Mr. Ray Thomas Fernandez Kabigting is the current Legal Officer and Officer-in-Charge of the Forest Investment Development Division in the Forest Management Bureau of the Philippines. Since he joined the civil service in 2013, Mr. Kabigting has been a member of the Philippine Delegation in major international conferences: the International Tropical Timber Council, where he served as Chair of the Credentials Committee; the United Nations Forum on Forests; the World Forestry Congress; the 27^th and 28^th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change Convention; and the 15^th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biodiversity. He is also the official representative of the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources in the Board of Trustees of the Forest Foundation of the Philippines, where the Department of Environment and Natural Resources sits as the vice-chairperson.  

Mr. Kabigting was the Chief of the Environmental Forestry Section in 2020 until his appointment as the Bureau’s Legal Officer in 2022. Under his tenure, the Section was able to update the Philippines’ National REDD+ Action Plan, submit the country’s Forest Reference Level, and institutionalize the National Forest Monitoring System. He is also registered in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Roster of Experts. Aside from this, Mr. Kabigting is also the official representative of the Bureau in the Presidential Mining Industry Environment Awards National Executive Committee.

Mr. Kabigting holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Forestry from the University of the Philippines and a Juris Doctor.  

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