PCSDS - new GOAP member for Palawan region, Philippines

Palawan, in the Phillipines, is one of Southeast Asia’s most ecologically significant provinces. Designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, it shelters the coral-rich waters, extensive mangrove systems, seagrass beds, and coastal fisheries that thousands of families depend on. To maintain these globally valuable habitats, coordinated governance and long-term planning are essential. 

For over three decades, the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development Staff (PCSDS) has been among the institutional backbone protecting these ecosystems under the Strategic Environmental Plan (SEP) for Palawan Act, formally enacted under Republic Act 7611 of the Republic of the Philippines. It is the onsite management authority of Palawan Biosphere Reserve, making its mandate truly crucial and relevant to the province’s environmental conservation.

With these rich environments and immense value, Palawan’s coastal and marine ecosystems have largely remained outside formal economic measurement despite local efforts, making it hard to factor them into the decisions that affect their future. As such, PCSDS continuously exerts its efforts to explore collaborations and address gaps, leading them to officially join the Global Ocean Accounts Partnership (GOAP). 

PCSDS recognises the value of this partnership in advancing ocean accounting, strengthening evidence-based governance, and supporting sustainable ocean development through collaborative and internationally aligned approaches. We likewise express our gratitude for GOAP’s confidence in PCSDS and for the opportunity to join a global partnership dedicated to advancing sustainable ocean stewardship.

GOAP brings together governments, research institutions and intergovernmental organisations developing ocean accounts — the World Bank, NOAA and UN-ESCAP among them. Together, they work to integrate ocean and coastal ecosystem values into national accounting frameworks, making visible the connections between human wellbeing, ecosystem health, and economic sustainability. PCSDS has now entered into this international collaboration, bringing their serious take on coastal marine ecosystem conservation from a global perspective.

The timing is significant. With the recent passage of the Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System (PENCAS) Act and its implementing rules and regulations (IRR) signed in May 2025, the Philippines now has a national framework for natural capital accounting, and PCSDS is explicitly named as a key institutional partner in implementing it at the subnational level.

As PCSDS marks the 34th anniversary of the SEP this June, this membership marks a new milestone that will help ensure Palawan’s extraordinary natural wealth is not only protected on site, but systematically measured and integrated into the policies that shape the province’s future.