Address in the Philippines: c/o Resource and Environmental Economics Foundation of

the Philippines, Inc.

Suite 405, The Tower at Emerald Square, JP Rizal cor P Tuazon Streets, Project 4,
Quezon City 1109 Philippines, Telephone: +632 438-8858, Fax: +632 995-0556
________________________________________________________________________________

Capsule Proposal
PROGRAM ON SUSTAINABLE CONSERVATION FINANCING FOR ECOSYSTEM
SERVICES & BIODIVERSITY

PROPONENT

Resource and Environmental Economics Foundation of the Philippines

Economy and Environment Group Philippines (REAP-EEG Philippines)

CLIENTELE

DENR Protected Area Superintendent (PENRO/CENRO), Local

Government Unit, Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau,
Academe

POTENTIAL
TRAINING
VENUES

Negros Island Region (La Salle/UPV), Region 10 (MSU/Xavier), Regions 7

& 8 (VSU/UPV), Region 2 (ISU, NVSU), Regions 11 & 12 (UPMin/MSU
GenSan/USEP)

RATIONALE
The conservation and sustainable use of biological resources are essential in ensuring balanced
functions of the ecosystem. Biodiversity is important since all forms of life on earth depend on it.
However, aside from the earths growing population, adverse impacts of climate change and
other anthropogenic factors contribute to the continuous loss of biodiversity.
The establishment of Protected Areas (PAs) is one of the most common strategies to address such
problem. According to the 2010 report of the Convention of Biological Diversity, Protected
Areas cover 13% of the worlds terrestrial and 6% of the territorial marine areas. The role of
protected areas is to ensure the sustainability of the ecosystem as well as the services it provides
by regulating access and utilization of the resources within the PA. In fact, in 2010, world leaders
signed an agreement to protect the environment by increasing protected areas by 2020. Meaning,
17% of earths land area and 10% of its sea area are to be established as PA. However, despite

the continuous efforts to establish and manage more protected areas, our environment continues
to deteriorate leading to decreasing ecosystem services.
In a developing country like the Philippines, the governments limited resources in managing
PAs can be attributed to the ineffectiveness of PA management. Though PA management is
mostly participatory, in most cases, participation is not sustained since most of the benefits from
conservation efforts are public in nature. Also, since poverty is rampant especially in the upland
communities in which majority of the PAs are located, the need to provide an effective and
sustainable source of livelihood for them is essential in order to sustain participation. But then
again, governments resources will always be limited. Thus, there is an increasing need for a
sustainable mechanism in planning, managing and most especially, funding these PAs.
One strategy for biodiversity conservation which most experts today give attention to is the
concept of Market-based approach to biodiversity conservation. Market-based instruments are
characterized as less costly and flexible since it can complement traditional conservation
measures. It is believe to address not only conservation goals but also development goals.
However, in the Philippines, there is no national policy that provides legal guidance for the
implementation of market-based instruments. Rigorous information from science-based
researches that will support the conservation financing mechanism is still lacking and the
evidence that such mechanism works in various institutional arrangements is limited.
As a response, the Economy and Environment Group Philippines (EEG Philippines) is proposing
a program on Sustainable Conservation Financing for Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity. EEG
Philippines is a newly organized group under the umbrella of the Resource and Environmental
Economics Foundation of the Philippines (REAP). The purpose of its creation is to replicate the
model of the Economy and Environment Partnership for Southeast Asia (EEPSEA) and to
continue the gains it made in the country. EEG Philippines seeks to help improve the governance
and management of ecosystems in the country through capacity building and the conduct of
transdiciplinary research on environmental economics. Embodying the importance of holism in
addressing local and global environmental challenges, EEG Philippines encourages the
involvement of experts, officials of key government institutions and people from the Academe to
help EEG realize its mission.
The proposed program has the following components: (1) Training and Capacity Building; (2)
Participatory Research and (3) Policy Formulation and Communication. It is an integrated
program that aims to: (a) advance knowledge on incentive mechanism for biodiversity
conservation through transdiciplinary research; (b) to empower local planners and decisionmakers with the knowledge and skills in designing programs and policies that will
institutionalize incentive mechanism in PA management; and (c) to bridge connection between
the science community and the general public by translating technical results into something
understandable to the general public.
Add importance, what is it for me?
OBJECTIVES

The program aims to assess and design science based incentive mechanisms for the conservation
of ecosystem services and biodiversity. Specifically, it seeks to:
1. provide a platform for stakeholders to understand the science and practice of incentive
mechanisms for the conservation of ecosystem services and biodiversity; and
2. design appropriate local institutional arrangements or environment to support successful
and sustainable implementation of ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation.
GENERAL FRAMEWORK
Since the program seeks to address real-world problem that is complex in nature, it requires the
participation of several disciplines and the use of tools and methods of systems analysis. The
program is guided with the principle of interdisciplinary wherein experts and different
stakeholders are encouraged to participate in all stages of the program. Participatory research
will be done in order to establish the basis and need for conservation financing in Philippine PAs
in such a way that it will promote co-learning and iterative interaction between and among
disciplines. The program is also designed to translate research results into policy programs by
popularizing research outcomes through policy dialogues, forum and use of other science
communication tools.
EEG STRATEGIES
1. Establish Multi-scale and multi-level partnerships. Since EEG believes that issues on
the environment can be addressed if there is an active participation from the key national
agencies, Academes, Local Government Units and private/public organizations, multilevel and multi-scale partnerships will be created. EEG Philippines has been doing
Regional Fora in strategic universities in the country in order to share its advocacies, gain
support and to seek opportunities for collaboration.
2. Conduct of transdiciplinary research. Environmental issues are complex issues that
require several disciplines to address. Science-based researches on conservation financing
will be done where EEG core members will serve as co-researchers and/or mentors. The
purpose of TR is to advance knowledge on incentive mechanisms for biodiversity
conservation and to empower local researchers with the knowledge of conducting
research on incentive mechanism. This strategy intends to foster collaboration,
development of each discipline and collegiality among disciplines.
3. Develop Communication Plan. Development of a communication plan is as an integral
part of the program. Results researches will be translated into policies by thorough
conduct of information drive, policy dialogues and fora. A Knowledge Management
(KM) database will also be part of the communication plan in order to ensure easy access
of research results. Participation will be highly encouraged in all levels of the

communication plan (conceptualization,

implementation and evaluation).

design,

development

and

pre-testing,

PROGRAM COMPONENTS
Component 1: Training and Capacity Building
Target Participants: Local Planners (MENRO/PENRO), LGU decision-makers and
Researchers from the Academe
Rationale: Incentive mechanism is a strategy to PA management that targets both
environmental conservation and development goals.
Training Objective: The training seeks to establish the advantage of incentive mechanism
in PA management by enabling decision-makers, people from the academe, and PA managers
enough understanding of the importance and science of incentive mechanism.
Training Content:
MODUL
E
1

Topics
Understanding the Science
of PES Assessment and
Design
Economics of PES

3a

Measuring Benefits and

Costs

3b

Measuring Benefits and

Costs

PES Implementation

Objectives
Participants should be able to:
1) describe the linkage between ecosystem functions
and services;
2) measure and monitor environmental services
1) explain the economic basis of PES;
2) summarize valuation theory and measuring
benefits and costs; and
3) measure benefits and costs for watershed PES
1) explain how to measure benefits and costs for
biodiversity benefits;
2) explain how to measure benefits and costs of
landscape and scenic amenities
1) explain how to measure benefits and costs for
carbon sequestration;
2) tell the use of auctions for measuring opportunity
costs;
3) express buyers and other stakeholders
perspectives on PES
1) tell legal and implementation issues related to
PES;
2) explain financing options for PES

Science Communication

Negotiation and Conflict

Management

1) explain the importance of communicating

research results;
2) describe science communication strategies

Component 2: Participatory Research

In order to assess the viability of incentive mechanism for biodiversity conservation in the
Philippines, there is a need to gather baseline information on the current trends and concepts of
incentive mechanism and access which incentive mechanism is suitable in a particular
institutional setting. The program aims to conduct participatory research in order to advance
knowledge on incentive mechanism and to build evidence that this strategy will work well in
various institutional arrangements. The program has the following research themes:
2.1 Valuation and Benefit Cost Analysis. To efficiently and economically manage resources, there is
a need for a systematic, transparent and science-based way of comparing trade-offs from various
management options. Economic valuation of ecosystem services is a useful tool in analyzing and
identifying conservation goals. It is a tool that measures the monetary value of the environmental
good and services in which policy makers and decision-makers use as a basis for identifying
management option.
In establishing an incentive mechanism, measuring the value of a resource or service to the
stakeholders is a paramount importance. How much stakeholders value the ecosystem service is
a prerequisite in any incentive mechanism and should be the basis of the amount of incentives
that will be given to ensure support and successful implementation of the conservation strategies.
Thus, the program proposes the conduct of valuation studies as an initial step in institutionalizing
incentive mechanism in PA management.
Results of valuation studies are useful in expressing to people the economic benefits of
conserving a particular resource. It is also a great way to measure possible impacts of the
conservation effort through cost-benefit analysis.
Sample Research Question:
1. What are the economically efficient management strategies?
2. What are management schemes that will provide additional income to PA
management?
2.2 Institutional Analysis and Design. One of goals of EEG is to help local decision makers and
policy makers make sound decision on management and governance of the environment thus,
this program also plans to conduct Institutional Analysis on governance of PAs. One of the
factors that make ecosystem management complicated is the fact that all, if not most of the
ecological services the environment provides are public goods. Conflicts arise due to unclear and

incoherent property rights resulted from multiple users. Everyone may enjoy the benefits of these
public goods that usually lead to overexploitation. In order to institutionalize incentive
mechanism in PA management, rights, stakeholders and institutional arrangements (e.g. rules of
the game) must be clear.
Sample Research Questions:
1. Who are the stakeholders and what are their rights?
2. What key institutions vested rights and political authority to stakeholders to govern
and have access to resources?
3. What are the barriers (i.e. legal, social) against institutional development?
4. What are institutional arrangements that will best fir with incentive mechanism?
Expected Outputs:
1. Policy Recommendations
2. Database of baseline information
Component 3: Policy and Communication
Acknowledged that communicating research results and translating results into policies are
integral part of the research process, a communication plan is also be part of the program.
Communicating research results will not only promotes understanding of the research results
relevance to the general public but it will also foster support from different stakeholders and will
ensure informed decision-making in all levels of the society (government, community,
private/public agencies, donor agencies).
Objectives: This program component aims to bridge understanding between science
community and the general public through the use of science communication strategies.
Specifically this component seeks to:
1. Translate research results into policy actions, programs and strategies;
2. Convert technical research results into something that can easily be
understood and be of use on the ground; and
3. Popularize science by making research results accessible to the general public.
Planned Activities:
1. Conduct policy dialogue, Fora, and Conferences;
2. Set up a KM database where research results can be easily accessed by the
general public
3. Develop and produce print and audio-visual communication materials
4. Develop a communication plan to popularize research results