Nature's Heartbeat Project

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.

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.