Initiating Strategic Micro-watershed Management to Optimize Poverty Mitigation and Biodiversity Restoration in the Philippines

Abstract

Participatory strategies for engagement of communities are utilized in assessment of micro-watersheds within local legal frameworks. The objective is to build community-based capacity for consideration of the linkages between food, water, health, biodiversity and climate change. A generalized water characterization regimen promotes future local community replication of assessments, requiring limited external support. Modified stream visual assessments were conducted considering 17 variables at 39 stations involving one micro-watershed in each of the eight municipalities in the Province of Aurora, Philippines. Additional information was gathered on local and traditional ecological knowledge using Key Informant Interviews (KII) and focal group discussions (FGD). At each station, additional data was collected on water temperatures, PH, Oxygen saturation and total dissolved solids. Strategic consideration was given to facilitating development of micro-watershed characterization skills that will be of use for future community-based planning on sustainable agroforestry and the targeted poverty issues of maternal and child nutrition. Results and a review of local laws highlight specific areas of planning and management to optimize local watershed ecosystem services. A focus on watershed, riparian and estuarine restoration is suggested as a strategy to both mitigate and adapt to climate change while also supporting coastal small-scale fisherfolk and their ecosystems.

Keywords

• socio-ecological
• poverty mitigation
• micro-watershed characterization
• climate change
• food
• water
• health
• biodiversity

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