The ADB/GEF-DENR Project on Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT): Combatting Environmental Organized Crime in the Philippines initiated the use of the PortMATE (Port Monitoring and Anti-Trafficking Evaluation) Tool. PortMATE is a standardized instrument with 52 questions across nine categories: 1) electronic customs declaration system, 2) intelligence, 3) risk profiling system, 4) container/cargo scanning, 5) container/cargo inspection, 6) investigation and prosecution, 7) inter-agency and institutional collaboration, 8) employee integrity and anti-corruption, 9) supply chain and security.
FOREIGN-ASSISTED AND SPECIAL PROJECTS SERVICE
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In late November 2020, Mampang Seaweeds Planters Association (MASEPLA) in Zamboanga City officially launched their new floating seaweed dryer—delivered through USAID’s Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative. This catalytic investment in the organization’s local enterprise will help improve the quality of their harvested seaweed.
Various Livelihood Enhancement Support (LES) were given by the Integrated Natural Resource and Environmental Management Project to its beneficiaries. This initiative led to success, ensuring economic stability and elevating the quality of life. Some of the LES given by the project were the following:
(1) Abaca Stripping Machine and construct a Mini-Warehouse Facility
(2) Cono Rice Mill with proper housing
(3) All-weather plastic dryer
(4) Mobile Rice Mill.
Combatting Environmental Organized Crime in the Philippines project, initiated the the 10-year national Wildlife Law Enforcement Action Plan (WildLEAP) 2018-2028, which is aligned with the Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, serves as the national road map to address wildlife crimes and a guide to prioritizing enforcement activities, allocating funds and resources, and evaluating impacts of enforcement.
Through the Protect Wildlife Project, the Mindanao State University–Tawi-Tawi College of Technology and Oceanography (MSU-TCTO) together with the University of the Philippines–Marine Science Institute (UP-MSI), with funding from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), conducted a study on the laboratory generation of seed stocks.
Seaweed cultivars farmed in Barangay Tundon were collected: green and brown morphotypes