Jhorace Tupas

Jhorace is a conservation professional and development manager in the coastal and marine environment sector of the Philippines. She is currently the International Affairs and Treaties Division Director at ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity. Previously she served as Officer in Charge of the  Coastal and Marine Division for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the Biodiversity Management Bureau Philippines. Jhorace has over a decade of experience in policy, planning, program development and implementation, and partnerships. She played a significant role in the planning and development of the Coastal and Marine Ecosystems Management Program of the Philippines, a 12-year programme (2017-2028) covering 35 nationally managed marine protected areas. Jhorace has represented the Philippines in several bilateral and international meetings including UNEP’s global conferences on land-ocean connections, UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission assemblies and the UN Ocean Conference. In 2022, she served as a negotiator for the Philippines on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at the historic UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15).