Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University through President Jaime I. Manuel, Jr.,  together with other 33 partners from the government, civil society organizations, and the academe committed support  the project titled Strengthening Good Governance and Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration in Fishery Management Area (FMA) 6, Coastal and Marine Areas of the West Philippine Sea (WPS). The signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was held on April 04, 2023 at the Audio-Visual Room of College of Arts and Sciences, DMMMSU-MLUC, City of San Fernando, La Union.

This three-year project to be implemented in the twelve (12) coastal city and municipalities of La Union is spearheaded by the Jaime V. Ongpin Foundation, Inc. (JVOFI) with support from USAID – INSPIRE Project through the Gerry Roxas Foundation (GRF). This intends to attain improved ecosystem and sustainable livelihood in Fisheries Management Area (FMA) 6 through good governance and active multi-stakeholder engagement.

Mr. Celso H. Jucutan (Environmental Management Coordinator) and Prof. Valentino V. Prado (Member of FMA6 Science Advisory Group) were designated as DMMMSU Representatives to the Project’s Local Implementation Team (LIT). Project partners elected Mr. Carlomagno Castillo from the La Union Provincial Agriculture Office and Mr. Jucutan as LIT Chairperson and Co-chairperson, respectively.

INSPIRE is a five-year project that aims at improving natural resource resilience and security through increased engagement of government agencies, civil society organizations, academe, local communities and media. It envisions to expand civil society participation in natural resource governance for greater accountability and better results and complementation of local conservation and climate change mitigation initiatives. (by CHJ)