Team Malindang and PH NatCom Visit Southeast Asia Organizations

The MDP Field Experience is certainly a dynamic project, since it is concerned with research, management, and community consultation, it was no surprise that the MDP Team will inevitably collaborate with numerous international, national, and local institutions. Through the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the PH NatCom for UNESCO, the team welcomed a positive development in the project: Getting introduced to two regional organizations that are gateway to countless valuable scientific and social research on Mount Malindang.

PH NatCom organized a trip on June 3, 2015 to the Los Baños campus of the University of the Philippines, located in the Province of Laguna, south of Manila. Regional organizations concerned in the environment and agriculture hold office in the Los Baños campus, and these include: the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).

The MDP Team exchanged perspectives on conservation of heritage parks

through UNESCO and ASEAN frameworks. (c) L. Barrientos

ACB carries the mandate of facilitating “cooperation and coordination among the ASEAN Member States and with relevant national government, regional and international organizations, on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of such biodiversity in the ASEAN region.” To this end, ACB also functions as the secretariat of the ASEAN Heritage Parks (AHP) Programme. The Programme delegates the highest recognition to “selected protected areas in the ASEAN region which are known for their unique biodiversity and ecosystems, wilderness, and outstanding values.” The aim of the AHP is to “promote greater cooperation between ASEAN countries in conserving and managing these parks.” As Mount Malindang successfully obtained an ASEAN Heritage Park designation in 2011, collaboration with ACB regarding research and management on the protected area will be highly valuable for examining the viability of nominating the site for a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve designation.

Along with officers from the PH NatCom for UNESCO and DENR-BMB, the MDP Team was graciously welcomed by the ACB team, headed by its executive director, Roberto Oliva. Other key staff members were also present in the discussion, namely, Lauro Punzalan, Liaison and Protocol Specialist, Mary Grace Aquino, AHP Programme Associate, Rhia Galsim, Capacity Development Officer, and Anthony Foronda, Project Coordinator.

A hike up Makiling Botanic Garden gives a glimpse of the biodiversity
and natural beauty of the Mount Makiling Forest Reserve,
an ASEAN Heritage Park. (c) F.D. Barroso

In the meeting, the MDP Team introduced the University of Minnesota, the Master of Development Practice Program and its field experience component, and introduced the visual representation of the team’s deliverables throughout the 9-week engagement. Through the discussions, the MDP Team and ACB have jointly identified the regional research studies that have been undertaken concerning Mount Malindang and how these can help prove that the site could contribute meaningfully to regional cooperation through the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme. A key insight from the meeting was the recognition that both the ASEAN Heritage Park and the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programmes share the perspective that conservation of sites should both include protection of natural and cultural values, and geared towards sustainable management and development to meet the concerned communities’ human development needs.

After the meeting with ACB, the MDP Team was accompanied by Rhia Galsim to the office of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). This organization is one of the 21 regional centers of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO)*. Unfortunately, SEARCA’s head of knowledge resources unit, Dr. Mariliza Ticsay was attending to other matters and was unable to meet the team. However, SEARCA staff was still able to furnish the team print copies of research studies conducted on Mount Malindang. Of particular interest for the team are the research studies that have been led and coordinated by Dr. Ticsay, as they both covered the biophysical and socio-economic components of the site, under the framework of a USAID-funded research project entitled, “From Ridge to Reef: An Ecosystem Based Approach to Biodiversity Conservation and Development in the Philippines.”

Suffice it to say that the coming weeks would be spent on digesting all the information culled from the initial literature review and contextual scan of organizations concerned with the conservation of Mount Malindang Natural Park.

* A curious coincidence: the MDP Team is sharing the office of UNESCO-CLLSD, which is located within the compound of another SEAMEO regional center, INNOTECH, a center concerned with educational innovation and technology.