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. Fish ACT research assistants, Melchor R. Jacinto and Al Jayson G. Songcuan, organized a meeting with NSAP coordinators, enumerators, and BFAR XII representatives at BFAR XII Satellite Office, General Santos City, last December 27, 2012. The purpose of the meeting was to revalidate the first draft of developed fisheries vulnerability tools before the conductance of workshop on mainstreaming of vulnerability assessment in their area this year. Fish ACT focal research assistant, Melchor R. Jacinto, presented the component 2 framework of the study and the results of the interviews conducted last November 7-13, 2012 at Tuna landing sites of General Santos. The researchers discussed the detailed background of the project; introduced the fisheries vulnerability assessment tool which includes the matrix (scoring system), percent weight based on the degree of importance, vulnerability category, and the questionnaire itself; and quantified the values in the matrix. Lastly, NSAP encoder Alex Lagmay Jr. said that the meeting was very interactive and the discussion was very good. Further, he suggested that there should also be a questionnaire for private sectors (stakeholders/businesses). Fish ACT researchers, Melchor Jacinto and Al Jayson Songcuan, went to General Santos City last November 7-13, 2012. The researchers conducted interviews on local fishermen and city agriculturists to test the efficiency of the developed fisheries vulnerability assessment tools.The interviews in General Santos fish Port Complex and other minor landing centers were conducted early in the morning based on the unloading schedules of the vessels. At November 7, the researchers collaborated with Mrs. Laila and Mrs. Miyong from BFAR XII Satellite office about the general itineraries of the whole travel and the conductance of interview among fishermen in landing centers of General Santos. At November 8, they went to General Santos Fish port complex and conducted an interview together with NSAP enumerator, Mr. Sammy. The coordinates of fish port complex were obtained using GPS. At November 9, the researchers went to BFAR XII satellite office to set an appointment with City Agriculturist Officer, Mrs. Donasco and on the same day, interviewed 2 fisheries coordinator in General Santos City Hall. At November 10, the researchers went to Minanga landing site with NSAP enumerator, Mr. Mangi and on the 11th, to Bawing and Sinalang landing site with NSAP enumerator, Mr. Ronald and Mrs. Dhally. However, few fishermen in the minor landing sites capture Tuna and on negligible amount. At November 12, the researchers followed up the regional fisheries profile of General Santos at the City Agriculturist Office. At the end of the travel, a total of 15 respondents were interviewed on which 13 of them were local fishermen and 2 were city agriculturists.
Two researches under the FishACT Project were presented on the First National Conference on Research in Climate Change and Variability held last September 27, 2012 at Traders Hotel Manila, Pasay City. Research enthusiasts from National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI), Southeast Asian Regional Centre for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), Climate Change Commission (CCC), Manila Observatory, UP-PGH, Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), and World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) Philippines participated on the said event. One of two climate-related research entries from NFRDI entitled “Trend Analysis of Philippine Fisheries Catch and Seasonality with Oceanic Niño Index” by Al Jayson G. Songcuan, Dennis Tanay, Noel C. Barut, and Dr. Mudjekeewis D. Santos, has been awarded as Best Scientific Poster under the category of Water, Energy, and Engineering. Dr. Rodel D. Lasco, Chair of Task force on Climate Change, exhorted “the first national conference on research in climate change is a major step in harnessing the potential of the Philippine scientific community to do its share in preparing our people to a much different climate in the future.” The conference is envisioned to become the most important scientific meeting on climate change in the country since the Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. It will be held annually by the National Academy of Science and Technology, Philippines (NAST-PHL) on the last Thursday of September, the week that super typhoon Ondoy struck the country. Photos by: Jess M. Escaros Jr. |
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