Philippines: Disaster risk reduction through improved coastal resource management
Plan Germany and Plan Philippines are about to complete an innovative project that aims to reduce the risk of disaster in Salcedo, a municipality in the Philippines’ Eastern Samar province, through improving coastal resource management. Financed by the German Federal Foreign Office this project addresses the link between environmental degradation and enhanced disaster risk.
The Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands and one of the most disaster prone countries in the world. According to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies almost six million Philipinos were killed or injured as a result of disasters or man-made calamities in the decade of 1991-2001.
The most frequent disasters are floods, typhoons, monsoon rains, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tidal surges, tidal waves, tsunamis and landslides, which affect above all the people living in the numerous coastal areas.
Risk for disaster is aggravated by widespread poverty and environmental degradation especially of coastal environments combined with low levels of awareness and knowledge of disaster risk among the population as well as a lack of preparedness on the part of government authorities.
One of the areas most affected by 'natural' disasters is the province of Eastern Samar and especially the municipality of Salcedo, which is usually the first municipality hit by typhoons brewed in the Pacific Ocean. More than half of the municipality’s villages are situated on the coast; fishing and farming are the major sources of livelihood.
The coastal ecosystem is characterised by mangrove swamps, which are of major importance for disaster mitigation as mangroves protect coastal areas from erosion and flooding. With climate change and expected rise of sea levels their importance in this regard will further increase in the future.
In Salcedo however, excessive commercial exploitation, e.g. for fuel and lumber has caused severe damage to the mangroves while rampant illegal practices like dynamite fishing has destroyed much of the area’s coral reefs. This has rendered the area vulnerable to storm surges and tidal waves.
The project aims at reducing disaster risk and increasing the communities’ resilience through environmental protection, awareness raising and capacity building of community organisations. In the course of the project six Marine Protected Areas (MPA) have been established and the unification of all coastal management related laws and ordinances in Salcedo is about to be completed.
A MPA management team made up of local civilians is assigned to monitoring each MPA and has been provided with necessary equipment including boats and snorkelling gear. Local people’s awareness on disaster risk and coastal resource management as well as the link between the two has been raised through different forms of information and education.
Different community groups, e.g. fisher groups or children and youth clubs have developed or updated community emergency plans and received training on various topics including management techniques in order to enhance their organisational capacity to meet their responsibility for disaster preparedness on a local level.
A community based early warning system has been established that allows for monitoring of water levels in rivers and measuring rainfall. Childrens' groups have been trained in the use and maintenance of the instruments and take a lead in monitoring the risk of flooding.
The project will be completed by the end of 2009.