(Expectations. Monitte Lantas, a youth leader from NKKN, leads her team in accomplishing their output which discuss their shared expectations on the two-day training camp)
With hopes of establishing a network of southern Palawan youths that are more capable of creating, executing, and implementing youth-led projects geared towards sustainable forest conservation efforts and initiatives, four non-government organizations (NGOs) that has a shared focus on protecting and conserving the forested landscapes of Palawan joined hands to conduct a Youth Capacity Development Training in Villa Esperanza Resort, Quezon, Palawan last November 9-10.
The said training-camp was implemented through the joined efforts of Environmental Legal Assistance Center (ELAC), the Institute for the Development of Educational and Ecological Alternatives Incorporated (IDEAS), Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange Programme (NTFP-EP), and Forest Foundation Philippines, through the Sustainable and Inclusive Landscape Governance (SILG) Program. All aforementioned NGOs are affiliated with the Green Livelihoods Alliance (GLA) in the Philippines — an alliance that aims to ensure sustainable and inclusive governance of tropical forests and forest landscapes around the globe.
A total of 27 delegates from various youth organizations in the southern Palawan municipalities attended the two-day training camp. The southern Palawan Youth Core Group, developed through the BioChamps youth camp, identified capacity-building activities as a top priority and needed to further empower the youths within each organization.
Foresight
“Nawa ay may mabuong kabataan sa Palawan na magsasama-samang bumuo ng solusyon sa mga problema ng Palawan,” Roger Garinga, Executive Director of IDEAS emphasized in his opening remarks.
Mr. Garinga expressed through the message he delivered his hopes of creating an established network of Palawan youths through such training camp efforts. In his address, he envisioned this group to be open in collaborating with each other in addressing issues related to the rights, growth, and development of their peers and their involvement in the safeguarding of their community’s forested lands and rich biodiversity. Emphasizing the potential benefits which the youth could derive from available resources which government and other civil society organizations provide, he wishes that the youths start to be proactive in creating and implementing their own efforts.
In retrospect, the topic on Project Development and Management was prioritized to increase the youth’s organizational capacities in developing and implementing conservation and advocacy projects.
A magnified view
Divided into six (6) sessions, the program started with an overview introduction facilitated by For. Nelissa Rocas regarding the purpose and scope of the training. To level off, she discussed the importance and critical role of project development and management plans in ensuring an effective and efficient project implementation. An exchange between her and the participants made it known that the participants are not new in project implementation but have experienced shortcomings and challenges in their previous attempts to accomplish one.
Following the introduction, a preparatory discussion centered on “Projects” was tackled by John Mark Ayap, SILG Project Officer. Immediately right after, For. Rosemarie Joy Quetula, another SILG Project Officer, and For. Rocas went ahead into discussing the first two (2) of the five (5) steps of Project Development and Management — Initiation (Pagsisimula), and Planning (Pagpaplano), respectively.
By the fourth session, an in-depth discussion regarding Financial Management was presented by Carina Dacillo, Program Accountant of the Foundation. In her lecture, she elaborately talked about how the participants could leverage available grants from institutions in financing their own projects. Aside from this, she underscored the importance of budgeting and financial planning where she defined ‘budget’ and got into details on the Eight Steps of Activity-Based Budgeting, which she believes to be highly beneficial for start up youth organizations like those that are budding and thriving in Palawan. The first day session ended after the presentation of the matters under Financial Management.
According to Ms. Carina Dacillo, adding finance related topics to the training camp sessions was critical for a number of reasons. Firstly, financial literacy is essential for young people to have informed decisions. Secondly, she would like for the youths to be equipped with knowledge in financial reporting and compliance so they could easily access grants from donor agencies. Thirdly, she believes that having an understanding of finances could lead to various career opportunities, and lastly, she hopes that it encourages responsible financial behaviors.
“It was fulfilling to share my knowledge and skills with the youths of Southern Palawan. Seeing their interest and understanding grow throughout the session was a highlight for me.” Ms. Dacillo shared as a conclusion of her own experience as a session facilitator and speaker.
As a hands-on activity, all eleven participating organizations were tasked to craft a project proposal before the start of the next session.. The proposal served as an initial measure as to how much knowledge and understanding the participants gained after the first day of the camp. It was expected to reflect most of the parts discussed throughout the day such as the proponent, identified problems, project cost, project title, scope, objectives, activities and outputs, project goals, timeline, and budget. These components form the first five elements of the Project Development and Management Plan. All groups were given until the next day to accomplish and present the said output.
The second day, aside from the presentation of each organization, was allocated to the discussion of the last three steps in Project Development and Management which are: Executing (Pagpapatupad), Monitoring and Evaluation (Pagsubaybay at Pagsusuri), and Closing (Pagsasara). For. Rocas and For. Quetula co-presented the remaining topics briefly as concerns towards possible time extension were raised initially during the day.
In total, the delegates were able to propose 11 project proposals. Each one is strictly centered and geared towards the conservation of the forests with the assumption that the grants which they would try to access are grants coming from NGOs like the Forest Foundation Philippines. Among the proposals presented are problems focused on the need to build nurseries, some are for tree planting, capacity-building and advocacy among youths, or climate risk mitigations in the forest and nearby communities. To help each organization to further improve their proposals, comments from facilitators from the Foundation, along with the other NGOs such as Ms. Aurea Garinga (IDEAS), Mr. Jonas Vertudez (NTFP-EP Philippines), Ms. Kate Mana-Galido and Sedric Suringa (NTFP-Asia) are raised and shared every after presentation.
A self-directed reflection
New topics which the youths would like the alliance to explore next time include leadership training, report and documentation capacity-building, GPS training, community engagement and social-awareness training — among others. In terms of perceived benefit, one particular participant pointed out their appreciation towards providing feedback which for them is essential so they could refine their work. In another survey response, one participant pointed out how the proposal and budget training workshop would greatly benefit them as they try to implement projects in their own communities.
“Ang naging benepisyo nito sa akin ay napakalaki dahil sa mga itinuro nila sa amin tulad ng pag-budget, paggawa ng proposal. Ito ay magagamit namin sa aming komunidad at sa ano mang aspetong project (The workshop’s benefit for me is huge, as it was able to teach us concepts such as budgeting and the actual conceptualization of the project proposal. This is helpful as we can utilize what we learned in our communities whatever aspect of the project we wish to conduct).” one participant opined through a feedback survey.
(All smiles. A photo opportunity with all youth delegates and facilitators of the Youth Capacity Development for Project Development and Management in Quezon, Palawan)
The Alliance plans to continuously partner with youth organizations in the coming year to produce more capacity-building training, and workshops to forward youth-led initiatives and efforts towards forest conservation and protection. With the implementation of BioChamps 3.0 and other programs and events underway, 2025 is seen by the GLA as a year of opportunities to further the cause and engage more youths and organizations to reach its shared goal and vision.
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To learn more about the Sustainable and Inclusive Landscape Governance (SILG) program, a joint initiative of Forest Foundation and Tropenbos International, visit https://www.forestfoundation.ph/special-grant-programs/.
