The Mount Apo Foundation, Inc. (MAFI) has been taking bolder steps since 2019 in raising additional funds from external sources in addition to the Environmental and Tribal Welfare Trust Fund (ETWTF) provided by the Energy Development Corporation (EDC) through the one-centavo per kilowatt hour of geothermal electricity generated in the Mt. Apo Geothermal Powerplant Project. This institutional initiative is in alignment with the foundation’s resource mobilization strategy in order to support the three programs of MAFI more sustainably.
Coinciding its 29th year as a foundation, August 30, 2022 marked a milestone for MAFI as it luckily received a grant, among 13 civil society organizations in the Philippines, amounting to Php15,998,592.00 from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its managing organization, the Gerry Roxas Foundation (GRF). Under the first cycle of Investing in Sustainability and Partnerships for Inclusive Growth and Regenerative Ecosystems (INSPIRE) Project, MAFI’s three-year project is entitled, “Posokaddoy: Empowering Indigenous Communities Toward Integrated Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Landscapes in Central Pantaron Range”. The geographical scope of the Central Pantaron Range are the two key biodiversity areas (KBAs), namely, Mt. Apo Natural Park consisting of the municipalities of Magpet and Makilala and the city of Kidapawan, and Mt. Mahuson in the municipality of Arakan, all in North Cotabato.
Posokaddoy, a Manobo term for “unity” or “unification”, aims to promote regenerative development within the Mt. Apo and Mt. Mahuson KBAs by empowering various IP groups within their respective ancestral domains. It intends to replicate the best practices of forest restoration, biodiversity conservation, watershed management and IP empowerment done by MAFI and EDC with the Cotabato Tribal Consultative Council for Development, Inc. (CTCCDI). Specifically, the project embarks on four strategic approaches, namely: 1) cultural empowerment, 2) forest restoration and biodiversity conservation, 3) biodiversity-friendly and culture-based livelihood/social enterprises, and 4) IEC/advocacy support.
The expected outcomes of the project are: 1) The four CADTs are capacitated and empowered leading to their unification and federation; 2) Degraded forests are restored and biodiversity areas are protected; 3) Income-earning, biodiversity-friendly and culture-based livelihood and enterprise projects are initiated towards the sustainability of the four CADTs; and, 4) Public awareness on the cultural and biological importance of the sites in Central Pantaron Range is increased.
The Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICC/IPs) that will benefit from the project are the following CADTs:
The co-implementing partners of the Posokaddoy project are the EDC-Mt. Apo Corporate Relations Department as the private sector partner, and the CTCCDI, an IP organization in North Cotabato based in Kidapawan City. The former provides technical assistance, while the latter assists in cultural/community interventions.
In particular, the Posokaddoy project enhances program implementation of the Foundation, integrating two institutional programs, namely, Community and Environment Program (CEP) and Cultural Heritage Program (CHP) in the next three years (2022-2025). Under this special project, the intervention encompasses not only the main areas of responsibility (AOR) of MAFI composed of Kidapawan City and the municipalities of Magpet and Makilala in the Mount Apo Natural Park, but also the municipality of Arakan in the Mt. Mahuson Range.
As we take pride in grabbing this project and funding opportunity, MAFI is grateful for the trust bestowed by the managing organization of the INSPIRE Project, the Gerry Roxas Foundation and the United States Agency for Development (USAID), the world’s premier international development agency, for the foundation to pursue its dream of empowering active and functional ancestral domains in order to protect their natural resource base and to preserve their cultural heritage at the landscape level.
Together with EDC and CTCCDI and the four CADT partners in Central Pantaron Range, we in MAFI will try our best to make this project a productive and a sucessful initiative, hoping to make a dent in improving the lives of the indigenous communities, conserving biodiversity and sustaining our future.
