Export PDF

FPE-Funded Researches

[2012] Natural Resource Assessment of Mt. Sisipitan and Mt. Mugao Ancestral Domain

The municipality of Tubo in Abra is a critical watershed of the northern Luzon area and is home to rich natural biodiversity. These natural resources, however, are under threat because of continued extractive industries and unsustainable practices such as timber poaching, slash-and-burn (kaingin) farming, over-hunting, and fishing.

Project Proponent/Partner: Tipon iti Umili Para itiPanangsaluad ti Nakaparsuan (TIPON)

The municipality of Tubo in Abra is a critical watershed of the northern Luzon area and is home to rich natural biodiversity. Various plant and animal species there offer socio-economic and cultural value to the local communities, particularly the Maeng tribe. These natural resources, however, are under threat because of continued extractive industries and unsustainable practices such as timber poaching, slash-and-burn (kaingin) farming, over-hunting, and fishing.

This research project by the TiponitiUmili Para itiPanangsaluad ti Nakaparsuan (TIPON) was proposed to assess the watershed resources, particularly the forest, freshwater, and wildlife of Mt. Sisipitan and Mt. Mugao. The study was intended to determine the conservation needs of the designated areas apart from the need for reforestation, for which the National Greening Program (NGP) is already being put into effect in collaboration with TIPON.

The project proponents are one of FPE’s civil society organization (CSO) partners and also a partner under the Mainstreaming Indigenous People’s Participation in Environmental Governance (MIPPEG) project of the European Union (EU) and FundaciónDesarrolloSostenido (Fundeso), with support from FPE.The project aims to promote and uphold the rights of IPs to self-governance and self-determination while encouraging and enabling them to effectively participate in the sustainable development agenda hand-in-hand with the larger community as environmental stewards of their ancestral domain.

The results of the assessment were used to recognize and promote Lapat, the name by which the Maengs refer to their sustainable traditional and indigenous forest resources management systems andpractices, to the national level and into the international community as an indigenous and community-conserved area (ICCA). The findings were also used as key input in the enhancement of the Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development Protection Plan (ADSDPP), particularly in light of natural resource conservation.