Environmental policy and administrative management

The GEF Small Grants Programme has been designed to focus on supporting community-based approaches to biodiversity conservation. As part of this program, the Programme has also considered and integrated sustainable livelihood in its overall strategy. Although funding for integrated sustainable livelihood activities have been mobilized from other donor agencies. Observations and analysis of case studies by GEF-SGP as well as those similar programs show that sustainable livelihood ought to be part and parcel of biodiversity conservation in the Philippines. Integrating livelihood in conservation approaches spells out long-term sustainability of environment protection efforts. While livelihood is a traditional activity, its integration with conservation makes it a new activity altogether, it is a challenge for GEF-SGP to develop more extensive capacity building programs for it is a challenge for it to support sustainable livelihood projects. These could include carrying capacity assessment, financial management, value-added processing, marketing, negotiating contracts and training on the legal aspects and other process necessary for livelihood projects. It is therefore within this context that GRF/RNE SGP Philippines is initiating this capability-building project on community-based enterprise for the Grantees/ partners in Palawan as one mechanism to install sustainability and continuity of conservation efforts. In addition, COMPACT and SGP-PTF grantees/partners shall also be invited in this activity. The Design and Marketing Consultancy Philippines, Inc. ( an output-oriented desighn and marketing consultancy firm wich specializes in the development of quality Filipino crafts for both local and international market) shall be tapped to provide technical expertise for the different activities.

Philippines