Partners to Work Together in Landscapes
with High Biodiversity Significance
The DENR-GEF/UNDP Biodiversity Corridor Project recently conducted its first ever National Project Board equivalent to a Project Steering Committee, at it begins to implement an integrated network design and efficient management of the national BD corridor system.
The Project specifically aims to ensure the continued stability and sustainability of the Philippine biodiversity corridors’ bio-ecosystem services and socio-economic conservation values.
Edwine Carrie, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, said the Project is the biggest in terms of financial resources as the UNDP and DENR will work together in large landscapes or corridors with high biodiversity significance.
Mr. Carrie said the extent and interface of the Project scope, in particular biodiversity management, sustainable forest management and sustainable land management, highlight the need for strong commitments from stakeholders in order to harmonize actions and realize the results.
Synergies and Interventions
“As Project Board members, we have the responsibility to facilitate the process in case actions are needed from our agencies,” Mr. Carrie added. “The task ahead is serious but exciting, I must say, as the Project intends to undertake more partnerships, synergies and concrete interventions on the ground.”
Citing the pandemic and the upcoming election which may have impacts on the pace of activities, Mr. Carrie stressed that the Project will have to perform adaptive management without necessarily compromising the quality of outputs and compliance with the fiduciary standards of the government, UNDP and GEF.
He also said the Project needs to ensure that environmental and social safeguards are put into place. “As Project Board members, with inputs from the national inter-agency Technical Working Group, we need to be able to forecast the Project risks before us and undertake mitigation measures before these become real concerns and issues,” Mr. Carrie said.
Lessons and Scaling Up
Datu Tungko Saikol, DENR-BMB Director and BD Corridor National Project Director, emphasized that the interventions under the Project will be responsive and relevant to current concerns not only with biodiversity management but also with climate change and disaster risk reduction.
As the Project aims to achieve its desired results and attain the best value for the benefit of its target communities, Dir. Saikol said mainstreaming Project interventions, lessons learned and good practices will be important, as well as scaling up initiatives at the national level.
Dir. Saikol added that strategic guidance from the Project Board will be most crucial on strengthening national and local coordination mechanisms, policy interventions, stakeholder partnerships, approach towards securing local government support, and community and private sector buy-in, as well as in undertaking innovations on science-based planning and budgeting processes, and recommending synergies with related government and foreign-funded programmes and projects. (Mitch R. Confesor)
