because of this, it was recently nominated as another World Heritage Site, a protected area status conferred by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Reference:
Mt. Mantalingahan Protected Landscape[Brochure]. (n.d.). Mt. Mantalingahan Protected Landscape Protected Area Office.
