1. The Foundation for the Philippine Environment (FPE) funded 67 projects worth P40.98 million in the past fiscal year, focusing on large grants and community-led conservation projects. 2. FPE formulated a new 10-year strategic plan from 2015-2025 to take a longer view of conservation needs and align goals with national and global targets. They also aim to double the size of their trust fund to P60 million per year to sustain environmental projects long-term. 3. FPE strengthened partnerships with development organizations, providing additional P20.66 million in project funding. They also improved knowledge management through an online grants system and initiated disaster risk reduction in vulnerable sites impacted by climate change.

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Report to the FPE General Assembly
by the Immediate Past FPE Chair & CEO
October 10, 2014
Quezon City
(Slide 1: Cover Slide)
(Slide 2)
I am pleased to report our milestones from the past fiscal year.
First, we funded 67 projects worth a total of P40.98 million
during the 12 months in review.
(Slide 3)
Majority of our trust fund earnings went to large grant and site
projects in the past year. These community-led terrestrial and
marine have proven as the best barometer of our impact on
the ground.
Diverse environmental advocates also sought FPE grants to help
build grassroots coalitions, promote public discussion, influence
policy, and develop their capacities through training, research
and symposia.

2. 2
(Slide 4)
From our frequent field visits and discussions with project
partners, we saw the urgency to set clear roadmaps and reinforce
a more holistic approach to conservation. The Board of Trustees
and staff thus worked year-round on the following strategic
initiatives that were also a response to an in-depth evaluation of
our organizational track record:
(Slide 5)
First, we focused on nine project sites situated within key
biodiversity areas. Giving support to as many as 22 sites had
fragmented our assistance and led to uneven project outcomes.
More sites also meant higher operational costs, redounding to
smaller projects with lower potential to create impact. Our
current funding limit per project reflects our thinly spread
resources. By rationalizing our project footprint, we hope to
engage more community partners and a broader ecosystem in
every site.
(Slide 6)
Second, the Board decided to take a longer view of FPE’s
future. We thus formulated a new 10-year strategic plan (2015-
2025) in consideration of the long-term needs and required

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gestation period of BCSD interventions. The typical five-year
planning frame was inadequate for measuring results. Our new
strategic plan aligns FPE’s project goals more closely with
national and global conservation targets. We believe that the new
long-term strategy presents a more realistic perspective of what
we can contribute towards restoring and preserving our part of
the planet.
Third, we aimed to double the size of our trust fund by year
2025 and manage it prudently over the same 10-year horizon.
We are determined to generate project funds greater than the
current P60 million a year from our investment. Even as we
decrease our number of sites, environmental projects will need
to be sustained for longer periods and therefore require a lot
of resources. Our resource mobilization strategy will explore
anew a debt-for-nature swap for the first time in two decades,
carbon credits and other innovative financial instrumentalities.
(Slide 7)
Fourth, we maximized the counterpart contribution of our
local and international development partners, thus mobilizing
an additional P20.66 million for projects last year. These

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contributions came from our partnership with EU-FUNDESO for
the Mainstreaming Indigenous Peoples’ Participation in
Environmental Governance project, the USAID Upscaling Forest
Restoration Efforts in Key Biodiversity Areas project, and the EU-
AnthroWatch Consolidating Indigenous Peoples Forest Corridors
through Sustainable Ancestral Domain Management project.
(Slide 8)
Fifth, we recognized on a growing scale how sustainability
rests on livelihoods so we infused livelihood development into
our new conservation management plan as a form of
“conservation tradeoff”. This is to relieve the pressure on
people to extract more resources from their area. In a
watershed reserve in Negros Occidental, we urged farmers to
plant and extract lemongrass as a financially rewarding option
to their destructive coal-making business. For good measure, we
distributed solar home systems as well in off-grid households
to power TV sets, a mobile phone and up to four LED lanterns
overnight. As a trade off, each family with a solar home system
will establish a 1.5-hectare rainforest farm to buffer or protect
remaining forests.
(Slide 9)

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Sixth, the evaluations confirmed that many of our partners on
the ground were good project implementers. But there
remains much to be done on the financial management side.
Having strong financial systems would not only improve the
governance and accountability of FPE grant recipients. It would
also pave the way for them to effectively manage and grow their
financial resources.
Seventh, FPE maintained its strategic partnerships with
international and local development organizations. At the
international level, FPE continues to be member of the
International Union for the Conservation for Nature, and was
previously given a seat in the Steering Committee of the GEF-
Small Grants Program 5. (Just recently, FPE was selected as the
Grants Manager of GEF-SGP5 in the Philippines). At the national
level, we maintained our critical collaboration with the DENR-led
National Greening Program. We extended our partnership with
Globe Telecom to provide cellular phones and special SIM cards
that automatically give the forest guards who use them a 50%
discount on regular fees. The forest guards were also connected
to BPI Globe Bangko to help them send and receive electronic
cash transfers while in the field, and their insurance coverage was

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raised as well. Another unique tie-up we undertook last year was
having the winners of the Ms. Earth pageant as ambassadors and
program emcees during public events. We invited them to join
our tree planting and school visits to help promote our
advocacies, while they relied on FPE to help build their own
capabilities to be good spokespersons for the environment. We
also continue to provide support to FPE3 and we are now
sharing an office space with them.
(Slide 10)
Eight, FPE initiated a knowledge management roadmap
beginning with the grants online-management information
system. This year, the FPE grants online management
information system was developed to make it easier to submit
grant applications and receive immediate feedback from us
regarding application status. It also serves as an interactive
project tracking and monitoring system, which allows immediate
generation of summary reports for project trending and decision-
making. The Board also created a Knowledge Management
Committee that would guide FPE in putting BCSD information
and knowledge into action.

7. 7
(Slide 11)
Last but not the least, in succeeding years, FPE will integrate
disaster risk reduction in selected vulnerable sites and
communities. The unprecedented level of human and ecological
damage from typhoon Yolanda in November 2013 can happen
again. We must be proactive in facing the onslaught of similar
disasters. The Board immediately approved a project for
Eastern Samar last year to complement the post-Yolanda efforts
of other donors. FPE will help rehabilitate the ecosystems and
natural resource-based livelihoods in Guiuan municipality and
Gigantes Islands. Among the Foundation’s targets are to restore
50 hectares of mangrove green walls and 20 coral reef sites
through 2015. Many of our projects already focus on community
resilience and adaptation to the impacts of climate change. It is a
long-term and cross-cutting strategy that the institution must be
able to pursue.
(Last Slide)
In the years to come, we envision a dynamic and relevant
FPE leading actions towards healthy ecosystems and resilient
communities.

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