Nature’s Heartbeat Orientation, Palawan

Trusting Communities to Keep Forests Alive

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. NTFP-EP Philippines, as the Palawan hub, convened the session to align partners around a simple proposition: when we trust communities and fund what they know, forests and cultures are kept alive.

This #NationalEnvironmentalAwarenessMonth, looking back at the orientation is a reminder that environmental awareness is also about the people who have conserved landscapes and have kept them healthy. This typhoon season in the Philippines, we highlight the importance of the forests that absorb carbon and soften climate shocks and the communities protecting and restoring them, rather than chasing “development” that clears them away.

What Nature’s Heartbeat brings

Nature’s Heartbeat (NH) supports about 30 local conservationists across seven landscapes in five countries from June 2025 to May 2029, with Palawan as a core site in the Philippines.

Two pathways drive the change:

(1) strengthen frontline conservationists; and

(2) help shift the wider funding system toward trust-based practices.

Over time, the programme aims to grow locally led outcomes and nudge donors to match flexibility with accountability.

Trust-based funding (TBF) is central here: multi-year, largely unearmarked support with light, learning-oriented reporting; open feedback loops; and proportionate due diligence. The goal is not to remove accountability but to relocate it toward peer learning, transparency, and outcomes that matter on the ground.

Who joined the orientation and where they work

Participants came from indigenous peoples’ organizations (IPOs), people’s associations, and NGOs active across Narra, Quezon, Brooke’s Point, Rizal, Aborlan, Dumaran, Araceli, and El Nido. Below is a snapshot of groups and coverage:

• Samahan ng Katutubong Palawan sa Kalatagbak – Quezon (SKPSK): Sites involve Kalatagbak, Quezon; works around reforestation in watershed areas

• Nagkakaisang Kabataang Katutubo ng Narra (NKKN): Covers 11 barangays in Narra; work involves IEC and youth organizing

• Katangan Ancestral Domain ng 6 barangay ng Brookes Point (KAD6): Works in Kabatangan area (Mainit, Pangobilian, Tubtub, Amas, Oring-Oring, Saraza); Does ADSDPP/CADT work

• Samahan ng mga Palawano Sa Amas Brooke's Point (SPABP): Works in Amas, Brooke’s Point area; Initiatives involve almaciga trading, coco spread, reforestation, water system 

• Pengebiyagan It mge Pela'wan Deges Ato' Et Isugod - Quezon (PPDI): Works in Isugod, Quezon; Efforts inolve wild honey and bantay-CADT patrolling

• Center for Sustainability Philippines (CSPH): Works in Bataraza to El Nido sites; involving protected area work, documentation trainings, IEC

• Philippine Biodiversity Conservation Advocates, Inc. (PBCAI): Works in Dumaran & Araceli; efforts involve aquaculture, organic farming, mangrove rehabilitation

• Nagkakaisang Tribu ng Palawan (NATRIPAL): Works Island-wide (with Batak, Palaw’an, Tagbanua communities); work revolves around ADSDPP/CADT, flora/fauna work, culture, marine/terrestrial nurseries, handicrafts, honey

• Women’s craft groups (e.g., (Samahan ng mga Kababaihang Tagbanua sa Narra (SAKATAN), Negsembateng Kelelibunan Et Kepelawanan Ese't Association - Brookes Point (NKEKEA)): Groups create handicrafts, natural products, and has initiatives in native tree reforestation in Narra, Kabatangan, and BICAMM barangays

• Narra IPO / Bukid-Baw Dagat / Nagkakaisang Tribu ng Tina- Tina, Culandanom, Aborlan (NATRITI) / MN-Bunog / NTD / Samahan ng Maaasahang Kabataan (SAMAKA) / Samahan ng mga katutubong Tagbanua sa Sagpangan-Sagpangan, Aborlan (SAKTAS), and others: Works across Narra, Aborlan, Brooke’s Point, Rizal; Does monitoring of ancestral domains, bantay-CADT, reforestation, livelihoods, and IEC against destructive projects      

What surfaced during the activities

The group worked in two landscape clusters: the Victoria Anepahan Mountain Range (VAMR) and the Mt. Mantalingahan Protected Landscape (MMPL), where priority actions were identified. Shared themes across landscapes include the following:

• Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plan (ADSDPP) / Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT): finalize plans, continue CADT processing, and set up a technical working group for documentation; coordinate surveys (e.g., Isugod) and validation.

• Enforcement: deputize wildlife enforcers (esp. Tagbanua), joint patrols via bantay-CADT, trainings on forest/wildlife laws, species ID, safe handling, and first aid.

• Reforestation: seedling collection, nurseries (including fruit trees), and transplanting; per-organization nursery targets.

• Research & Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices (IKSP): IKSP documentation led by NATRIPAL/NKKN, plus Rapid Biodiversity Assessments with CSPH.

• Livelihoods: resource assessments; technical skills training; marketing linkages (e.g., display centers) for honey, handicrafts, pandan/rattan, and other non-timber forest products (NTFPs).

• Women & Youth: organizational development, intergenerational dialogue, documentation and comms, and social media campaigns.

VAMR highlights included CBST design and capacity-building (NATRIPAL, PBCAI), joint enforcement training, and educational campaigns, while MMPL highlights added traditional handicrafts, nursery establishment (akapulko/almaciga/rattan/pandan), aquaculture pilots, production areas, and IPRA law education under Women & Youth empowerment.

Key discussion points

Partners named practical needs that trust-based support can support this year: completing ADSDPPs, accelerating CADT processes, strengthening bantay-CADT and community patrols, supporting research and IKSP, and creating livelihood pathways tightly linked to forest care (e.g., honey, native nurseries).

Participants also raised system constraints, including slow titling and Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) implementation, uneven budget allocations, and safety risks for community advocates, which underscored the value of flexible, tranche-based funding paired with proportionate due diligence, peer accountability, and clear integrity protocols.

NH’s Theory of Change

How partner selection will work

NH will use an open, fair, landscape-fit process: initial mapping and shortlisting (with a lightweight independent expert), interviews/consultations that may include community references, and a final selection by the hub with fit-for-purpose due diligence. The aim is a balanced mix, where indigenous peoples, women, and youth are considered; toegther with each group’s varied capacities

Why this matters

In today’s funding landscape, local organizations are facing compounding pressures: climate disruptions, extraction, and shrinking civic space, while heavy paperwork keeps grassroots from timely support. NH’s Theory of Change addresses this by providing flexible funding plus coaching, peer learning, and visibility for local results. As forests keep drawing down carbon and sheltering life, perhaps the most resilient move is to trust the communities that are already doing conservation and biodiversity work.