USAID RDM/A Regional Environment Office Weekly Report Week Ending January 18, 2008

Philippine Supreme Court Designates 117 Environment Courts. The Supreme Court of the Philippines has passed a resolution to designate 117 trial courts for improved environmental adjudication.  The environment courts will handle all types of environmental cases.  As part of the resolution, the Supreme Court will also conduct training seminars for environmental and appellate court personnel.  The Supreme Court developed concrete recommendations to designate specific municipal and regional trial courts to handle environmental cases with technical assistance from USAID.  The Supreme Court of the Philippines and the Philippine Judicial Academy also co-organized the Asian Justices Forum on the Environment in Manila in July 2007 to share proposed recommendations with judges from Australia, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the United States.  The USAID-funded Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network’s (AECEN) organizes the Asian Justices Forum on the Environment to serve as a platform for regional exchange.

Vietnam Assesses Impacts of Economic Development on Biodiversity. The People’s Committee of Lam Dong Province has committed to incorporate biodiversity conservation targets into its socioeconomic development plan from 2008-2010 with Asia Regional Biodiversity Conservation Program (ARBCP) support.  The USAID-funded ARBCP and partner Forest Protection Department (FPD) will work with the Industry, Services, and Agricultural sectors to assess the potential impacts of Lam Dong’s current development plans on biodiversity.  With this information, the ARBCP can help identify and improve provincial economic development investments to reduce negative impacts and establish new sustainable development strategies.  This decision mainstreams strong institutional support for women and ethnic minorities living in forested areas of Lam Dong through income-generating initiatives, such as Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES), ecotourism, and sustainable forest and bamboo management.