Phl, US ink debt-for-nature deal

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines and the US have signed an agreement to protect tropical forests in return for reduced debt payments to Washington  by about $31.8 million (roughly P1.34 billion).

The  debt-for-nature swap deal was signed by Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima and US Ambassador Harry K. Thomas last July 18.

With the agreement, the US will write off $31.8 million in Philippine debt. 

The funds will be channeled to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) toward conservation and will be used to establish a second tropical forest conservation fund.

The conservation fund will be used to provide grants to conserve, maintain and restore key tropical forests in the country, with particular and priority emphasis on the Sierra Madre, Samar and Leyte, Palawan Islands and Bukidnon/ Misamis areas.

In addition to helping to preserve the Philippines extraordinary terrestrial biodiversity, the fund will contribute to international climate change mitigation efforts.

The second  tropical forest conservation fund supports the five-year Partnership for Growth (PFG) initiative signed by the U.S. and the Philippines in November 2011.  

The Philippines is one of only four countries chosen to participate in the PFG program, which aims to mobilize the resources of both governments to address the most serious constraints to economic growth and development in the Philippines.

In 2002, the U.S. and the Philippines signed a bilateral debt reduction agreement under the TFCA wherein the U.S. treated US$8.1 million in outstanding loan interest which the Philippines used to create a fund for the conservation of tropical forests in the country. 

The first Tropical Forest Conservation Fund, managed by the Philippine Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation (PTFCF), has supported 261 conservation projects with US$4.5 million in grants.  The projects improved the management of approximately 1.3 million hectares of forest lands, restored over 3,400 hectares of forests through the re-introduction of native trees and established 40 community-based conservation areas.