MANILA, Philippines — WWF-Philippines, part of the world’s largest and most experienced conservation organization, introduces its Major Gifts Program.

This jumpstarts the Philippine Fund for Nature, an endowment fund that will enable WWF-Philippines to sustain its key projects in the long run, helping conserve our biodiversity and mitigating the impact of human footprint on our environment.

WWF-Philippines invites high networth individuals and groups who have the unique power to make huge, sustainable and positive impacts on the environment through their investments.

This program equates to higher net-worth philanthropy, which aims to complete the giving spectrum—from individuals, the corporate sector, and now, the upper deck of society.

Funds generated from the Major Gifts Program shall serve as an endowment to invest in and accelerate scientific and technical expertise in understanding marine science and marine biodiversity in the Philippines, and in understanding the science behind the impact of climate change on our country. The fund will also enable the organization to ensure continuity of high-impact biodiversity and climate change projects.

WWF-Philippines recognizes the country’s wide array of natural resources and the importance of preserving these life-giving systems by striking a balance between biodiversity conservation and human impacts.

WWF-Philippines Vice Chair and CEO Jose MA. Lorenzo Tan shares: “We face a challenging and increasingly volatile future. A future characterized by variability— climatic, economic, political, social.

There are many ways to survive rough seas, and one of the prerequisites is to save up for the rainy days. This is one major deliverable of our Major Gifts program.”

High Impact WWF Projects

Among the high impact projects currently undertaken by WWFPhilippines are the Watershed Management project in Isabela, the Climate Change Adaptation Plan in Davao and the management of the Tubbataha Reefs in the Sulu Sea.

WWF’s Watershed Management project in Ilagan, Isabela provides a sustainable program that projects and conserves the forests and watersheds of the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park, considered the largest remaining swath of old growth rainforest in the country.

One of the pressing issues of the environment is climate change and it has started to affect the wealthy natural resources of the Island Garden City of Samal (IGACOS) in Davao. To address this, WWF has initiated a comprehensive climate change adaptation scheme to reduce potential climate change-related vulnerabilities.

WWF’s Tubbataha Reef Project, on the other hand, provides practical systems and solutions to sustain operations in this natural resource area.

WWF-Philippines spearheads processes to facilitate the implementation of diver fees, no-take zones and expansion of park boundaries to increase marine biomass, and to push for sustainable ecotour ism, mar icul ture and microfinance.

Through its Major Gift Program, individuals and groups can embark on a lifelong legacy by helping WWFPhilippines and its wide range of products directed towards preserving the country’s natural resources.

WWF-Philippines recognizes that the environment is the social security system of the poor. There is no Planet B and we only have one country. So the time to invest in the Philippine environment is now.

To know more about the WWFPhilippines Major Gifts Program, get in touch with Puch Calma at (927) 793-6133 or pcalma@wwf.org. ph.