Philippines Baseline Project – Palawan Training Event

The Project’s second plastic litter monitoring training and capacity building programme was held from the 6 – 16 November at Hue Hotels and Resorts, Puerto Princesa, Palawan. Forty-nine participants across 14 organisations and 5 Department of Environment Natural Resources regional offices attended, along with three trainers from Davao del Sur State College (DSSC) and Rebecca Prince-Ruiz from the Plastic Free Foundation. The first four days of training were classroom-style lectures followed by in-field practice that covered the inland, river, sea-surface and coastal monitoring survey methods. During this in-field practice, participants practiced using the ODK application for data entry as well as becoming familiarised with the map of sites to be surveyed during the field campaign. On the final day of classroom-based training, the group participated in a Plastic Free Workshop with Rebecca. That evening the group was joined by the Australian Ambassador to the Philippines, Ms HK Yu, and representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian Embassy in the Philippines and representatives from the Philippines Government for a Meet and Greet Dinner. The dinner gave opportunity for the group to hear from the Australian Ambassador and for the participants to share their experiences of the training with the Ambassador.

The following morning, the group split into 7 teams (each lead by a CSIRO or DSSC trainer) that each went afield and conducted surveys across the entire island of Palawan. All teams re-grouped on the last day with a farewell dinner and certificate ceremony.

 

	Group photo of the Palawan training at Hue Hotel, Puerto Princesa. Image credit: Norman Villamayor.
	Hon Ms HK Yu, Australian Ambassador to the Philippines giving her opening address at the Meet and Greet Dinner, Hue Hotel, Puerto Princesa, November 9th 2023. Image credit: Ralph Vincent Bedenas.
	Rebecca Prince-Ruiz and participants during the Plastic Free Workshop, Hue Hotel, Puerto Princesa. 9 November 2023. Image credit: Kathy Willis.
	Participants practicing the sea-surface litter monitoring method in Honda Bay, Palawan. Image credit: Palawan Council for Sustainable Development.