Non-Timber Forest Products-Exchange Programme Philippines (NTFP-EP Ph)
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Mar 12, 2026
The second Technical Working Group meeting on the ICCA Bill advanced important discussions on recognition, protection, governance, and the proposed national registry for Indigenous Peoples’ and community conserved territories and areas in the Philippines.
On March 5, 2026, the 2nd Technical Working Group (TWG) Meeting on the ICCA Bill convened to continue deliberations on the proposed measure that seeks to recognize and protect Indigenous Peoples’ and Community Conserved Territories and Areas (ICCAs) in the Philippines.
The meeting built on discussions from the first TWG session and focused on refining key provisions of the bill, including definitions, recognition processes, registry mechanisms, governance, prohibited acts, and the roles of government agencies and Indigenous Peoples’ institutions.
At the opening of the session, Hon. Leila de Lima grounded the discussion in the deeper meaning of the bill:
“At the heart of the ICCA Bill is a truth that no amendment can diminish, that our indigenous peoples have been the quiet, faithful, and far too often unrecognized guardians and stewards of our forests, our watersheds, our mountains, and the extraordinary biodiversity that sustains every one of us.”
She continued:
“Long before there were laws, long before there were agencies, long before there were registries, they were already there, tending the land with reverence and wisdom the modern world is only beginning to understand.”
These words captured what is at stake in the ICCA Bill: not simply the creation of another policy mechanism, but the formal recognition of truths that Indigenous communities have lived and upheld for generations.
What happened during the 2nd TWG meeting?
The TWG meeting moved several important points forward.
Among the developments discussed were the recognition of ICCAs within ancestral domains and lands, the role of customary governance and Indigenous knowledge systems, the protection of community decision-making processes, and the establishment of a National ICCA Registry.
The discussion also touched on how the law should ensure that protection remains rooted in the rights, realities, and leadership of Indigenous Peoples.
The meeting surfaced key concerns that still need further refinement. These include how the recognition process should be framed without becoming too burdensome for communities and how the law can best uphold customary law and Indigenous governance while engaging existing legal and institutional frameworks, among others.
In other words, the work is still ongoing, but the March 5 meeting marked another important step in shaping a stronger and more responsive bill.
Why the ICCA Bill matters
The ICCA Bill is important, especially in these times of ecological crisis, because it recognizes something many communities have long known: forests, watersheds, biodiversity, and living cultures are often best protected where Indigenous Peoples and local communities continue to govern and care for their territories according to their own knowledge systems, customary laws, and responsibilities.
At a time of worsening ecological decline, biodiversity loss, deforestation, land conflicts, and climate disruption, the bill offers a path toward protection that is not imposed from above but built from the ground; directly from communities whose relationship with land is rooted in stewardship, interdependence, and accountability across generations.
This is also why the ICCA Bill connects to wider global conversations on climate justice. Around the world, there is growing recognition that responses to climate change cannot rely only on fixes through extractive development packaged as “green.” Real solutions must also protect peoples’ rights, secure ancestral territories, and uphold the communities who have long defended ecosystems from destruction.
Protecting ICCAs is not separate from climate action. It is part of what just and meaningful climate action must look like.
Part of a bigger movement for environmental justice
The ICCA Bill is also part of the broader GreenPrint movement across the country, which pushes for a set of urgent green legislative measures in the Philippines. Alongside the ICCA Bill are other key proposals such as the National Land Use Act (NLUA), Forest Resources Bill (FRB), and the Alternative Minerals Management Bill (AMMB).
As a collective, these bills reflect a larger call, which is that environmental governance in the country must move away from short-term extraction and toward justice, ecological protection, land security, and community-led futures.
Within this larger movement, the ICCA Bill plays a vital role because it centers the leadership of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in protecting forests, biodiversity, and territories of life that sustain both people and planet.
Moving forward
As the TWG process continues, civil society organizations, Indigenous Peoples’ groups, and allies are also discussing the next steps needed to strengthen the bill further. This includes ensuring that the law remains grounded in lived realities on the ground.
For many advocates, this is not only about passing a bill, it is about affirming that the protection of land, forests, waters, and biodiversity must go hand in hand with the protection of peoples, cultures, and collective rights.
As Hon. De Lima said during the session:
“The National ICCA Registry is more than a database, it is a declaration, a covenant, that our indigenous peoples are partners, never obstacles, in the sacred and urgent mission of protecting our nation’s biodiversity…”
The 2nd TWG meeting showed that the conversation is moving, raising the possibility of a law that more fully recognizes the role of Indigenous Peoples and communities as enduring stewards of life, land, and future generations.
NTFP-EP Philippines continues to support the advancement of the ICCA Bill as part of a broader movement for rights-based conservation, forest protection, and environmental justice. The work continues.
For more information on ICCAs, you can check the links below:
NTFP-EP Philippines’ ICCA Hub: for general information and updates on the bill