Fifteen representatives from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Sectoral Working Group (ASWG) in fisheries and in livestock participated in the first of two workshops on“Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Development Plans and Investments” held on 3–5 September 2013 at the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines.
The theme will be the same for the second workshop to be hosted by the Regional Community Forestry Training Center (RECOFTC) based in Bangkok, Thailand on 24–26 September 2013, with participants from the ASWG in crops and forestry.The two workshops are funded by the ASEAN-Programme on Response to Climate Change: Agriculture, Forestry, and Related Sectors (GAP-CC)/Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH with SEARCA and RECOFTC as partners. This collaborative effort aimed to build capacities of Sectoral Working Groups of the ASEAN Multi-Sectoral Framework on Climate Change: Agriculture and Forestry towards Food Security (AFCC) on Climate Proofing in the ASEAN context. Specifically, the two workshops aim to: (1) promote an understanding of climate change impacts and the need to mainstream climate adaptation into policies, action plans, and projects of the ASWG; (2) facilitate identification and piloting of applications of climate proofing to selected ASEAN initiatives within the AFCC Sectoral Working Group Strategic Plans of Action; and (3) qualify representatives of ASWG as advocates for further application of the climate proofing methodology and mainstreaming of climate adaption in strategies and activities at ASEAN and member state level. To achieve these objectives, the participants worked out systematic steps toward climate change adaptation and mainstreaming these initiatives into sectoral plans, policies, and strategies. The training-workshop drew from the increasing awareness among policy makers and planners in many developing countries that climate change impacts on agriculture pose significant threats to food security. Taking into account the effects of climate change in policies, strategies, development plans, and projects to enhance agricultural production and ensure long-term food security at the national, sectoral, local, and project levels has become one of the greatest challenges in promoting adaptation to climate change and to make these policy initiatives, strategies, and investments “climate proof.” To ensure long-term food security and to improve the livelihood of farmers in the region, ASEAN forged a partnership with GAP-CC to implement the AFCC. GAP-CC not only supports ASEAN in developing and implementing regionally-coordinated policies and strategies that address climate change in the agriculture and forestry sectors, but also in establishing a climate-proofing methodology at the regional level. From the regional level, it is hoped that the climate-proofing methodology will trickle down and be piloted in development plans and projects in the agriculture and forestry sectors to maintain food security and support the livelihood of farmers. The training-workshop and reference materials were based on the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Policy Guidance "Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Development Co-operation." Its publication was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and was developed by GIZ GmbH in coordination with OECD, together with a host of reviewers from development agencies, nongovernment organizations, and research institutions from around the world. At the end of the workshop, the participants applied the climate proofing methodology on selected real cases that were submitted by the participants themselves prior to the workshop. The participants worked on integrating climate change adaptation into the following development plans and projects:
The training-workshop at SEARCA was coordinated by Dr. Daylinda B. Cabanilla, Professor, Department of Social Forestry and Forest Governance, College of Forestry and Natural Resources (CFNR), University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), and assisted by Mr. Shyam Paudel of RECOFTC and Ms. Rosario B. Bantayan, Program Specialist at SEARCA. linked from: http://www.searca.org/index.php/news/1316-15-asean-agriculture-representatives-participate-in-climate-proofing-workshop
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The revalidation/meeting was held at Eurotel, North EDSA, Quezon City last June 27-28, 2013. It was attended by Mr. Noel C. Barut, Interim Deputy Executive Director-NFRDI, Dr. Mudjekeewis D. Santos, Scientist 1, Mr. Francisco Torres Jr., Aquaculturist I, Dr. Antonio Samuel Mamauag, Fisheries Specialist of UP-MSI, Ms. Sarah Bales of NAFC, NSAP Project Leaders and RFRDC Managers from the different BFAR Regional Offices, and Secretariats from NFRDI.
The program was started by an invocation led by Mr. Graceous Von Yip, Research Assistant of NFRDI, followed by the singing of the National Anthem. Dr. Mudjekeewis D. Santos delivered the welcome and opening remarks. He tackled the importance of the Fisheries Vulnerability Assessment Tools (Fish VOOLS) for evaluating climate change vulnerabilities of the commodity in the country for a better fisheries resource management. He also discussed the overview of the Fish ACT revalidation/meeting agenda. After the message, Mr. Melchor R. Jacinto, Master of Ceremonies, made a roll-call of the participants per region. The revalidation/meeting proper ensued afterwards. The status of fisheries and climate change in the Philippines was discussed by Dr. Santos. He presented the perceived and predicted climate change impacts on Philippine fisheries and interlinked it on the Fish ACT project. Dr. Santos introduced Mr. Melchor Jacinto, Research Assistant of the Fish ACT project, as the next presenter. Mr. Jacinto recalled the objectives of the Fish ACT project and discussed the conceptual framework for the development of Fish VOOLS. He also made a run-through of the developed tools to the participants. On the second day of revalidation, Dr. Antonio Samuel Mamauag, Fisheries Specialist of UP-MSI, presented their developed tool for coastal ecosystems entitled,“Vulnerability Assessment Tool for Understanding Resilience of the Fisheries (VA-TURF) – Assessment of coastal fisheries ecosystems to climate change impacts.” Following his presentation, Mr. Richard Muallil, VA Specialist of UP-MSI, also presented the TURF scoring exercise. After the VA-TURF presentation of Dr. Mamauag and Mr. Muallil, Dr. Santos introduced Mr. Graceous Von Yip, Research Assistant of NSAP and Fish4US (Fisheries Forecasting Utility System), to discuss the importance and application of GIS in fisheries management and Fish ACT project. After the presentation of Fish VOOLS by Mr. Jacinto, Dr. Santos facilitated the revalidation on the afternoon of first day. The participants from each region, other NFRDI staffs, and Dr. Santos himself gave their recommendations. |
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