The Mindoro Forest and Biodiversity Conservation Programme combines Indigenous forest patrols, ancestral-domain support, carbon monitoring and livelihood projects to protect more than 40,000 hectares (nearly 99,000 acres) of Iraya Mangyan forest.Indigenous patrollers and local officials say the program has already strengthened monitoring and helped reduce timber poaching and small-scale mining, while surveys have documented hundreds of plant and animal species across the project area.Community nurseries and paid conservation roles are creating early livelihood opportunities, but many benefits remain limited and uneven while the project awaits verification, a finalized benefit-sharing agreement and carbon revenue expected no earlier than around 2029.Whether the program can deliver lasting benefits will depend on finalizing a transparent revenue-sharing agreement, sustaining patrols and livelihoods during the long wait for carbon income, and ensuring the Iraya retain a meaningful role in decisions over their forests.
PUERTO GALERA, Philippines — Before sunrise, Bernito Pampilo shoulders a backpack carrying a mobile phone, flashlight and enough food — he hopes — for a day’s patrol through the forests of Puerto Galera in northern Mindoro, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Manila.
