USAID B+WISER celebrates 153 years of forestry service in the Philippines with the DENR

On June 25, USAID Biodiversity and Watersheds Improved for Stronger Economy and Ecosystem Resilience (B+WISER) Program joined the Forest Management Bureau (FMB) to celebrate 153 years of Forestry Service in the Philippines. Under the theme Bike.Hike.Plant. the FMB and the National Bicycle Organization had organized a 31 kilometer (19 miles) bike ride from Quezon City to the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape to plant trees. The 26,000 hectare area is part of B+WISER’s seven project sites across the Philippines.

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Effective Law Enforcement to stop Environmental Crimes

Nineteen officers, including three women, from the Philippine National Police Maritime Group and Philippine Coast Guard have successfully been trained in environmental paralegal skills to better deal with smuggling crimes in a border security context. The USAID-supported B+WISER Program and ECFISH Project collaborated with the US Department of Justice’ International Criminal Investigation Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) and the Philippine National Police Training Service to conduct the training.

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Indigenous people use LAWIN to protect Philippine Eagle couple in Sibulan

Equipped with the skills to record threats to natural forests using the open-source software CyberTracker, indigenous peoples (IPs) belonging to the Bagobo-Tagabawa tribe are starting to implment LAWIN this week to protect the remaining 1,900 hectares of natural forest in the Sibulan conservation inside Mt. Apo Natural Park. USAID’s Biodiversity and Watersheds Improved for Stronger Economy and Ecosystem Resilience (B+WISER) Program, in partnership with the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF), trained 40 IP forest guards of the Bagobo Tagabawa tribe to implement the LAWIN Forest and Biodiversity Protection System on June 20-22, 2016.

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DENR turns over LAWIN patrol equipment to Region 5

On June 22, the Department of Environment and Natural Resource (DENR) turned over 102 smartphones and waterproof housings to DENR Region 5 technical officers and forest rangers to support the implementation of the USAID-developed LAWIN Forest and Biodiversity Protection System. The turn-over was part of the sixth nationwide LAWIN roll-out training. More than 130 Forest Rangers and Forestry Technicians learned how to implement LAWIN, including the use of an app-based monitoring component which allows for paperless and geo-referenced data collection during forest patrols.

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USAID-developed LAWIN to Support Payment for Ecosystem Services

On June 14, the Bago City Environment and Natural Resource Officer Vicente Mesias showcased a new payment for ecosystem services (PES) model with the goal to provide sustainable financing for forest protection efforts. The presentation was made during the LAWIN roll-out training for DENR personnel of the Negros Island Region (NIR), attended by some 160 officials and forest rangers. USAID’s Biodiversity and Watersheds Improved for Stronger Economy and Ecosystem Resilience (B+WISER) Program assisted Bago City to develop and pioneer this performance-based PES which is expected to significantly enhance forest protection efforts in the region.

Read more: USAID-developed LAWIN to Support Payment for Ecosystem Services