LICK x Byanyas Coffee Agroforests
The forests of the area of Purok Pag-asa, Napsan, Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines --
This area is the chosen location of the coffee agro forest project of Lost Islands Center for Kape in partnership with Byanyas Foundation. The area encompasses the Tagbanua Indigenous Peoples resettlement area, which is managed by the Ancestral Management Domain Council and the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development.
Since the Tagbanua IPs have relocated to Purok Pag-asa, its forests have held a crucial part of the tribe’s livelihood, where the Tagbanua hunt, forage, live and gather. Because the forests are the community’s primary source of livelihood, there is high economic pressure for the land to create financial opportunities for the community that occupies it. These opportunities, however, are hardly sustainable. One such practice is the chopping of trees to burn and make charcoal for selling in town. This then causes deforestation, soil erosion, and depletion of natural resources.
Since 2018, the Byanyas Foundation has sought out projects to sustain the environment and the community of Tagbanua in the area. In 2020, Lost Islands Center for Kape partnered with Byanyas to plant coffee and other high value crops in Purok Pag-asa. Almost 2000 trees had been planted before Typhoon Rai or Odette struck the area in the latter part of 2021. Since then, the team has been replanting coffee trees and this 2024, LICK aims to plant 10,000 trees in an agro-forest system to create sustainable livelihoods for the community of Purok Pag-asa. As of February 2024, land area has been cleared in preparation for the planting activity during the rainy season.
A social enterprise, Bambuhay, which was founded in 2023 and continues to the present, utilizes bamboo and coconut products to create small goods for selling. This was started with The Rotary Club of Puerto Princesa South to aid in the sustainable development of the area through bamboo and coconut. For this project, planting material is currently being gathered, grown and prepared for the area. With the support of various donors, we hope to raise Php500,000 to finance the planting effort to cover seed material, planting inputs, worker salaries and shelters.
1 Lost Islands Center for Kape. www.Lick.ph/kape-community
2 Byanyas Foundation. https://en.byanyas.ch/_files/ugd/a5eb8d_9e8c9af5b48e47959159a9fc5a24cb7a.pdf
3 Bambuhay. https://www.instagram.com/bambuhay.palawan/