Philippines
Protecting the Palawan Rainforest in the Philippines
Overview
In 2020, Rainforest Connection (RFCx) launched a Pilot Project with DENR in Palawan called the Rainforest Connection Project. The Municipality of Taytay was identified and proposed by the DENR as one of the recipients due to numerous incidents of illegal logging in Taytay's protected forest areas.
RFCx, in partnership with Huawei and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), provided 5 Guardian devices to El Nido, Tay-Tay, Palawan, and Mt. Irid, near Manila, in the Philippines. 3 devices were installed in El Nido, Tay-Tay, which is part of the last continuous primary forest in the Philippines and is continuously under threat from logging. The remaining 2 devices were deployed by the locally trained team in Mt. Irid. The Philippines’ satellite-connected Guardian devices protect beaches, coastal, and forest habitats.
Partners
Huawei
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
PLDT / Smart Communications
Objectives
Prevent illegal logging and poaching in key rainforest areas in Palawan.
Enhance real-time monitoring and enforcement by giving DENR rangers instant alerts of suspicious activity.
Improve ranger safety by reducing the need for blind patrols in high-risk areas.
Support biodiversity conservation, including critically endangered and vulnerable species.
Engage and empower local communities through access to forest activity data and patterns.
Demonstrate a scalable, replicable model for tech-enabled forest protection in other regions and countries.
Implementation
The DNER played a crucial role in this project, imparting vital knowledge on the forestry dynamics within El Nido Tay-Tay during device installation. They educated RFCx’s team on the specific tree species that fell prey to loggers' desires and those that remained untouched, painting a picture of the ecological warfare waged in these woods. Armed with this insight, Jimmy Anderson, a key member of RFCx’s team, made a strategic decision and selected a non-targeted tree for the installation of the Guardian.
RFCx’s Asia-based expert trained two local Filipino climbers, enhancing local capacity and enabling the installation of the remaining Guardians despite weather constraints and DNER availability issues.
Above: Representatives of Huawei, PLDT-Smart, Rainforest Connection and DENR namely: Daniel Guo Zhi, Huawei Philippines Vice President/COO; Chaye Cabal-Revilla, PLDT SVP & Group Controller and concurrent PLDT Group Chief Sustainability Officer; Topher White, Rainforest Connection Founder; and Brian Lachica, DENR Information Systems Analyst.
Outcomes / Challenges
Outcomes:
Successful deployment in five DENR-designated pilot sites across Palawan.
Verified and addressed multiple illegal logging incidents since the rollout in January 2020.
Improved speed and accuracy of response by DENR forest rangers through real-time alerts.
Strengthened public–private collaboration in environmental protection.
Challenges:
Unfortunately, due to Typhoon Odette, the installed devices were damaged.
