PhilReef-LMAX Group has sealed a partnership for the implementation of ACE – Action for Communities and Environment, a PRRCFI’s 28th-anniversary biodiversity conservation and sustainable development initiative at Danjugan Island.
PhilReef or the Philippine Reef and Rainforest Conservation Foundation, Inc. (PRRCFI) looks back on the gains attained from close to three decades of community-based conservation and environmental education in Danjugan Island, making the natural treasure in Southern Negros a global showcase of a marine protected area.
The LMAX Group is a leading independent operator of institutional execution venues for FX and crypto currency trading and its support to PRRCFI will help realize its mission which will benefit the entire community in the marine protected area of Brgy. Bulata, Cauyan, Negros Occidental where Danjugan Island is nested.
The Philreef-LMAX Group partnership for ACE programme will focus on sustainability scholarships, environmental education activities, conservation research, livelihood and ecotourism capacity-building sessions, and provision for equipment support.
The ACE programme is instrumental in growing the next generation of conservationists and citizen scientists through experiential marine and wildlife camps, educating them on sustainable development. By providing training sessions in sustainable livelihood and ecotourism and through the provision of tools to support local ecotourism livelihood services, the programme recognizes the crucial role of the community in all conservation efforts.
“We are delighted to support the ACE programme as PRRCFI continues to inspire the conservationists and leaders of the future,” said David Mercer, CEO of LMAX Group.
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“At LMAX, we strongly believe in playing an active role in developing young people and our ambition is to drive positive change, not just across global capital markets but more broadly in the world around us,” added Mercer.
The Philippines and PRRCFI’s Danjugan Island reserve is central to global marine biodiversity for coral reefs, but it is also highly vulnerable to climate-related weather events and threats brought about by habitat alteration and a lack of economic opportunities.
The fantastic work carried out by PRRCFI is putting conservation and sustainable development on the agendas of schools, local government and community leaders. This education will help them to make informed decisions, engaging them in turn to appreciate, save and preserve biodiversity towards a sustainable future.”
Gerardo Ledesma, president and founder of PRRCFI added, “We at PRRCFI immensely appreciate the assistance of LMAX Group in the much-needed intervention to the mainland communities, starting with Brgy. Bulata, whose sustenance and marginal fisherfolk impact the Danjugan Marine Reserve and Sanctuaries. With ACE and its sustainable livelihood program, it is hoped fishers may start on their terrestrial-based income-generation initiatives, minimizing and eventually eliminating poaching in the marine protected area.”
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The PRRCFI was founded in 1994 is a non-stock, non-profit NGO, focusing on implementing community-based conservation and environmental education programs at the Danjugan Island, a wildlife sanctuary that it acquired through international fundraising with the World Land Trust and local partners. Danjugan Island is surrounded by the largest marine protected area in the Southern Negros Marine Key Biodiversity Area (SNMKBA), declared through municipal ordinance and supported by scientific assessments undertaken by PRRCFI and Coral Cay Conservation.
The LMAX Group, on the other hand, is a global financial technology company and the leading independent operator of multiple institutional execution venues for FX and crypto currency trading and with a portfolio that includes LMAX Exchange (institutional FX exchange and FCA regulated MTF), LMAX Global (FCA and CySec regulated brokers) and LMAX Digital (GFSC regulated institutional spot crypto currency exchange).