[As Prepared]

[Greetings]

USAID is proud to partner with NATRIPAL, through the Philippine-American Fund, to strengthen your role in biodiversity conservation and environmental governance.

Biodiversity conservation and the well-being of indigenous peoples are closely intertwined. USAID engages closely with local communities to manage biodiversity in their own ancestral domains, which are often also protected areas. These efforts have resulted in more innovative, sustained and cost-effective ways to protect biodiversity.

As a result of our partnership, more than 30,000 seedlings of endemic trees were planted on 50 hectares of “rainforestation” sites. I am impressed that the community has taken an active role not only in rehabilitating the land but also in protecting the area to ensure its recovery. I would like to commend the over 100 individual foot patrollers, forest wardens and barangay leaders who are now trained on biodiversity conservation.

We are especially delighted that this partnership also expanded livelihoods for the local communities. The trading center that we are inaugurating today will be a place to promote and sell your products to local and foreign tourists. This will boost income for local households while strengthening community participation in protecting and sustaining biodiversity conservation initiatives.

As we celebrate your success today, I hope you will continue this invaluable conservation work so that future generations of Tagbanuas can enjoy this beautiful place. I also encourage you to share your success story with other communities, and in doing so, inspire them to join you in implementing a more sustained and cost effective way to manage biodiversity while preserving and fostering cultural heritage.

The U.S. government remains committed to promoting sustainable economic growth. And we must do so collaboratively, conserving natural resources through a joint partnership involving national and local governments, the private sector, and most importantly, local communities.

Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat!