KNOWING AND LEARNING ABOUT EACH OTHER TOWARD LOCAL DEVELOPMENT

Haribon Foundation is currently implementing the GOLDEN, or Governance and Local Development of Endangered Forests, Landscapes and Seascapes Project (GF/LS) in Surigao del Sur province, covering Lanuza Bay and two important biodiversity areas (IBAs)—Mount Hilong-hilong and Mount Diwata Ranges. The goal of the project is to protect endangered tropical rainforests and coastal areas in the Philippines. It involves various stakeholders such as the indigenous peoples, women, youth, natural resource dependent families (NRDF), nongovernment organizations, the government and the private sector in the municipalities of Lanuza, Cortes, Cagwait and Tandag. The European Union (EU) and Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional (AECID) through Cives Mundi are funding this project.

The landscapes and seascapes of Surigao del Sur are threatened by deforestation, land conversion, increasing human population and overlapping tenurial instruments over the use of land and municipal waters resulting in fast depletion and degradation of forests and marine ecosystems. This situation marginalizes vulnerable sectors (indigenous peoples, women, youth and NRDF) that largely depend on the remaining forests and marine areas for their survival. To pro-actively respond to the current situation, the project, together with the marginalized sectors as partners for development, is attempting to develop and diversify sustainable livelihood interventions in the two sites.

The initial step toward this goal was conducting an assessment of the previous and existing sustainable natural resource management (SNRM) related livelihoods and identifying possible livelihood options based on the availability of the resources (e.g. raw materials, human resource counterpart, etc.), capacity and capability of partner people’s organizations. With technical assistance from the Philippine Grassroots Engagement for Rural Development (PhilGerFund) all these were done as well as the conduct of several surveys, Key Informant Interviews and Focused Group Discussions to facilitate identification and prioritization of livelihood options. The results prompted the project to design various capacity building activities on sustainable livelihoods that generated feasibility studies for various livelihood options preferred by partner people’s organizations/communities.

One major challenge after the development of the feasibility study was to determine how to give life to these livelihood options.
There was a need to establish a link between the people’s organization sand donors to facilitate implementation of the feasibility studies formulated together with the partner people’s organizations, thus, the Panaghimamat, meaning linkage in the local dialect, was the main theme of a forum held on September 16 last year.

Building the link

At the end of the day, the Panaghimamat enabled four POs* (ISSA, KAAMPAKA, EPASAKA, LAFFA) to establish rapport and linkages with prospective donors and partners who could support: their sustainable livelihoods; internalize the value of cooperation and partnership between and among stakeholders in their respective communities and sectors on SNRM; and identify follow-up strategies and mechanisms to achieve the purpose of various proposed sustainable livelihoods.

A Manobo leader, Hawodon Kajogjog, opened the program with a traditional prayer, followed by a Christian prayer led by one of the local leaders from ISSA. The national anthem was led by a Lihok Kabataan Para sa Kalikasan (LIKKAS) youth representative.

Mayor Pedro Trinidad of Cortes rendered his opening remarks by thanking the funders: the EU and AECID. He acknowledged the presence of the participating international and local institutions, local governments, provincial officers and the local PO leaders witnessing the event. According to him, the event is timely to build linkages not only for improving people’s livelihood but to share the same purpose of protecting and conserving the environment. A healthy environment sustains livelihood.

There were four international organizations represented: the German Development, German Development Service, Accion Contra El Famine and Cives Mundi. Local governments (province of Surigao del Sur, four municipal local governments, five barangay local governments); Government Line Agencies from Tandag and Cantilan, namely the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officers (DENR-PENRO) and Community Environment and Natural Resources Officers (CENRO); Provincial Administration Office; Provincial Agriculture Office; Provincial Fisheries; two Indigenous Peoples Alliances—Kahugpungan sa Tribong Manobo ug Mamanwa and Kahugpungan sa mga Lumad sa Surigao del Sur; one local government alliance—Lanuza Bay Development Alliance; one fisherfiolk alliance—Nagkakaisang Mananagat na Magamping sa Kadagatan; four POs and; one IP organization; and three partner nongovernment organization working in the IBAs and Lanuza Bay—Advocates for Policy Reforms and Development of CARAGA Inc. (APREDEC), Tambuyog and Green Mindanao.

Anabelle Plantilla, the Golden Landscapes and Seascapes’ project manager, provided a brief project overview and rationale. She said without the support of the funding agencies, the project will not be realized. The remaining natural forests and marine resources of the province must be conserved, thus it is necessary to establish good cooperation between and among local governments and nongovernment organizations and other stakeholders. Sustainable livelihood for NRDF, have to be supported by national and local policies that are responsive to the protection and conservation of the environment.

Blas Tabaranza, Haribon’s chief operating officer and project manager of the GOLDEN Forests Project, presented a brief local environmental situationer of the two project sites, Mount Hilong-hilong and Mount Diwata, which are important biodiversity areas.

He stressed that Surigaonons are very lucky because they still have a good stand of natural forests compared to other areas in the Philippines, which are already gone. Based on the bio-physical surveys, the sites have diverse plant and animal species like forest trees, mosses, lianas, squirrels, hornbills and tarsiers, while Lanuza Bay is said to be one of the top 15 fishing grounds in the country but it is sadly threatened by mining and logging.

The four POs’ Feasibility studies presentation followed and the forum’s theme of Panaghimamat was further deepened during the 15-minute breaks, as the participants mingled and conversed. The Awasian Catholic Youth Organization, which is also a local youth organization partner, KAAMPAKA and the participating POs presented intermission numbers of songs and dances, showcasing Surigaonon local arts and culture.

Getting to know our partner POs

The four people’s organizations had booths to introduce their respective organizations. Tarpaulins featuring their thrusts, current activities and accomplishments were hanged. They also displayed their community products such as organically grown fruits and vegetables, and fresh fishes and prawns. Brochures on the priority livelihood projects prepared by the four POs were distributed and discussed by their leaders. –NOEL A. RESURRECCION CONTRIBUTOR, Manila Times

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* ISSA: Ihawan Spring Stakeholders Association in Barangay Awasian, Tandag
KAAMPAKA: Kadagatan Ampingan Pagmata Katawhan in Barangay Burgos, Cortes