A Seat at the PAMB Table

This focus on women’s role in conservation has been well-appreciated by its beneficiaries for there has not been an organization representing women at the PAMB in PP 1636 since the creation of the management board, although the participation of civil society in PA governance is included in the National Integrated Protected Areas (NIPAS) System Act of 1992 (Republic Act No. 7586) and this allows all eligible organizations to be members. Together with nine (9) women organizations in the REINA (Real, Infanta, General Nakar), Quezon, Women Go has been facilitating gender mainstreaming activities that effectively increased the participation of women in three levels: family, community, barangay (village), and the PAMB.

The Protected Area Management Board

A PAMB was created for each PA to oversee its management upon the declaration of the NIPAS Act or Republic Act (RA) No. 7586 in 1992 . Significant changes were observed during the proclamation of its amendment, RA No. 11038, in 2018. According to the PAMB Manual of Operations, the Committee on Community Management shall include women’s concerns, as well as other vulnerable sectors’ concerns and issues, within protected areas. Committees have yet to be formally convened and committee members have not yet been identified since their approval.

Figure 1. The structure of PAMB 1636 and its different committees. Source: PAMB Manual of Operations

Getting a Seat at the PAMB Table

To enhance women’s roles in PA governance, the Women Go project established the following targets involving the PAMB of PP 1636:

Two (2) agenda or programs must be supported by local authorities / PAMB
A woman’s organization must become a member of the PAMB
A PAMB committee/s must include women’s concerns and issues within the PA

On December 2021, KUMARE, Inc. passed a resolution that the organization will apply for PAMB membership. The project team guided the organization in preparing necessary documents and by June 2022, KUMARE was able to submit them to the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources – Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (DENR-CENRO). KUMARE’s application for membership was included in the official meeting agenda during the PAMB’s second quarterly meeting held in that same month. There was no quorum during the meeting.

A follow up was made in late 2022 during an informal communication with a Protected Area Management Office (PAMO) staff, which revealed that the PAMB membership will be reviewed based on the implementing rules and regulation (IRR) of the Expanded National Integrated Protected Area System (ENIPAS) and that they will require resubmission of application requirements. KUMARE complied with the lacking requirements and their application is currently pending call for membership deliberation by the PENRO and CENRO.

Women Go team and KUMARE have been doing periodic follow-ups on the application and keep raising it during the succeeding PAMB meetings. Meanwhile, significant advances to include the women sector in other management committees was achieved through the project as well.

By 2023, the women’s achievements include:

One (1) newly formed PAMB committee on community concerns include women’s issues and concerns
Membership in Agos River Management Council (KALIPI Infanta, KALIPI General Nakar and KUMARE)
Several other memberships in their respective barangay or municipal development councils or local committees in their respective communities and LGUs

Furthermore, steps to enable women’s participation or support in PA management strategies were taken, with the following accomplishments in 2023, to name a few:

KUMARE women’s group attended two or 50% of the regular quarterly meetings and one special meeting as observers. Sponsored by HARIBON, women leaders of both KALIPI and KUMARE also attended a special PAMB meeting in February 2022 to present their BDFE projects. KUMARE raised their question once again on the status of their application for PAMB membership in the same meeting. Currently, these meetings are still male-dominated, and no women’s organization represents the sector.
There are now at least three (3) women-led conservation programs supporting PA management, which have been adopted by the communities.

Malayo pa, pero malayo na (A long way still, and yet we’ve come this far)

In 2023, HARIBON and the Women Go team remained steadfast in maintaining the momentum of activities and reducing any risks or disruptions to the project’s targets. There has been consistent close coordination and maintenance of good relationships with the relevant offices and newly assigned heads of the DENR, local governments, and peace and order authorities such as the Philippine Army. Training schedules, budget, strategies, and methodologies have also been flexible so that the team could deliver outputs on time without compromising their quality. Use of virtual communication spaces for meetings were also practiced often, especially during the pandemic and even after, reducing travel time.

The year 2022 and 2023 saw its fair share of accomplishments in the Women Go project, but the journey continues. Organizing women and building their abilities to collectively represent, engage, understand, and assert their rights in PA governance require a multitude of trainings and the cooperation of various stakeholders, not only the recipients of the project. This speaks no less of the process of obtaining a seat at the PAMB table and officially becoming a member and representing women in PA discussions.

Still, both the Women Go team and the women of PP 1636 remain optimistic and persistent because participation in the PAMB will give women the opportunity to examine the PA Management Plan, include women’s concerns and perspectives, and make sure that their voices hold much more weight in environmental decisions concerning the mountains and forests that their families and communities depend on.

The Women Go project is made possible by the European Union in the Philippines, with the support of the Municipality of Real, Municipality of Infanta, Municipality of General Nakar, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Community Environment & Natural Resources Office (DENR-CENRO) Real.