Indigenous Partnerships
Indigenous Partnerships can become a core pillar of a responsible and inclusive agarwood development strategy—particularly where plantations, agroforestry projects, nurseries, or processing facilities overlap with Indigenous Peoples’ (IP) communities and ancestral domains.
Indigenous Partnership Framework™
1. Respect & Recognition
- Recognize Indigenous Peoples’ customary rights, knowledge, culture, and community governance.
- Conduct early engagement before project design or land development.
- Respect applicable Philippine laws, including the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA).
2. Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)
- Where legally required, obtain FPIC through the appropriate community process before project implementation.
- Provide information in culturally appropriate and understandable formats.
- Ensure participation is voluntary and free from coercion.
3. Community Enterprise
Develop partnership models in which communities can participate as:
- Agarwood growers
- Community plantation operators
- Nursery partners
- Contract farmers
- Agroforestry managers
- Plant material / botanical knowledge partners
- Harvest and post-harvest partners
- Processing and value-chain partners