Forest Foundation Philippines, with support from the Government of Canada, recently approved grants to support community-led implementation of NbS from ridge to reef in Calamianes Islands in Palawan, Camarines Sur, and Davao. These NbS projects will strengthen communities' ability to adapt to climate impacts across 7,200+ hectares of forests, riverbanks, coasts, and seas, through community-based agroforestry and riparian restoration, eco-tourism and community-led marine protected area management, mangrove protection, and establishment of local conservation areas. This bring the total to PhP 80.5 million for local implementation of 17 NbS grants under the Philippines-Canada Partnership on Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for Climate Adaptation (PCP4NbS). For more information about the projects, read: bit.ly/pcp4nbsproposalsQ425

In partnership with the University of Guelph in Canada and Bayi, Inc., PCP4NbS conducted Learning Needs Assessment (LNA) Workshops with civil society and peoples organizations (including women and young women) in the first three priority program areas: Negros Occidental, Batanes, and Camarines Sur. The LNA Workshops offered safe and engaging spaces to identify learning gaps and capacity development needs, as baseline for the its grantmaking capacity development, knowledge management, and advocacy activities. LNAs in the rest of the Program areas will be completed in 2025.

The program’s partner, the University of the Philippines Los Baños - Department of Community and Environmental Resource Planning (UPLB-DCERP) conducted a KAP assessment, to help understand the baseline knowledge, behavior, attitudes, and current practices of communities and local stakeholders on Nature-based Solutions (NbS), and identify opportunities for engagement.