Yesterday, Australian Ambassador to the Philippines, Her Excellency Hae Kyong Yu, PSM graced the #PEC with her presence. During her visit, she met the Indigenous community leaders of the Mt Apo Indigenous Peoples Coalition for Biodiversity, Environment, and Cultural Integrity (IP-CBEC). The Australian Embassy is a key sponsor of the launch of IP-CBEC and Her Excellency H.K. Yu acknowledged the importance of conservation being done through the methods of the Indigenous communities and thanked the IP leaders of Mt Apo for their efforts.
The Australian Embassy and Australia Global Alumni have been supporting our several projects such as the Philippine eagle Conservation Translocation project in Leyte through the Direct Aid Program, and also the Mt. Apo and Pantaron Indigenous Peoples Coalition project under the Alumni Grant Scheme. These projects are done through the Culture-based Conservation Approach that puts our IP partners and their methods at the forefront of protecting our national bird and its forest habitat. Approximately 80% of Philippine eagle nesting sites are within ancestral domains of our Indigenous communities. Empowering our IP partners is the goal of cultur-based conservation as they are the most equipped to conserve and manage the natural resources in their ancestral domain.