In honor of the country’s unparalleled levels of biodiversity, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas issued a brand-new set of polymer banknotes to replace the country’s paper bills this 2025. Featured alongside the familiar Philippine Eagle are lesser-known denizens of Philippine forests, such as the Palawan Peacock-Pheasant, Visayan Leopard Cat, Visayan Spotted Deer, plus unique flora like the Sampaguita and Lanutan.
The Philippines hosts over 50,000 plant and animal species and many of them are endemic or found nowhere else on Earth. Aside from well-known animals like the Tamaraw, the Philippines also boasts of weird and wonderful wildlife – from blind cave fish to colorful snakes and lizards.
To celebrate World Wildlife Day 2025 this 3 March, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), United Nations Development Programme through the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (DENR-UNDP BIOFIN) and other allies are intensifying efforts to include and mainstream biodiversity solutions into both public and private sector initiatives. The theme of World Wildlife Day 2025 is Wildlife Conservation Finance: Investing in People and the Planet.
“To educate the general public about biodiversity while generating supplementary conservation funds, we developed and launched a mobile app called Animal Town, where players can build and manage a tiny town of cute animals,” says DENR-UNDP BIOFIN Philippines National Project Manager Anabelle Plantilla. Animal Town has been downloaded over 20,000 times and has generated over USD400 since its launch in March of 2024.
Environmental solutions are also being infused in public sector efforts. Last January, BIOFIN, the Biodiversity Management Bureau of the DENR and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) organized a learning activity for the provincial governments of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental on the biodiversity indicators included in the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG), the gold standard for Pinoy public service.
The SGLG’s environmental governance area formerly focused on solid waste management and disaster preparedness. In 2023, it finally expanded to cover the establishment and upkeep of public parks and green spaces, plus the sustainable management of wetlands like coasts, rivers and lakes. It might soon expand to cover wildlife conservation and protection, proper forest land-use plans and a requirement for LGUs to hire a permanent Local Environment and Natural Resources Officer. This is expected to increase biodiversity financing at the local level.
Previously, BIOFIN’s support in developing the Negros Island Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NIBSAP) and accompanying finance plans paved the way for a steady increase in LGU budgets for wildlife protection and biodiversity conservation. Local biodiversity finance plans helped LGUs identify just how much money is needed to implement their respective biodiversity projects and programmes, and where they can source additional funds to bridge financing gaps. These local finance plans paved the way for a steady increase in LGU budgets for conservation.
BIOFIN is also working with the private sector. To increase transparency and accountability in the financial sector by integrating environmental considerations – specifically related to nature and biodiversity – into financial decision-making processes, BIOFIN is implementing capacity-building activities towards nature-related financial disclosure. The goal is to introduce the national policy on sustainability reporting to the private sector and identify entry points for integrating nature-related and financial disclosure considerations.
BIOFIN is also exploring the development of a ‘biodiversity credit’ mechanism using a standard that is applicable to the Philippine context. According to the Biodiversity Credit Alliance, biodiversity credits are ‘certificate units’ that represent measurable, evidence-based and long-lasting biodiversity enhancements from what should have happened without intervention. Positive outcomes may include increased biodiversity levels, reduced biodiversity threats or the prevention of anticipated biodiversity declines, such as localized extinction.
Mainstreaming Biodiversity Finance Across the Globe
Active in 41 countries, BIOFIN is a global UNDP initiative funded by the Global Environment Facility, European Commission and the Governments of Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Belgium, Flanders, Canada, France and the United Kingdom. It contributes to closing the financing gap for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity by identifying, accessing, combining and sequencing sources of biodiversity funding.
In the Philippines, BIOFIN is working closely with the DENR to narrow the financing gap for the implementation of the Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (PBSAP), the country’s roadmap to conserving its biodiversity. Among its identified finance solutions are the improvement of biodiversity expenditure reports, supporting and strengthening policies, mainstreaming biodiversity in national and regional programs, increasing investments in protected areas and generating revenues from private individuals.
Over the past year alone, BIOFIN and its partners have helped boost LGU budgets for biodiversity conservation, enhanced synergy with the national government, proposed novel environmental fee systems for the upkeep of protected areas, pushed policies to trigger biodiversity financing and campaigned for smarter energy regulation to minimize excess carbon emissions and stave off climate change.
“There are so many ways to integrate biodiversity solutions into local and national government efforts while galvanizing the energy of the private sector,” concludes Plantilla. “There’s more work to be done.”
Until new funding sources are secured, BIOFIN’s operations in the Philippines are slated to conclude in 2027. and colorful lizards. World Wildlife Day is observed every 3 March to celebrate all types of wildlife – whether beautiful or ugly, cuddly or scaly. This sub-adult Sailfin was photographed wild in the marshes of Mindanao. (Gregg Yan)
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Photo Caption: Lesser-known Philippine species. With its beautiful, Dimetrodon-like sail, the Philippine Sailfin Dragon (Hydrosaurus pustulatus) is among the country’s most beautiful and colorful lizards. World Wildlife Day is observed every 3 March to celebrate all types of wildlife – whether beautiful or ugly, cuddly or scaly. This sub-adult Sailfin was photographed wild in the marshes of Mindanao.
