Capacity Building and Promotion of Dynamic Conservation and Sustainable Use of Agro-biodiversity in traditional ecosystems of the Philippines/In situ conservation of traditional varieties

Following the successful implementation of the FAO-GEF funded ‘Conservation and Adaptive Management of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Global Project’ (2005-2015), an upscaled FAO-GEF Philippine project was started in 2017, led by the Department of Agriculture along with partner institutions at different levels. The project aims to develop capacities of stakeholders to promote dynamic conservation practices that sustain globally significant agrobiodiversity in traditional agroecosystems of the Philippines. Core components include (1) mainstreaming agrobiodiversity considerations into policy and legal frameworks, development strategies and institutional structures; (2) on-the-ground activities to enhance and expand dynamic conservation practices for agrobiodiversity in three pilot municipalities; and (3) dissemination of information and awareness raising. Key achievements include agrobiodiversity inventory, mapping, and documentation, e.g. of traditional rice varieties and wild relatives in several municipalities of Ifugao province and of the indigenous fibre crop ‘abaca’ in South Cotabato province; collection and depository od traditional rice seeds to national genebank; establishment of 17 community seed banks; trainings on product development and marketing; linking farmers and private enterprises; and proposed amendments to include Farmers’ Rights in the Seed Act.