This USAID/Philippines Request for Information (RFI) is issued for the purpose of providing stakeholders an opportunity to review, comment, suggest, and enhance areas in the attached concept note for a new USAID/Philippines Project, namely the Natural Resource Security and Management (NRSM).

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/>By issuing the concept note for comment, USAID/Philippines aims to consult with a broad community of public and private sector actors concerned with improving natural resource security and governance in the Philippines.

Your comments will be used to develop a design document to ensure clarity, maximum development impact, coordination with existing and planned USAID and other development partner programs, and alignment with the Government of the Philippines’ priorities.

The primary objectives of the Project are twofold.

First, it seeks to improve the way that natural resources and the areas from which these are derived are governed.

Second, it seeks to address the drivers of natural resources insecurity by addressing both the supply of and demand for natural resources through the reduction of conservation crimes and the development of the natural resources sector.

The major results that the Project will achieve are found in the concept note.

USAID/Philippines may consider the comments received and further stakeholder consultations held in further revising the NRSM Project design.

This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a Notice of Funding Opportunity/Request for Applications.

Responses to this RFI shall not be portrayed as applications and will not be accepted by the U.

S.

Government (USG) to form a binding agreement.

This RFI is not to be construed as a commitment by the USG to issue any notice of funding opportunity or ultimately award of an agreement on the basis of this RFI, or to pay for any information submitted as a result of this request.

Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI.

USAID may consider the feedback from both responses to this RFI and discussions during the pre-application conference in finalizing the Project design.

It should be noted that responding to or providing comment on this RFI will not give any advantage to any organization in any subsequent notice of funding opportunities.

USAID/Philippines does not intend to publish the results of the responses to this RFI.

Please provide no more than four (4) pages of comments no later than the due date and time specified at the top of this RFI via email to the Agreement Officer at the email addresses indicated on the top of this RFI with the subject line, “Response to RFI No.

72049219-EO/RFI-00001, USAID Natural Resource Security and Management Project.

Phone calls or hard copy delivery will not be accepted.

While the limit on the length of submissions is four pages, we value concise, issue-specific comments with reference to page and section numbers in the accompanying concept note (Attachment A) together with feedback to the questions below.

USAID seeks feedback in particular on the following questions:
1) What do you think are the priority threats to biodiversity and natural resources in the Philippines, and the drivers of their loss or degradation? 2) How do you propose to improve the proposed theory of change statement (pp.

4-5 of the concept note)? 3) Are the expected outcomes, as reflected in the draft results framework, clear and feasible (p.

5 of the concept note)? Are these outcomes sufficient and strategic to strengthen natural resource security and management in the Philippines? If your answer to either question is no, then what outcomes do you suggest that USAID should remove, add, or modify? Why? 4) What specific interventions do you propose to meet the expected outcomes (p.

5 of the concept note)? What do you propose as measures of successful implementation of those interventions? 5) What role(s) do you see that the private sector can play in improving natural resource security and management at the national and subnational levels? 6) What are examples of sustainable and scalable approaches that USAID could implement to reduce threats to biodiversity and natural resources in the Philippines? USAID will hold an Industry Day on November 6, 2019 (Wednesday) at the Manila Diamond Hotel, located at Roxas Boulevard, Corner Dr.

J.

Quintos Street, Manila, 1000 Metro Manila, Philippines, from 08:30 to 15:30 local time.

An organization may send only one (1) participant to the conference.

The purpose of the conference is to:
a) inform organizations about USAID/Philippines’ programmatic requirements to address natural resource security and governance; b) gain insight from organizations regarding their best practices and standards to assist with the requirements development; c) serve as a venue for organizations to meet one another, collaborate, and create potential partnerships; and d) present to organizations how to do business with USAID.

If your organization intends to participate in person at the conference, then please inform us by giving the name and contact information of the participant by email to Ayko Parungao .

Thank you for your assistance and interest in USAID/Philippines programming.