sign in sign up
<<
Home , Baungon, Libona, Macajalar Bay, Mindanao, Mount Kitanglad, Northern Mindanao

PROTECTING ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES: THE CASE OF CDORB IN NORTHERN , Hilly Ann Roa-Quiaoit,PhD., Yashimera L. Maape

With the degradation of our natural resources, the Philippine government has prioritized 18 riverbasin in the country and advocated for its management, including the de Oro Riverbasin (CDORB) in .

The River Basin (CDORB) has a total area of approximately 138,000 ha covering the municipalities of , , and in , Cagayan de Oro City in Oriental, and a small portion of City in del Norte. The basin starts at its upstream areas of the watersheds of Mts. Kalatungan and Kitanglad (fondly called KitKat) Mountain Ranges in Bukidnon Province. These mountains ranges have strong cultural, historical, and biological ties. Kitkat is also prominently known as the ancestral domain of three major indigenous tribes in the province, namely the Talaandig, Higaonon, and Bukidnon.

Mt. Kitanglad with an elevation of 2,899 meters above level (masl) is considered to be the third highest peak in the country while Mt. Kalatungan is considered to be the fifth highest, with a height of 2,287 masl. These two mountain ranges are home to some of the world’s ecologically important species, hosting to over 600 rare and endemic species, among them the critically endangered and the conservation-dependent Philippine Tarsier. is also home to schadenbergiana, the second largest flower in the world. Amidst the beauty Mt. Kalatungan and Kitanglad carry, both have long been faced with environmental threats such as timber poaching, hunting of endangered species, and the conversion of forest boundaries to farmlands and business concessionaires. These problems remained to be unseen in the past years not until December 2011, when Northern Mindanao was devastatingly struck by Typhoon Washi (locally Sendong) sending heavy rains, landslides, and flash flooding across the Cagayan de Oro river basin, where approximately 1,300 people died and damage to infrastructure, agriculture, and private property are calculated to be over 2 billion PHP (about 44 million USD). It was then the harrowing wake- up call for the people from the clamouring howl of the two mountains after decades of neglect.

Now, with the recent increasing focus on landscape approaches in resource management and environmental protection, the role and relevance of multi-sectoral approach is becoming relevant. The Cagayan de Oro River Basin Management Council (CDORBMC) is a model of a multi-stakeholder platform in environmental governance. Created in 2010, under the lead of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro City and the Regional Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR 10), many of the riverbasins in the country are following suit and patterned its structure to the present setup of the CDORBMC. But, the uniqueness of the CDORBMC is its alliance with three existing management bodies in the entire landscape-seascape, namely, Development Alliance (MBDA), Cagayan de Oro River Basin Management Council (CDORBMC) and the Basin Management Council (TRBMC). The Council has ventured into sustaining green growth by valuing ecosystem services, socially marketed as VEST – Valuing Ecosystem Services Together! One of the Council’s leading advocacy is the promotion and implementation of the riverbasin-wide Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES). PES has been an emerging financial tool for the environmental restoration, conservation and protection, to both Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Local Government Units (LGUs) under the CDORBMC umbrella to safeguard and enhance the continuing flow of ecosystem services. A riverbasin- wide PES of different modalities are implemented in the entire riverbasin, both LGU and NGO-based.

One of the unique PES approach is the case with the indigenous Miarayon- Lapok-Lirongan-Tinaytayan Tribal Association (MILALITTRA), doing restoration within their ancestral domains. The are sellers of the ecosystem services of providing water and controlling flooding to the downstream buyers in the urban city and buyers from the downstream urban city of Cagayan de Oro who benefit from ecosystem services. The funds are managed by a third-party NGO that administers the funds and builds the capability of the tribal association.

In the adjacent headwater, another PES modality was established in the Talama Fund by the Kitanglad Integrated NGOs (KIN) is a insurance fund for the indigenous forest wardens. The Talama is a trust fund as a reward and incentive system to the Council of Elders and the Kitanglad Guard Volunteers. The funds is a thanksgiving and gratitude system to these people who undyingly helps in protecting and conserving the surrounding areas of Mt. Kitanglad. The Talama Fund is perceived as a pathway to encourage sustainability of indigenous systems and practices on conservation to protect Mount Kitanglad. A Sacred Customary Compact of the Unifrutti Philippines through the Hineleban Foundation Inc. partners the Seven (7) Tribes of Bukidnon in the use of their ancestral lands for planting banana and . They will protect the watershed and do massive rehabilitation of the watershed as their contribution to ensure flow of ecological services. Unifrutti annually contributes P1, 000/ha/year for banana and 500/ha/year for pineapple plantations as their recognition of the Talaandig Tribe of Bukidnon as the rights holder, their entitlements and native rights by statutes on the law of the land.

The Miarayon-Lapok-Lirongan-Tinaytayan Tribal Association (MILALITTRA), Kitanglad Integrated NGOs and the Hineleban Foundation are good models of private sector and local tribal association in partnership on rewards for the environment.

Ordinances on PES by Local Government Units (LGUs) are also taking big strides. In Cagayan de Oro City, the legislative council already passed its PES ordinance after 6 years of lobbying, it comes with an annual allocation of PhP 10 million pesos to protect its ecosystem services, a unique and novel approach for LGUs in the Philippines. The fund wil be implemented by the City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office (CLENRO) for watershed conservation, protection and restoration, urban greening and establishment of green pockets of CDORB’s watersheds and sub-watersheds within the jurisdiction of the Cagayan de Oro City.

The adjacent LGUs also significantly contributed in the urgency of rehabilitating the upland areas of the CDORB. In 2019, LGU Libona passed its revised PES ordinance which entails a percolated rate depending on the type of business regardless and a fixed charge for the residential consumers. The funds will be used in the rehabilitation of the nearby forest and riparian areas which are mostly effect of massive soil erosion and land conversion. The LGU of Talakag will enhance support of the existing PES of the MILALITRA in Mt Kalatungan within their geographical jurisdiction by also adding five pesos on top of the monthly water bill of both business and residential stakeholders.

The LGU of Baungon is still in a quagmire on what ecological service it will focus, but a very good example for LGUs on the process of pushing a PES initiative in its local legislation.

The greatest contribution of the Local Government Units of Cagayan de Oro City, Libona, Baungon and Talakag is the provision of the necessary policy support and reforms that would benefit both their constituents and their environment. Environmental champions in the legislative branch of the government is a critical advantage in the process of lobby and advocacy. Likewise, the government provides the platform for people to engage and take part in safeguarding our resources and whole ecosystem.

Overall, we recognized that ecosystem services are very critical to human wellbeing. But, we need funds to be able to secure the flow of these services and that PES can be a driving mechanism for environmental protection, rehabilitation and conservation. Most importantly, it shows that even with the diversity of interest of the different players, be in the LGU or the CSO coalition if there is a shared common vision for the environment, all are open, committed and willing to work together as they see an interdependence on each other.