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Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, SEARCA Director, and Dr. Dindo M. Campilan, ������ϲʿ�������ֳ�ֱ�� Regional Director for Asia and Oceania Hub Director, signed a five-year memorandum of understanding between the two international organizations in a virtual ceremony held on 28 May 2021. Mr. Joselito G. Florendo, SEARCA Deputy Director for Administration, and Dr. Scott Perkin, ������ϲʿ�������ֳ�ֱ��-Natural Resources Group (NRG) for Asia Head, also signed the agreement as witnesses.

“������ϲʿ�������ֳ�ֱ�� is a democratic Union that brings together the world’s most influential organizations and top experts in a combined effort to conserve nature and accelerate the transition to sustainable development. Six ������ϲʿ�������ֳ�ֱ�� Commissions made up of 18,000 experts inform ������ϲʿ�������ֳ�ֱ��’s knowledge and help produce its work,” said Dr. Campilan in his message during the signing ceremony.

Among the areas of collaboration of SEARCA and ������ϲʿ�������ֳ�ֱ�� are graduate education and scholarship programmes, proposed to be in line with ������ϲʿ�������ֳ�ֱ�� Academy, which will be composed of online trainings, regional knowledge platforms, and resource centers, GEF 8 or Global Environment Facility project development, and other project proposals development for conservation of crop wild relatives (CRWs), forest landscape restoration and youth in agriculture and natural resources management. A joint working team has been assigned to work on each of the identified areas of collaboration.

Dr. Campilan said that SEARCA can help ������ϲʿ�������ֳ�ֱ�� in connecting the Philippines to the global union as well as with other regional platforms.

“Philippines is one of the very few countries, which is not a member state of ������ϲʿ�������ֳ�ֱ��. This will be an opportunity for SEARCA to help us get connected. SEARCA is very well placed for ������ϲʿ�������ֳ�ֱ�� to expand its work in the Southeast Asian region,” added the ������ϲʿ�������ֳ�ֱ�� Regional Director.

Dr. Gregorio affirmed that SEARCA is one with ������ϲʿ�������ֳ�ֱ�� in nurturing partnerships and collaborations that would benefit our respective stakeholders. He pointed out that SEARCA’s 11^th Five-Year Plan focused on accelerating transformation through agricultural innovation (ATTAIN) is very much aligned with ������ϲʿ�������ֳ�ֱ��’s thrusts.

“This will bring us all to a full circle as we aim to collaborate with the key players from the academe, the industry, and the government to bridge the gaps in agri-food systems. We are very much confident that this partnership between ������ϲʿ�������ֳ�ֱ�� and SEARCA will lead us to a better, bigger, and smarter normal that is highly relevant for the future of our respective stakeholders,” concluded Dr. Gregorio.

Written by Nathan P. Felix, SEARCA