“Poverty is neither a fate nor a punishment but a condition that must be changed.”

It was in the afternoon of November in 2004 when a village called Mahabang Lalim, in General Nakar, Quezon within Mountains Irid-Angelo Important Biodiversity Area (IBA), was affected by a great flash flood, which caused massive destruction in properties, livelihood, lives and
environment altering the landscape with mud and wood debris.

Morning after the tragedy, hopelessness was etched on the people’s faces. In order to feed their families, the dependence of the people on the forest resources for livelihood increased, which resulted to slash and burn farming commonly known as kaingin and charcoal production.

In 2006, the local government of General Nakar entered into a partnership with Haribon Foundation and BirdLife International through the European Union funded Governance and Local Development for Endangered Forests (GOLDEN Forest) project.

The GOLDEN Forest project endeavored to protect the remaining forests of endangered IBAs such as Mts. Irid-Angelo, which is one of the vast habitats of the critically endangered Philippine Eagle, by improving the capacities and capabilities of local stakeholders on forest conservation and management and sustainable livelihood development. The partnership through the project initiated actions locally but contributed globally with the reduction of emissions from forest destruction and degradation caused by slash and burn farming as practiced by forest dependent families.

These families realized the impacts of their unsustainable farming practices after having participated in participatory rural appraisals, capacity and capability building, project development and livelihood implementation initiatives of GOLDEN Forest.

With these developments, the local communities were empowered, and they have decided to form people’s organizations (POs) through Haribon Foundation’s technical assistance. Some volunteered to become stewards of Mts. Irid-Angelo functioning as Site Support Groups.

Two POs, SAMAKABAY and OMAKAP, in Mahabang Lalim were formed; formally registered and recognized by the LGU of General Nakar. SAMAKABAY and OMAKAP committed to unite and protect nature and biodiversity, and at the same time, provide sustainable livelihood to their members leading toward the progress of their community.

The POs identified and developed livelihood projects determined through the participatory rural appraisal conducted by the project. The livelihood projects of the POs were implemented to attain economic stability through income generation and food security. A total of 26.47 hectares of degraded rice field were rehabilitated in collaboration with the local government, Haribon Foundation and the villagers through the signing of livelihood conservation agreements among the three parties.

In 2009, the villagers and POs have increased income and savings after having adopted and applied the biodiversity-friendly agricultural technologies in their farms instilling in them the values of self-sufficiency, unity and empowerment.

Because of this development, they are now being tapped by local and national government
agencies as trainers on sustainable agriculture for other communities.

Bridging the gap between biodiversity and poverty reduction may not be simple, but like the local communities of General Nakar, specifically Mahabang Lalim, there is still hope once people have been educated and trained on forest and biodiversity conservation.

There could be more agents of change in bridging this gap!