Noralene Uy

Local adaptation for livelihood resilience in Albay, Philippines

Local adaptation to climate change is essential for vulnerable coastal communities faced with increasing threats to livelihood and safety. This paper seeks to understand the micro-level enabling conditions for climate change adaptation through a livelihood lens in a study of six coastal villages in Bacacay in the province of Albay, Philippines. Albay is a high-risk province due to hydro-meteorological and geophysical hazards. The analysis of livelihood resilience utilizing the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach shows that a soft adaptation strategy focusing on enhancing human and social capital needs to be undertaken to increase adaptive capacity and build resilience in the study area. Moreover, the micro-level variations in the villages suggest that the understanding of local conditions is indispensable in planning and formulation of appropriate adaptation strategies and actions at local level.

The Role of Ecosystems in Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction

In the context of natural disasters and climate change, ecosystems are critical natural capital because of their ability to regulate climate and natural hazards. This chapter examines the important role of ecosystems and their services in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. It discusses the relevance of adopting ecosystem-based approaches in managing risks brought about by a changing climate.

An ecosystem-based resilience analysis of Infanta, Philippines

An exploratory study is conducted to assess the resilience of Infanta through an analysis of its ecosystems from ecological, physical, economic, social and institutional perspectives. Recognizing the strong interdependencies of ecological, physical, economic, social and institutional dimensions in ecosystems and that community-level perceptions can shape adaptation actions, a survey is conducted in 36 village councils in Infanta, Quezon, Philippines utilizing a questionnaire covering 5 dimensions, 25 parameters and 125 measures selected based on the local context of Infanta to gain an understanding of the level of resilience in mountain, riverine, urban, agricultural plain, estuarine and coastal ecosystems. Results show that overall resilience levels of ecosystems lie between 3.08 (medium resilience) and 3.26 (high resilience) on a scale of 1–5. However, resilience scores in the five dimensions vary from 2.57 (low resilience) to 3.51 (high resilience). On the whole, overall resilience levels in the 36 villages exhibit high levels in the social dimension and low levels in the economic dimension. By assessing the resilience of ecosystems as attempted in this study, a baseline is determined where entry points for adaptation actions that are responsive to prevailing ecosystem conditions can be identified, positive and negative factors addressed and gaps and opportunities acted upon to enhance the resilience of Infantas ecosystems.

Overview of Ecosystem-Based Adaptation

Ecosystem management has emerged as a preferred, and often, mandated approach to managing ecological systems. However, this comes with much debate because of the complexity in its applicability and feasibility due to political, economic, social, cultural, and ecological factors. This chapter outlines the evolving nature of Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA), and provides an insight on the future direction.

Chapter 11 Community-Based Disaster Risk Management Experience of the Philippines

Community-based disaster risk management (CBDRM) initiatives have strong roots in Philippine society not only because of the countrys contributory vulnerability to disasters but also because of a culture of community cooperation known as bayanihan and a history of social movement driven by the citizens’ discontent with bad governance leading to social injustice and environmental degradation (Heijmans, 2009). CBDRM in the Philippines has been a mechanism for change within civil society (Allen, 2006; Heijmans, 2009). In this way, community-based approaches are a fundamental form of empowerment of participants and a compelling strategy for enforcing the transmission of ideas and claims from the bottom up (Allen, 2006).

Watershed Approach to Ecosystem Management

The watershed approach is recognized as a holistic approach to ecosystem management. The chapter examines the concept of watershed as an ecosystem in relation to ecosystem management, disaster risk reduction, and climate change adaptation. It describes the importance of watersheds in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. It specifically looks at the watershed approach and provides some case studies showing the important role of communities in watershed management. Moreover, it discusses some incentive schemes in managing watersheds.

Linking livelihoods and ecosystems for enhanced disaster management

Human beings are inseparable from the environment because of their dependence on ecosystems and their services (Schroter, 2009). The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) identifies ecosystem services as vital links between humans and ecosystems because these services are essential for human well-being, especially in terms of security, basic materials for a good life, health, good social relations, and freedom of choice and action. Ecosystem services include flows of materials, energy, and information from natural resources that combined with manufactured and human resources contribute to human well-being (Costanza et al., 1997). These include provisioning services (e.g., food, fresh water, wood and fiber, fuel), regulating services (e.g., climate, flood and disease regulation, water purification), supporting services (e.g., nutrient cycling, soil formation, primary production), and cultural services (e.g., aesthetic, spiritual, educational, and recreational value). The regulating services provided by ecosystems, in particular, are critical for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. Ecosystems primarily affect both the probability and the severity of events and modulate the effects of extreme events. For example, soils store large amounts of water, facilitate transfer of surface water to groundwater, and prevent or reduce flooding, and natural buffers reduce hazards by absorbing runoff peaks and storm surges.

Valuing Ecosystem Services

The unsustainable management of ecosystem services often arises as a result of the non-recognition of the multiple benefits or under-valuation of ecosystem services. The chapter looks at economic valuation as an essential tool in ecosystem management decision-making and policy. It discusses the economics of ecosystem services, explains the motivations for economic valuation, describes economic valuation methods, and examines the limitations of economic valuation. It emphasizes that economic valuation can be a powerful and convincing tool for placing ecosystems on the agenda of planners and decision-makers.

Challenges and the Way Ahead in Ecosystem-Based Adaptation

The key concept of ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) is how to think of ecosystem in daily lifestyles (both in urban and rural areas), and how ecosystem-based adaptation can be a tool to adapt daily lives in changing climatic conditions. Sustainably managing, conserving, and restoring ecosystems so that they continue to provide the services that allow people to adapt to climate change is known as ecosystem-based adaptation. Summarizing the key observations provided in the earlier chapters, this chapter provides the ways of action-oriented ecosystem-based adaptation.

Chapter 16 Climate change adaptation in ASEAN: Actions and challenges

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprises 10 countries namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam (Fig. 1). The ASEAN region has a total land area of 4.5 million square kilometers (3.3% of the world total) and a coastline of 173,252 km (third longest in the world). It is a region that boasts of a wealth of biodiversity including 20 percent of all known plant, animal, and marine species and one-third or 284,000 km2 of all coral reefs. Four biodiversity hotspots identified by Conservation International cut across a wide area of the region that includes Indo-Burma, the Philippines, Sundaland, and Wallacea.