BRP believed that biodiversity research should be harnessed for the development of the local populace – those who daily interact with the living environment and, through their ingrained knowledge and beliefs, capacities and practices, have an impact on this environment.

In five years (2000 to 2005), BRP provided funds for a range of research projects and support activities in the focus research area.

The research projects were defined based on research themes that have emerged through a participatory rapid appraisal (PRA) of coastal, lowland and upland ecosystems in the focus research area, which was done by multidisciplinary teams in March to June 1999. The core researchers were members of the Mindanao research community. Topics covered were botanical inventory, ethnobotanical assessment, biodiversity assessments in the marine and riverine ecosystems, analysis of laws and regulations and their implementation affecting biodiversity, delivery systems, and assessment of insects.

Support activities, on the other hand, build partnership with and involvement of local communities and stakeholders in the research or enable them to understand or even partially make use of research results for their felt needs.

The BRP has two major phases:

1st generation research projects and support activities (Years 1 to 3)

• Research projects produced information, inventories and assessments that were needed as baseline or initial data and profiles on biodiversity and human-biodiversity-ecosystem interactions. Methodology development was also crucial in this phase.
  
  
• Support activities, in this phase, promoted capability building for researchers and their institutions, local stakeholder participation, information dissemination and networking.

2nd generation research projects and support activities (Years 3 to 5)

• Research projects attempted to explain human-biodiversity interactions and their impact on biodiversity; provided knowledge for formulating alternative strategies and policies. The strategies and policies pertained to habitat restoration, biodiversity conservation and sustainable livelihood development.
  
  
• Support activities, herein, built capacities of local stakeholders and institutions to adopt alternative development strategies and policies. National and international linkages were pursued to disseminate results and learning with potential application to other biodiversity areas in the Philippines.