Women Leading Conservation from the Ground: Myra Tayaw on Finding Her Voice in Palawan

For Palaw’an woman leader Myra Tayaw, conservation begins with everyday relationships. It is with forests, water, livelihood, community, and the courage to speak.

“Kapag hindi kayo nagsalita, wala tayong mangyayari.” (If you don’t speak up, nothing will happen.)

For Myra S. Tayaw, those words come from experience.

Myra is a Palaw’an woman from Isugod, Quezon, Palawan, and the chairperson of Konseho Alay sa Babae (KABABAE). She remembers a time when her world was largely “nasa apat na sulok lang po ako ng bahay.” (within the four walls of our home.)

Today, she leads women in her community, listens to their concerns, and helps bring their voices into conversations affecting their lives and surroundings.

Her leadership is rooted in a relationship with nature that is both practical and inherited.

“Dito po kami namumuhay, dito nakabase yung aming kabuhayan.” (This is where we live, and where our livelihood comes from.)

The forest and surrounding environment provide food, medicinal plants, materials, and livelihood. Myra remembers learning to take only what was needed from the forest and coast, where her family has enough for the day, rather than more than they could use. To her, these everyday practices are also ways of conserving what others depend on.

For indigenous women, that relationship shapes how they participate in decisions about water and natural resources. Myra describes herself as a bridge for concerns other women may hesitate to voice: “Ginagawa kang boses para maging daan para sa kanila.” (You become their voice to pave a way for their concerns to be heard.)

At one recent gathering, she found more than 20 women participating, compared with around six in earlier meetings. Her message to them was simple: “Mag-voice out kayo… magsalita.” (Speak up… let your voices be heard.)

Through Nature’s Heartbeat, KABABAE is exploring honey as a livelihood connected to caring for forests and bee habitat. Its initial two-year proposal sets concrete goals through one consolidated honey-based enterprise.

KABABAE’s plan at a glance

• 7 member community groups

• 7 honey-source conservation sites

• 3 planned nurseries × 2,500 seedlings

• ₱500,000 + enterprise sales target

Targets from KABABAE’s initial two-year Nature’s Heartbeat proposal.

The work is also strengthening the organisation behind the conservation. For Myra, that has meant entering unfamiliar territory – from proposals to budgeting, to resolutions, and managing funds for the first time. She is learning as she leads, while insisting that leadership remain collective: “Pantay kami, so share-share ng mga kaalaman, teamwork.” (We are all equal, so we share our knowledge and work as a team.)

Nature’s Heartbeat supports locally led conservation through flexible, trust-based funding and tailored capacity strengthening, giving grassroots organisations room to pursue priorities rooted in their own landscapes.

For Myra, the reason to keep learning, organising, and conserving is simple: so the resources they depend on will still be there “para sa susunod na henerasyon.” (for the next generation.)

On the International Day of Indigenous Women, her story reminds us that women’s leadership in conservation is not emerging from nowhere, it is already growing from the ground.

Nature’s Heartbeat is a joint project of Armonía Bolivia, A Rocha Ghana, ECOTRUST, NTFP-EP Asia and IUCN NL. The project is made possible by the Postcode Lottery.