DENR 6 assessing watershed’s vulnerability to climate change
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources 6 and other stakeholders are now conducting an assessment on the vulnerability of the Maasin Watershed to climate change.
The assessment is part of the five-day on going training on “Millennium Development Goal –Fund (MDG-F) 1656: Strengthening the Philippines Institutional Capacity to Adapt to Climate Change” focusing on the agriculture and the forestry sector.
DENR Regional Technical Director Alicia Lustica said they are evaluating how prone the watershed is to landslide, erosion, flooding and forest fire, among others.
She added that the watershed has a complete ecosystem thus making it ideal for a study that seeks to determine the impact of the climate change from upland down to lowland areas.
Once the assessment is completed, they will make recommendations to concerned local government units and stakeholders.
It will be integrated with the results coming from other sectors to include the coastal, health, and water concerns.
Lustica shared that Iloilo’s Maasin Watershed was pre-identified as pilot assessment area including two others from Camarines Sur and Agusan del Norte for the agriculture and fishery sectors.
The output in the ongoing survey will be presented by the University of the Philippines Los Baños to the National Economic and Development Authority.
The NEDA was commissioned by the United Nations and the Spanish Government to handle the program.
CRITICAL AREAS
Meanwhile, through its Ecosystem Research and Development Services, the DENR 6 is also looking at covering all 11 critical watershed areas in Western Visayas in its vulnerability assessment within five years.
Lustica said their study on watersheds of Bago City in Negros Occidental; Panakuyan and Nabaoy in Aklan; and Mambusao in Capiz is already completed.
They are presently conducting a study on the bio-physical aspect of the Tigum-Aganan of the Maasin Watershed.
The result of the study can be used by concerned sectors in preparing their plans and measures to lessen the degree of vulnerability to calamities and disasters such as landslide, erosion, flooding, among others.*PNA
