October 2014 Archives

The Pastor Delbert Rice Small Grant Fund (PDR-SGF)-for Community Based Forest Ecosystem Initiatives

NTFP-EP is launching the Pastor Delbert Rice Small Grant Fund for Community-based Forest Ecosystem Initiatives (PDR SGF). Reverend Delbert Arthur Rice was the former Board Treasurer of NTFP-EP who passed away last May 8, 2014. Pastor Rice was an American missionary and champion of the indigenous Ikalahan tribe in the mountainous Brgy. Imugan, Sta. Fe, Nueva Vizcaya, Northern Luzon, Philippines. He was an anthropologist and mechanical engineer by profession and a well-known educator and ecologist.

Pastor committed over 50 years of his life in the Philippines, dedicated to the cause of environment protection and social justice.

He was a force in the defense of indigenous peoples’ rights and an advocate of forest conservation and sustainable resource utilization. His support for the Ikalahan Forest Reserve and the struggle for recognition of indigenous lands bore fruit in 1974 when the Ikalahan were granted MOA 1 which was the first community forestry agreement of its kind and established the 14,730 ha. reserve.

With the help of Pastor Rice, the Kalahan Educational Foundation (KEF) was established as a people’s organization of the Ikalahan Peoples of Northern Luzon. KEF was the pioneer in the establishment of the first Ikalahan school system recognized by the Government. It is best known though for its Mountain Fresh jams and jellies made of indigenous forest fruits.

The Kalahan experience has become a model for CBFM and ancestral domain programs alike. Before Pastor’s death, the Ateneo de Manila University confirmed on him the Ozanam award for community service.

Initiatives supported by the Pastor Delbert Rice Small Grant Fund

In the spirit of Pastor Delbert Rice, the PDR-SGF facility aims to support community-based projects with themes that were close to Pastor’s heart, especially in the field of forest conservation:

• Community-based forest restoration; including incorporating NTFP species with larger tree species.
• Sustainable NTFP management including resource management and sustainable utilization
• Traditional ecological knowledge in sustainable forest management and food security. Involvement of the youth is especially desireable.
• Customary land rights and ancestral domain recognition to secure long term incentives to conservation
• Advocacies against development aggression, especially in forest areas with high conservation values.

This overall grant window will be made accessible to more communities in forested areas throughout Asia including the countries of NTFP-EP partners such as Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam and possibly other Mekong countries. A call for proposals will be launched in early 2015.

NTFP-EP thanks Both ENDS, Broderlik Delen and Samdhana Foundation for initial contributions to the fund. NTFP-EP continues to accept donations to the fund at these bank accounts:

Name: Non Timber Forest Products Exchange Programme Incorporated (NTFP-EP)
Account Numbers: 1991-0096-94 (Peso) / 1994-0638-19 (Euro)
Bank Name: Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), Kalayaan Branch
Bank Address: BPI Kalayaan, 114 Kalayan Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City
Contact Number: +63 2 921 17 67
Swift Code: BOPIPHMM

For more information contact Tes Matibag (mpmatibag@gmail.com and sgf@ntfp.org)

The Dayak Weavers of Kalimantan are at it again!

Congratulations to Borneo Chic and the Dayak Iban weavers of Pengerak, Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan and the Dayak Bentian weavers of Kutai Barat, East Kalimantan for this achievement of receiving the ‘World crafts council seal of excellence award for handicrafts for 2014 Southeast Asia programme)’.This award is a program of UNESCO and WCC.

The WCC Award of Excellence for Handicrafts aims to encourage artisans to produce handicrafts that use traditional skills, patterns and themes in an innovative way, to ensure the continuity and sustainability of these traditions and skills including so as to set quality standards, raise international awareness and strengthen the promotional potential for handicraft products to enable them compete in the global market and automatically increasing the welfare of the artisans.

Congratulations to the Dayak Desa weavers of Sintang,West Kalimantan and JMM and also the Dayak Iban Tujuh Dara weavers supported by Riak Bumi in Danau Sentarum, Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan for also winning additional awards from WCC!

May the world appreciate more the traditional knowledge and skills of indigenous peoples expressed in their crafts…

Enhancing livelihoods through community forestry

In light of the ASFN partnership, NTFP-EP co-facilitated with RECOFTC, the training, Enhancing Livelihoods Through Community Forestry in Bangkok, Thailand in October 2014. 23 professional trainers and representatives from government agencies and NGOs coming from Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, China, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Malaysia participated in the 1-week training.

The training aimed to provide the participants a venue to explore how Community Forestry could assist livelihoods enhancement of forest-based communities. It also provided the participants with participatory tools to support them in identifying and selecting products or services for community enterprises. The main tools used were Sustainable Livelihood Approach, Value Chain Analysis Tool, and NTFP-EP’s Product Scanning and Selection tool.

The highlight of the training was the visit to the Ban Huay Sapan Samukkee Community Forests where the CF committee and community members warmly welcomed the group with food and drinks harvested from their forest. The visit was brimming with discussion and exchange of experiences on community forestry. Participants were also given the chance to put to use the tools they learned from the training working with existing community enterprises: Decorative Flowers, Wild Mushrooms and Vegetable Crackers.

Ban Huay Sapan Samukkee Community Forests is one of the good examples of community-initiated Community Forest in Thailand. From a sugar cane plantation, the community was able to restore and maintain their forest. Strong leadership and community participation as well as external support are the key factors that contributed to their successful CF.

At the end of the training, participants agreed that with appropriate support, communities could establish and manage strong community forestry enterprises. Participants also learned the importance of starting from market knowledge when selecting and developing a product/enterprise. As one participant said, it’s simple but sometimes it is something we forget when we develop livelihood programs.

Time outside the training also provided a chance for participants to exchange information and experiences. In the end, the training was a valuable opportunity to draw from the experience and competencies of the ASSFC partners to strengthen ASEAN partners and move community forestry forward.