Palma graduated with a BS Fisheries (major in Inland Fisheries) degree from the University of the Philippines in 1984. Before joining WWF, Palma led the sea turtle conservation project of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) of the Philippines. After years of work in Tawi-Tawi for WWF, he became Director of the Species Conservation Program and Assistant Vice-president for Field Operations.
He was a Chevening Scholar of the United Kingdom, and was a Governance and Environmental Democracy Fellow at Wolverhampton University. Upon his return to the Philippines in 2007, Palma was appointed WWF’s Vice-President for Conservation Programs, which involved the broader regional concerns of the WWF Global Network, including the Coral Triangle Initiative, and which focused on biodiversity conservation and the management of the human footprint.