Community-Based Conservation

On World Environment Day, Pelawan youth leader Mhar Dubria shares how his journey from community service to UGNAYIN PH leadership and environmental broadcasting has led him to stand with Indigenous youth defending Brooke’s Point, Palawan, from mining threats.

In Sagpangan, Aborlan, Palawan, SAKTAS’ wild forest honey begins with flowering trees, clean rivers, and bees and continues through Tagbanua knowledge, responsible harvesting, hygienic processing, and community livelihood. Follow the journey of forest honey through the story of Ate Inday and the Indigenous women helping keep this living relationship alive.

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

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.

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.

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.