FPE (Foundation for the Philippine Environment) has been operating for 25 years, fostering partnerships for environmental conservation in the Philippines. It began in 1992 as the country's first non-government environmental grant-making organization. Over the decades, FPE has funded numerous conservation projects, leveraged additional funding from partners, supported legal defense of the environment, conducted research, and advocated for issues like mining and logging reforms. As it celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2017, FPE has a renewed strategic plan and long-term focus on six priority conservation sites across the country.

1. C E L E B R A T I N G C O N N E C T E D N E S S
T H R O U G H C O N S E R V A T I O N
FPE at 25
2 5 Y E A R S O F F O S T E R I N G
P A R T N E R S H I P S F O R T H E E N V I R O N M E N T

2. The US$125 M Natural Resources Management Program makes
debt-for-nature swaps accessible to developing countries
seeking to reduce external debt. Technical assistance from
WWF-US and Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP)
sets stage for local endowment fund for the environment.
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3. 1 9 9 2
J A N U A R Y 1 5
FPE becomes the country’s first
and largest non-government
grant-making organization for
environmental projects of civil
society.

4. 1 9 9 3
Regional Advisory Committees (RAC) in Luzon, Visayas and
Mindanao set their Regional Environmental Agenda (REA)
and select priority conservation sites. Among the earliest
grants were for non-government and peoples organizations
(NGO/PO) efforts on protected area and Community-Based
Resource Management (CBRM)

5. 1 9 9 4
Full management of the US$22 M Environmental
Endowment Fund was transferred from USAID to
FPE for biodiversity projects in the Philippines.

6. The FPE Experts Advisory Panel, composed of scientists, professors and
research experts, was formed to assess 21 priority sites. FPE finds a
home in Teacher’s Village, Quezon City.
1 9 9 5

7. 1 9 9 6
FPE partners with the Philippine Development Assistance
Program (PDAP) to jointly develop, fund and monitor projects
to focusing on the complementarity of lowland sustainable
agriculture and upland biodiversity conservation; and
Philippine Agrarian Reform Foundation for Rural Development
(PARFUND) to assist indigenous cultural communities (ICCs) in
developing ancestral domain management plans.

8. REA and CBRM help frame FPE’s strategic focus. Leveraged funding
with bilateral and multilateral agencies (Australia, GEF, UNDP and
USAID) to jump start conservation actions in Mt. Matutum, Ligawasan
Marsh, and the Bohol Island Marine Triangle; and provided support to
assess climate change impact on biodiversity loss.FSSI, PRRM and FPE
co-publish “Living Stories: Exemplary Practices in Environment and
Sustainable Development.”
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9. 2 0 0 0
2 0 0 1
FPE adopts Area-Based Strategy for more visible
collaboration and connectedness with partners;
decentralizes operational accountability and
responsibility for the environment.
FPE co-organizes 1st National Conference on
Protected Area Management in Davao to
synthesize PA management concerns and actions.
That same year, the Pederasyon ng mga Aytang
Samahan sa Sambales (PASS), a pioneering
attempt for different organizations and
communities of indigenous peoples (IP) to jointly
manage their ancestral domains, was supported.

10. FPE, with three other environmental CSOs, were instrumental
in raising support for forestry issues that led to the birth of
the Philippine Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation, which
manages the US$8.2 M commitment from the US Tropical
Forest Conservation Act to fund forest conservation in the
next 14 years. FPE mounts proactive Environmental Legal
Defense program for forest and coastal-marine communities to
become better protected by environmental laws.
2 0 0 2

11. 2 0 0 3
FPE forms the Fostering People’s
Education, Empowerment and Enterprise or
FPE —a subsidiary that supports natural
resource-based social enterprises.
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The country hosts, with FPE’s support,
the 3rd Southeast Asian Regional Meeting
of the IUCN-World Commission on
Protected Areas.
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FPE and PBSP help develop monitoring and
evaluation indicators for Population, Health
and Environment.
3

12. 2 0 0 4
FPE and other groups lead
formation of Task Force
Sierra Madre in response to
disastrous mountain slides in
Infanta, Quezon.
A PCIJ grant examines the
tragedy’s roots and
identifies possible causes,
therefore helping fast track
the filing of court cases
against logging firms
FPE establishes Advocacy
Support Fund for IPs and
other groups that address
mining issues.

13. 2 0 0 5
FPE plots CARRESI strategy (constituency building,
advocacy, research, resource mobilization,
environmental defense, sites, and institutional
building) for its grants program. The 1st National
Grassroots Conference on Mining in Marinduque
examines community impact and perceived
environmental threats.

14. Research on the impact of aerial pesticide spraying in Davao
banana plantations affirms local ordinance citing its hazards to
health and the environment.
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FPE supports the Green Renewable Independent Power
Producers (GRIPP) Climate-Friendly Cities project, showing
clean energy solutions that curb carbon emissions and make
viable business models. GRIPP launches full-scale operation in
Bacolod City through a fleet of electric jeepneys.
2 0 0 6
2 0 0 7

15. 2 0 0 8
FPE develops program
framework on Community-
Based Disaster Risk
Reduction for its sites.
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FPE supports the publication
of Newsbreak magazine’s
special issue entitled “The
Big Dig: Mining Rush Rakes
Tons of Conflict” – the first
journalistic assessment of
the mining industry since the
Supreme Court upheld the
Mining Act in 1995.

16. 2 0 0 9
Resource and socio-economic assessments lead to
discovery in Balbalasang-Balbalan National Park of
Rafflesia leonardi, an indigenous variety of the world’s
largest flower.

17. Environmental Defense Program expands legal and paralegal
services through the Alternative Law Group. CSOs step up
reforestation of Marikina watershed in the aftermath of
Typhoon Ondoy (Haiyan). FPE manages Mainstreaming
Indigenous Peoples’ Participation in Environmental
Governance (MIPPEG) project funded by EU and FUNDESO.
2 0 1 0

18. 2 0 1 1
PE becomes a member of the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to present issues on a
global stage. Advisers and partners revisit stand on
national issues including mining, logging, unsustainable
agriculture, non-renewable energy, climate change and
disaster risks, pollution, and land conversion. FPE
implements a USAID-funded project to upscale forest
restoration efforts in key biodiversity areas.

19. 2 0 1 2
FPE helps persuade DENR to phase out exotic trees and use
Philippine native trees instead for the PhP 5.7B National
Greening Program. From the initial PhP 569M endowment in
1992, the cumulative valuation and utilization crosses the
PhP 1B mark, demonstrating strong fund stewardship and
enabling FPE to provide financial and technical assistance to
community-based groups in KBAs.

20. 2 0 1 3
FPE grants concentrate on 6 from 12 key
conservation sites, for a site-focused
intervention.
FPE initiates a sustainable financing
mechanisms project that looks at how host
communities of 11 major watershed areas, many
of which are IPs, can equitably benefit from
dues collected from commercial use of water
from these watersheds.

21. FPE takes into account livelihood concerns as part of
overall conservation management to lessen destructive
and extractive activities. FPE integrates ecosystem-
based disaster risk reduction and rehabilitation to
support vulnerable communities in KBAs following the
devastation brought by Typhoon Yolanda in late 2013.
FPE launches the first ever Sarihay Media Awards to
recognize and award excellence in environmental
reporting. Since then, more attention has been given to
environmental issues and challenges by the media.
2 0 1 4

22. 2 0 1 5
FPE develops a ten-year (2015-2025) strategic plan to be more responsive
in its conservation and community development approaches and strategies.
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As NGO Responsible Party of the 5th phase of the GEF-UNDP Small Grants
Program in the Philippines, FPE monitors and evaluates program grantees in
Samar, Sierra Madre and Palawan.
FPE also collaborates with the global Climate Reality Project to help raise
awareness of climate change issues and catalyze local actions to enhance the
resiliency of ecosystems and communities.

23. FPE launches its Small Grants Facility for POs and IPOs to enable
grassroots level organizations access support for community-based
BCSD projects. FPE's fund valuation and utilization has cumulatively
reached PhP2B.
2 0 1 6

24. 2 0 1 7
FPE marks its 25th year by publicly launching its new Strategic Plan, with
a renewed vision: "To be a dynamic, relevant, and growing organization
leading actions in biodiversity conservation and sustainable development
toward healthy ecosystems and resilient communities", with long-term
focus on six priority sites: Mt. Kalbario-Patapat Natural Park in Ilocos
Norte, Sibuyan Island in Romblon, Mt. Nacolod Protected Landscape in
Southern Leyte, Gigantes Islands in Iloilo, Agusan Marsh & Wildlife
Sanctuary in Agusan del Sur, and Ligawasan Marsh in Maguindanao.

25. W W W . F P E . P H