Building Capacities for Eco-Resilience in the Philippines

This project aims to increase resilience of Philippine ecosystems and citizens particularly Indigenous Peoples and women and girls dependent on ecosystem services. It supports the adoption and implementation of an ecosystem-based DRR (Disaster Risk and Resilience) approach (Eco-DRR) namely measuring and mitigating the impacts of natural disasters on communities and ecosystems and financing and planning ecosystem restoration and recovery activities when disasters occur. Project activities include: (1) providing training technology and platforms to improve ecosystem-based disaster planning assessment and rehabilitation; (2) establishing incubator sites and inter-agency Eco-DRR command centers in collaboration with the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). This seeks to facilitate Eco-DRR training and demonstrate nature-based solutions for disaster resilience and ecosystem restoration; and (3) establishing a leadership fellows programme for women to provide peer-to-peer learning and mentoring on Eco-DRR and ecosystem restoration. The project benefits more than 3.5 million Filipinos in climate- and disaster-vulnerable provinces with high biodiversity. It aims to support ecosystems restoration in at least 125 000 hectares to increase post-disaster ecosystem resilience and train at least 3 500 women and men from national and local governments peoples’ organizations women and Indigenous Peoples in the communities.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) enhanced implementation of rights-based gender-responsive ecosystem-based disaster risk-reduction and ecosystem restoration in the Philippines; and (2) strengthened participation and leadership of women indigenous people and local communities in rights-based gender-responsive ecosystem-based risk reduction implementation and ecosystem restoration in the Philippines.