Organizational Profile

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The Palawan Biodiversity Conservation Advocates Inc. (PBCAI)was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a non-profit organization on November 22, 2017 with SEC Registration No. CN201738431.
PBCAI envisions Palawan to have a healthy and rich natural resources sustainable providing ecosystems goods and services to the local populations thru the dynamic process of resource-proprietorship and sustainable development and initiatives.

Structurally, we are composed of environmental advocates with long stint working with NGOs with local, regional and international scope. PBCAI core competence includes biodiversity conservation (marine, forest/terrestrial, and wildlife), social- enterprise, sustainable agriculture, aqua-culture projects, monitoring and evaluation, project proposal development /writing, field-specific Baseline Assessment e.g WACS, biophysical surveys on flora and fauna and marine; and Indigenous Peoples (IP) works- (services-related, ADSDPP and IKSP) and biophysical surveys such as Coral Reef and Mangrove and Seagrass Assessments.
Voluntarism is a core value of PBCAI. The organization has been involved in various coastal clean-up activities in different areas in Puerto Princesa City. PBCAI has also responded to the needs of victims of fires in the city even during the Covid 19 pandemic. Members of the organization provided technical assistance to sea turtle monitoring teams and respond to sea turtle rescue in coordination with the DENR-CENRO and City ENRO and continuously provide training on Sea Turtle Conservation.
PBCAI have also engaged in Humanitarian Response works in Marawi thru Lutheran World Relief (LWR). In this engagement, LWR assigned PBCAI to work with their local partner named Maranao People Development Center (MARADECA). PBCAI assisted MARADECA in the preparation of a project proposal submitted to CSO-SEED British Council and EU joint undertaking entitled “Improving the quality of life of marginal coastal and lowland dwellers thru social enterprise enabling process for sustainable development. The approval of this project proposal by the CSO-SEED British Council is one of the most significant contribution of PBCAI to MARADECA as it will impact positively on the long socio-economic wellbeing of the internally-displaced people in Marawi.
On admin and finance aspects, we have satisfactorily passed the USAID NUPAS systems (Non-US organization Pre-Award Survey) capturing four (4) key areas involving (1) financial management and internal controls (2) procurement systems (3) project performance and management (4) organizational sustainability. In addition, we employ AUDITPAL, an on-line accounting systems for on-time, expedient and transparent financial transactions with the funding agencies.
Past Activities:
I. Sea Turtle Conservation
PBCAI was the technical arm of the Candis 3 Marketing Cooperative in 2014 to 2018 for the implementation of “Biodiversity Conservation in Puerto Princesa’s Northwest Area and its Attached Interconnected Ecosystems funded by the USAID-PhilAm Fund. The flagship component of this initiative is the sea turtle conservation and has been considered by USAID-Phil-Am Fund as one of the best performing biodiversity conservation project.

PBCAI has been invited by different organizations to conduct trainings in sea turtle conservation. These trainings provided the organization the opportunity to share its expertise and advance the work in marine turtle conservation in Palawan.

  1. PCBAI was also the technical partner of Candis 3 Marketing Coop for the implementation of the project entitled “Mitigating Threats to Marine Protected Area thru Reducing and Recycling Waste Materials”from 2018 to 2020.
  2. PBCAI is an active partner of Environmental Legal Assistance Center (ELAC) and a member of Save Palawan Movement – a coalition of Civil Society Organizations in Palawan working for good environmental governance and advocacy on natural resources management and has engaged in some environmental campaigns.
  3. Research
    In October 2018, PBCAI became a member of the Palawan Knowledge Platform for Biodiversity and Sustainable Development. PBCAI has been the project holder of Phase I, Phase II and Phase III of the project “Palawan Knowledge Platform (PKP) Collaborative Study on Mercury in Humans and Wildlife (Flora and Fauna) in Puerto Princesa City and the Province of Palawan.”
  4. “Intensifying Protection of Ancestral Domain thru Mobile Phone Communication Systems with Geo-tagging and other digital platforms”

This project was funded by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and was implemented in Barangays Panalingaan, Latud, Taburi, Ransang, Candawaga, and Culasian, in Rizal, Palawan Barangays Sumbiling and Taratak in Bataraza, Palawan from July 1 – October 31, 2020. The project intends to enable the IP communities to utilize civic space to express self-determined development direction and enhance its ability to document and communicate evidence of exploitations and environmental destructions.

Specifically, the 3-month project sought to support IP communities’ initiative towards overall protection of Ancestral Domain areas in Bataraza and Rizal and enable them to secure the commitment of support from concerned government agencies thru enhanced digital communication capacity, negotiation skills, and documentation of evidence of intrusions.

6.  Campaigns

  1. Save Palawan Movement (SPM) Campaign on No to the Division of Palawan into Three Provinces
  • Intensified Information, Education Campaign (IEC) against the Division of Palawan into Three Provinces thru Roving IEC

The holding of the plebiscite on RA 11259 (the law dividing Palawan into three provinces) on the first quarter of 2021 was approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) including health protocols that will be observed during the plebiscite. 

PBCAI launched a roving IEC campaign in the 6 municipalities in the southern part of Palawan.  The campaign has made the “No to Division” visible in areas with less access to social media.  It has brought inspiration to many of the “NO” advocates and supporters in the communities reached by the 8-day campaign and hopes to institute precedents to One Palawan supporters to organize and multiply the same effort, specifically in the island municipalities.

 VI.  Staff Development

  1. Staff Development Training – Sea Grass and Mangrove Assessment with resource persons from World Wildlife Fund conducted on October 13-15, 2020.

Ongoing initiatives:

  1. “Marine Conservation and Protection thru Functional Solid Waste Management Initiatives” – Coca-Cola Foundation, Inc.

This is a project funded by the Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines implemented from January to December 2020 with the following objectives:

a.  Enhance the biophysical condition of Marine Protected Areas for better ecosystems services.

b.  Improve waste segregation at source in the selected semi-urban areas.

c.  Improve the quality of life of the people thru the establishment of a community-based recycling project that will provide additional income to participating families.

d.  Empower women and provide benefits to children.

    Some of the activities conducted:

Coastal Clean-ups

  1. PBCAI was recently awarded as one of the Ocean Innovators for the project “Plastic Reduction in Marine Environment (PRIME) Project in Palawan, Philippines” UNDP– Ocean Innovation Challenge https://www.oceaninnovationchallenge.org/ocean-innovators?fbclid=IwAR3bYJWgS3dT3r3hrgTvUc4LkdPwlqzhEOWMPcRBGbisSBqe0I8yu738xbw

3.  Phase 2: “Study of Mercury on Wild Flora, Fauna and Humans in the Impact Areas  of the former Palawan QuickSilver Mines, Inc. (PQMI) in Puerto Princesa City” Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSDS)

4.  Phase 3: “Study of Mercury on Wild Flora, Fauna and Humans in the Impact Areas  of the former Palawan QuickSilver Mines, Inc. (PQMI) in Puerto Princesa City” Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSDS)

5. Preparing the Communities of Victoria Anepahan Mountain Range for REDD+ Engagement – partner of Center for Conservation Innovations Ph Inc.

6.  Partnering with Health 2 Oceans for Coastal Clean-up Activities in the Municipality of Roxas, Palawan  https://www.facebook.com/health2oceans/photos/a.163246091942354/302046811395614/

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Volunteer work in Marawi City(April 12-21, 2018)

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Sea Turtle Conservation (2018)

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Sea Turtle Conservation (2018)