Community-Based Conservation

Stories of Indigenous peoples and local communities protecting forests, watersheds, and wildlife through traditional knowledge and collective action.

Clusters of pale blue jade vine flowers hanging beside a mossy tree trunk in a forest in Mindanao

Spotted in the ICCA Field: How Communities Read Ecosystem Health Through Wildlife Signals

Field notes from Mindanao: three remarkable plant sightings reveal how Indigenous communities read ecosystem health through “wildlife signals” and why protecting ICCAs protects life.

Safeguarding Culture

NTFP-EP Philippines

Mar 34 min read

From Pitches to Polished Proposals: How Palawan Communities Are Shaping Nature’s Heartbeat

Over the past few months, partners in Southern Palawan have been moving through the “project pitching” phase of the Nature’s Heartbeat project: surfacing community-led ideas, then strengthening and aligning them so they become clearer, more measurable, and rooted in the landscape’s real needs. This is how the first heartbeat of proposals begins: from the ground, rooted on the land.

Community-Based Conservation

NTFP-EP Philippines

Feb 264 min read

Trusting Communities to Keep Forests Alive

Nature’s Heartbeat Orientation, Palawan

On September 18, community leaders and conservation groups from across South Palawan gathered at Maruyog Ridge for the Nature’s Heartbeat Orientation, a necessary step before the beginning of a four-year programme that channels flexible, trust-based support to locally led conservation in Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in Palawan.

Community-Based Conservation

NTFP-EP Philippines

Nov 19, 20254 min read

Panlauy with AGMIHICU: Guarding the Forests of Impasug-ong

From May 14 to 19, 2025, the AGMIHICU Indigenous community (Agtulawon Mintapod Higaonon Cumadon), together with HAMOG youth, and support from NTFP-EP Philippines, conducted the Panlauy in the Mahagwa area of Impasug-ong, Bukidnon.

Indigenous Wisdom & Culture

NTFP-EP Philippines

Jun 22, 20252 min read