For generations, the Ayta and Bicol communities in the Philippines have relied on Banaba and Pili trees for both health and livelihood. Banaba tea is renowned for its medicinal properties, while Pili oil is highly valued in the industrial and cosmetics sectors. These natural resources are essential to the well-being and economic viability of these communities.
Learn more about how the Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) Project is empowering these communities. By ensuring fair and equitable benefit-sharing for their traditional knowledge and contributions to biodiversity conservation, the project fosters sustainable opportunities, promotes responsible resource use, champions fair trade, and strengthens collaboration among indigenous peoples, local communities, governments, the private sector, and academic and research institutions.
The Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) Project, also known as the "Implementing the National Framework on Access and Benefit-Sharing of Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge in the Philippines," is implemented by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources - Biodiversity Management Bureau (DENR-BMB), in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the Philippines, with support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).