Leadership diaries: “Making sure communities have a voice to shape initiatives is a priority”

Rhoda Avanzado Phillips, chair and founder of communities for nature details a week whre she was in the Philippines, visiting NGO the Philippine Reef and Rainforest Conservation inc on Danjugan Island, celebrating the successes of the partnership and to look ahead to its second year.
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Monday

It’s always a pleasure to be back on Danjugan, an island I first built a relationship with in in the early noughties, when I took the position of Island Manager and Education Officer for PRRCFI. The experience I had and the relationships I built there have stayed with me, and were the motivating factor behind founding Communities for Nature last year. I knew first hand that what the team were doing for conservation efforts and community capacity building was special, and recognised that it was a model we could bring across the globe by partnering NGO’s like PRRCFI with corporate supporters who could help fund and expand their work on the front line of the climate crisis.

We are so proud of all that we have achieved in year one. From offering sustainability scholarships and training local people in sustainable tour guiding and eco-tourism, to running youth and marine wildlife camps, the ACE partnership has exceeded every expectation. But now our focus is on year two of the ACE partnership and designing the initiatives that LMAX Group’s funding will be channelled into, such as hackathons to find solutions for community challenges, and peer to peer mentoring.

Tuesday

On the second day, we travelled over to Bulata, on the mainland, where we attended a community fiesta. Amongst the dancing, music, and excellent food it was wonderful to be speaking with local community members.

When working as Island Manager and Education Officer for PRRCFI I was involved in a lot of the community capacity building initiatives, and so it was fantastic to have the opportunity to establish connections again and tell them about our ambitions and plans for ACE year two. Making sure communities have a voice to shape initiatives is a priority for both how Communities for Nature constructs its partnerships and PRRCFI’s wider operations work, so it was incredibly special to have the chance to be back on the ground, hearing it firsthand. For example, a particularly inspiring conversation from this trip was with local balsa operators at a solid waste management training session for eco tour operators, coast guards, public sector staff and local people, where we discussed strategies on how to manage pollution and better protect the environment.

It was an eye-opening insight into what ecotourism looks like for communities on the front line of conservation. Balsas are essentially floating cottages, but they are at the mercy of the seasonal cycle. Built by the Bulata community for between £500-1,000, the balsas are hired in summer, when tourism is at its peak, and repaired in the low season. However, they are vulnerable to typhoons, with many being destroyed annually. Understanding how difficult it is for the balsa operators has inspired me to find help – whether to provide funds in support of this community, or connect them to people who could help create more resilient designs or offer places for the balsas to be sheltered from typhoon season. Every experience is an opportunity.

Wednesday

On Wednesday, we had another important conversation, this time with the PRRCFI science team about an initiative that arose from ACE year one: Project Clever Girl, an initiative to design and build smart buoys for sea temperature monitoring. The temperature of water has a significant impact on coral bleaching, and Danjugan’s vibrant reefs are highly vulnerable. Using LMAX Group’s technology skillset to create smart buoys at a lower cost than market price, in a team led by LMAX Group CTO Dr. Andy Phillips, the team on Danjugan hope to be able to collect essential data about temperature changes in Danjugan’s waters, and contribute to national and international data sets about rising ocean temperatures. It was a wide-ranging conversation, and we also spoke about other potential scientific initiatives, and ambitions for partnerships with universities and scientific groups who might be able to help replicate initiatives from Danjugan. Each trustee brings different perspectives so it’s interesting to hear them all and build a course forward together.

Thursday
Management is a sizeable part of my role and One of the particular delights of this trip has been the opportunity to bring my family. Danjugan has been a part of my life – myself! - for over 20 years and it was special to be able to take the time to immerse my children in the area, both in terms of the land and nature, but also the local community.

Friday

True to form for such a fantastic trip, our final day on Danjugan was emotional as we held a bonding day with the full PRRCFI team. The value in bringing all the staff together for one day, for team building activities, appreciating each other’s achievements and thanking them for their work, should never be underestimated. It’s important to acknowledge the hard work our dedicated staff put into each day, particularly in our sector, where on the longer days, things can feel like an uphill battle. The impact of climate change, for example, can feel like a heavy burden to acknowledge, but it is incredibly moving to create a space where you can focus on the talent, dedication and teamwork that have built a year of successes – and to foster excitement for all that is to come, challenges and opportunities, in the year ahead.