PMO

Romeo B. Trono

More than 30 years of visionary leadership as well as management and technical experience in biodiversity conservation. Conceptualized, fund-raised, managed, leveraged, and completed over 100 projects and initiatives in both terrestrial and marine ecosystems on threatened species conservation, fisheries management, protected areas and networks of protected areas, biodiversity corridors, and large scale conservation areas such as hotspots, ecoregions, and seascapes.

As Country Director, he has effectively managed organizational programs and project portfolios with budgets of up to US$ 4M per year supervising as many as 120 program staff. In his capacity as Country Director, he catapulted two of the largest NGOs in the Philippines (WWF and CI) as major players both in the terrestrial and marine biodiversity conservation arenas in the country as well as in larger geographic areas such as the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion and the Coral Triangle.

Extensive experience in inter-governmental conservation negotiations as official member of government delegations to bilateral programs such as the Philippine –Malaysia Turtle Islands Heritage Protected Area (TIHPA) recognized as the World’s First Transboundary Conservation Area for Green Turtles;  tri-national program for Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines for the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion (SSME) Conservation Program including the GEF-UND-UNOPS SSME Fisheries Management Project; Memberships in the SSME Trinational Committee and Sub-committees on Sustainable Fisheries; Marine Protected Areas and Networks; and Threatened and Migratory Species); regional initiatives such as ASEAN, BIMP-EAGA, PEMSEA Partnership Council, and CTI-RPOA); and international negotiations (UNFCCC COP, CBD SBSSTA, CBD COP). He continues to serve as a trusted advisor to local government units, national government agencies, policy makers and the corporate sector.

Technical and management expertise is strengthened by his formal education from the country’s premier state university with a B.S. Degree on Marine Fisheries, Major in Fish Capture. This is further reinforced by numerous trainings, conferences, and workshops attended within and outside the Philippines.

Recently, under his visionary leadership, CI-Philippine Program re-designed its implementation strategy employing new approaches and methodologies in setting clear goals and indicators that are geared towards continuing to conserve biodiversity as the basic foundations for healthy ecosystems to secure critical ecosystem services that will deliver human wellbeing benefits focusing on food security, health security, water security, climate security, cultural diversity and ecotourism.

After his departure from CI-Philippines, he was immediately engaged by GIZ-Philippines to facilitate the detailed Operational Plan for a new Euro 7M project that will support the implementation of the Comprehensive Action Plans for the SSME which he helped design during proposal development.

He is also currently engaged as Environmental Consultant to the Office of the Chairman of First Gen Corporation and Energy Development Corporation, currently the 2^nd largest geothermal energy producer in the world and the premier pure-play renewable energy company in the Philippines

He is also currently serving as the Regional Project Manager of the Sulu-Celebes Sea Sustainable Fisheries Management Project (SCS-SFMP) with a total funding volume of US$ 6M from GEF and the 3 countries of Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines. UNDP is the project Implementing Agency while UNOPS is the Executing Agency.

A highly experienced PADI Diving Instructor with more than 7,000 research and recreational dives logged since 1979.

Marion Antonette Abuel - Daclan

Marion worked with Conservation International as Executive Technical Coordinator providing crucial support to the Country Executive Director and to the Senior Management Team. Her last assignment with CI was as Project Manager for a USAID-funded project aimed at strengthening governance capacities employing a population, health and environment approach to coastal resource management. Marion has under her belt, extensive experience working in the SSME including the implementation of CI’s Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape Program and in coordinating the implementation of project activities for the Tri-national Sea Turtle Corridor and the Malaysia-Philippines Turtle Islands Heritage Protected Area (TIHPA). She has also attended numerous meetings of the 3 SSME Subcommittees and the Tri-national Committee.

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