LOS BAÑOS, LAGUNA – Assisting the country’s key community-based forest management (CBFM) areas, particularly those in upland and coastal communities, to adopt to the challenges posed by climate change, requires improving their technologies, knowledge, and skills.
Communities which need such assistance as identified were Infanta, Quezon; Bungatlon, Pangasinan; Getafe, Bohol; Tabagon, Cebu; San Isidro, Davao Oriental, and Governor Generoso, Davao Oriental.
The said communities have limited knowledge of their vulnerability to climate change although they have inherent coping mechanisms tapped as adaptation strategies. Other challenges seen were the need for protection of resources, limited funding, limited market outlets, lack of infrastructure and facilities, and poor documentation of livelihood activities.
These findings were gathered from the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Forest Cooperation-funded (AFoCo) project titled “Survey and Documentation of Alternative Livelihood to address Climate Change.”
The said project which ran from June to December 2014, was recently reviewed at the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB).
The project aims to document alternative livelihood used to adapt to climate change; identify adaption mechanisms that could be developed into a climate change learning manual or guidebook, and recommend a strategic action plan, project, and policies that may fast track adaptation and mainstreaming of livelihood-based climate change adaptation mechanisms.
DOST-PCAARRD’s Forestry and Environment Research Division together with representatives of Forest Management Bureau (FMB), Institute of Agroforestry (IAF), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) – PENRO, University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB)-School of Environmental Science and Management (SESAM), and the Forest Development Center (FDC) attended the project review.
Participating agencies suggested the dissemination of the project’s manual which will serve as baseline information or reference for provincial officers, NGOs, and other concerned clients. They also suggested the monitoring and evaluation of project results to ensure livelihood sustainability.
AFoCo is a regional and inter-governmental cooperation mechanism in the forest sector, formalized in August 2012.