Community-led conservation takes spotlight
Three decades ago, environmental scientist Neil Mallari had a humbling experience with locals on an expedition to Panay Island that later changed the way he now views and approaches environmental conservation.
His team tried to force their way to cross an overflowing river, but a villager advised them against it and to just wait instead for the waters to subside at his family’s place. Later that night, a flash flood came.
“That experience of humility and listening to local expertise is a lesson in life that I still carry to this day,” said Mallari, president and chief scientist of the Center for Conservation Innovations. He was one of the speakers to discuss community-led conservation at the third Inquirer ESG Connect Network forum, which was held at the University of Santo Tomas on Aug. 29.
An expert in biodiversity and wildlife conservation as well as in climate change mitigation, Mallari saw the value of recognizing local expertise or what he calls “indigenous knowledge” in understanding nature and keeping the threats at bay.
Conservation work, he said, should not be ruled by “brainy arrogance or intelligence.” “When we go to communities, [we think,] ‘let’s educate the community’… but [in fact], they know more (about the environment) than us,” he said.
What experts and scientists need to do is to “detechnicalize” the situation on the ground by translating the language of the communities so that the government, stakeholders, policymakers and even fellow experts can truly act on mitigating the effects of climate change and other man-made destructive acts on nature, he added.
Forest cover
An alarming case that needed indigenous expertise was the heavy flooding in different towns and cities in Palawan, including Puerto Princesa, triggered by a southwest monsoon early this year—a rare occurrence in the history of the province.
“Flooding never happened in the last 20 or 30 years. But there were floods on the roads. And this is because 125,000 hectares of forest in Palawan are gone,” Mallari said.
He noted that Palawan had always been “resilient” because of its thick forest cover, until Supertyphoon “Odette” (international name: Rai) left a destructive trail and wiped out a huge part of the forest in 2021. Comparing the death toll of Odette and Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (Haiyan) in 2013, the scientist said that “hectares of forest sacrificed their lives [during Odette] to lessen the fatalities.”
And the loss of significant forest cover in Palawan resulted in 118 million metric tons of carbon emissions, or equivalent to one coal-fired plant generating power in 18 years, explained Mallari.
Forest-dependent species, including the endemic Palawan hornbill, also bore the brunt of the tragic impact of climate change for losing their habitat. Such chilling consequences of climate change, however, are often overlooked by the government and policymakers, lamented Mallari.
Shared responsibility
For its part, dominant e-wallet player GCash is utilizing their technology to do their part in promoting sustainable ecosystems through reforestation and agroforestry by developing GForest, an “climate tech innovation” launched in 2019.
Moya Ganzon, head of impact innovations at GCash, said they saw an opportunity to help empower Filipinos into action.
Through GForest, an interactive platform within GCash, users are rewarded with “green energy points” for every transaction made in the app. The points then are translated initially to “digital trees,” which will turn to actual trees or mangroves planted through its partners, such as World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), University of the Philippines Los Baños and Silliman University.
The mobile wallet app also started the GCash Eco Run. The debut event, which was held in March along Ayala Avenue, was able to contribute to planting 76,000 trees, helping 220 farming families.
While she believes that technologies would “bring (climate change mitigation) up to scale, she pointed out that it is “not the only solution” and still a “shared responsibility” by both the public and private sectors.
Sustainability agenda
Dino Calderon, unit head of education for sustainable development of WWF Philippines, recalled an upsetting reality for communities in Argao town in Cebu: Many schools have limited access to running water despite being near the Argao-Dalaguete Watershed Reserve.
“How can [they] teach about conservation when there’s no need to conserve because there’s no water? They were left with no choice, water is expensive and the barangay brings the water to them,” he said in disbelief.
Argao also boasts of beautiful scenic mountain news, Calderon described, but the town south of the province is also being slowly victimized by small-scale mining.
He dreams of a time when indigenous children will finally have the chance to “appreciate the richness of our country’s biodiversity.” But the road to this day is long and rough, as every Filipino would have to learn for themselves what would jolt them into action.
“It’s the heart, it’s the passion… If I have no knowledge, if I haven’t seen it, I wouldn’t be able to translate it [into action],” Calderon said in the forum. “Whatever method that resonates with them that you are using, it spills over, and [actions] will be genuine,” he added.
With at least 39 partner companies across various sectors since its launch in March 2024, the ESG Edge Connect is the Inquirer Group’s multiplatform initiative designed to spark conversations on environment, social and governance issues to help drive the Philippines’ sustainability agenda forward.
