The Nayong Pilipino Foundation (NPF), in partnership with Philippine Parks and Biodiversity (PPB) organized an Umpukan sa Nayon last October 10, 2020 via Zoom. 

Titled “Umpukan sa Nayon: Makakalikasang Nayon,” the goal of the consultation was to engage experts in a discussion that will aid NPF in promoting and amplifying citizen-led biodiversity conservation in the future Nayong Pilipino Cultural Park and Creative Hub to be located in Entertainment City in Parañaque.  The discussion was anchored to the three main questions: What is the importance of urban parks? What policies are needed to ensure that the public can have more urban parks? How should the NPF property be transformed as a space for citizen-led biodiversity conservation?

The afternoon session, now moderated by Mark Joseph Laceste (PPB Youth Champions Lead) and titled “Episode 2: The Role of Civil Society Organizations in Biodiversity Conservation,” shed light on some concrete steps that NPF can take to ensure that the property in Parañaque will be transformed as a space for biodiversity conservation. Representatives from Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) each took turns in sharing their thoughts on this. The invited speakers were Mike Lu from the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines, Robby Cereno from the Training Center for Tropical Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability (TREES), and Boboi Costas from Grassroots Travel.