DENR hosts confab on conservation finance

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is hosting from March 3 to 4 an international conference on conservation financing in a bid to scale up funding for biodiversity conservation in Southeast Asia.

The International Conference on Conservation Financing in Southeast Asia which would be held at Hotel H2O in Manila will bring together conservation finance experts, key government officials, environmental policymakers, park managers of conservation areas, and respected resource and environmental economists in the region.

The DENR is holding the conference in collaboration with the Biodiversity and Watersheds Improved for Stronger Ecosystem Resilience (B+WISER) Program of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia (EEPSEA), and the Asian Centre for Biodiversity (ACB).

The conference seeks innovative financing schemes that mobilize funding and community action needed to provide long-term sustainability to biodiversity conservation measures and adequate sources of livelihood for forest-dependent communities.

Resource persons expected to attend the event include Dr. Herminia Francisco, director of economy and environment program for Southeast Asia and Dr. Gem Castillo, president of the Resource and Environmental Economics Association of the Philippines. 

Dr. Francisco will present the overview of conservation financing schemes while Dr. Castillo will discuss the fiscal gap and financing of Southeast Asia’s protected areas.

The two-day event will be divided into four sessions.  Session 1 will focus on conservation finance mechanisms for global goods, Session 2 will cover conservation financing for ecosystem services with local benefits and as inputs to production, Session 3 will deal on conservation financing for consumption goods and nature-based recreation. And Session 4 will be on conservation financing for coastal and marine ecosystems.

Two roundtable discussions on conservation fund and park management experiences in the Asean region will also be conducted during the event.

The DENR has been encouraging businesses to invest in enterprises that promote sustainable use of marine and forest-based resources in the country’s key biodiversity areas (KBA).

KBAs are sites that contain one or more endangered species that require immediate conservation action

These include ecotourism projects as well as manufacture of various forest and marine based products.

There are now a total of 228 KBAs in the Philippines, consisting of 128 terrestrial and 123 marine sites.