A nnewsleewsleƩ eerr ofof thethe MindaNOW:MindaNOW: NNurturingurturing OOurur WWatersaters PProgramrogram MMayay 22013013 DDavaoavao CCity,ity, PPhilippineshilippines VVolumeolume 1 IIssuessue 1 Public and Private Partnership on Tree-Growing. Members of the Mindanao Alliance of Self-help Society – Southern Mindanao Educati onal Cooperati ve Center (MASS-SPECC) conducted a tree-growing acti vity for the program “Co-ops Love Green Earth.” The cooperati ve, in partnership with MinDA, has embarked on the program thru the Mindanao Nurturing Our Waters to help restore ecological integrity of Mindanao. MindaNOW: Adapting to Climate Change In the face of the the best use of the full government units, Development Master Plans. potenti als of the river basins government agencies rapidly changing Early this year, environmental condiƟ ons, and watersheds without (DENR, NEDA, DND, CCC, MindaNOW formed the the MindaNOW: necessarily compromising DA, DOT, DAR, NCIP, DOST, Mindanao Rehabilitati on Task Nurturing Our Waters their carrying capacity. DILG, DPWH, DOST, ARMM- Program, an integrated With an annual budget Regional Gov’t, OCD, DSWD, Force to undertake rapid river DepEd, Ched, NWRB), civil set of development of Php7M that will run unti l assessment of criti cal rivers society and private sectors intervenƟ ons that is 2016, MindaNOW focuses parti cularly those that were (IRF, JCI, ESSC, PWMC, PCCI, anchored on sustainable on fi ve components, namely devastated by typhoons Pablo Insti tuti onal Development MASS-SPECC, WWF, HFI), and development framework, and Sendong. and Capacity Building, media. stepped up to accomplish Plan Harmonizati on and To strengthen river basin MindaNOW also its planned projects and Knowledge Management, management mechanisms, acts as oversight agency acƟ viƟ es for the year Program Support and MindaNOW is working with for Integrated Natural 2013. Advocacy, Policy Review and the DENR in the creati on of Resource and Environmental The program, which Advocacy, and Consti tuency River Basin Organizati ons Management Project and adopts the river basin Building. (RBOs) and is providing approach as the key strategy As the lead coordinator, assistance in craft ing River the updati ng of Mindanao for planning, encourages it partners with local Basin Management and Topographic Map. 2 A newsletter of the MindaNOW: Nurturing Our Waters Program MinDA creates river rehab task force The Mindanao agricultural livelihood, and recommended to broaden through the Resoluti on Development Authority public infrastructure. the coverage of river rapid No.004 Series of 2013 was (MinDA) created a task assessment and include other approved. The Region 11 Rivers force that will conduct rapid criti cal rivers damaged by Task Force agreed to conduct MinDA has invited assessment of the damage unsustainable practi ces. the State Universiti es and brought by enviromental rapid assessment of the Subsequently, the Colleges (SUCs) to provide malpracƟ ces and typhoons criti cal rivers aff ected by MinDA Board recognized a group of experts who will that recently visited the typhoon Pablo parti cularly in assist the task force and the need to create a body island-region. Compostela Valley and Davao act as technical advisors, that will undertake the Oriental and the possible provide in-depth analysis in In the last four years, interventi ons to these criti cal following tasks: identi fy the integrated rehabilitati on major calamiti es have rivers. It was parti cipated criti cal rivers for restorati on; recommendati ons and confronted the island-region in by partner agencies and conduct rapid assessment prepare the proposals of that rendered damages on the criti cal rivers; and Provincial Local Government identi fi ed priority projects. to criti cal rivers and its recommend integrated Units within Davao Region By the end of the year, watersheds. acti on plan that will address that were aff ected by the the task force is expected The latest, typhoon Bhopa immediate rehabilitati on of super typhoon. to come up assessment (Pablo), displaced about identi fi ed criti cal rivers. On results and proposals for 850,000 families, caused In January this year, 24 January 2013, the creati on the top three immediate the loss of 2,334 lives and the Mindanao Rivers of Mindanao Riverways interventi ons for the damaged private properti es, Reconstructi on Task Force Reconstructi on Task Force identi fi ed rivers. MinDA, DENR establish Davao river basin management alliance MindaNOW is targeti ng and Bukidnon Watershed to establish 10 River Basin and River Basin Forum. Organizati ons (RBOs) by Meanwhile, assistance to the 2016; eight for the major setti ng up of the Mindanao river basins, one for Bukidnon River Basin, Agusan River as the headwater province Basin, Silway River Basin and one for Zamboanga and Tagum-Libuganon River Peninsula. Basin Organizati ons are being At present, the provided by the MindaNOW Davao River Basin (DRB) program. Management Alliance has The program is also been established. The DRB working to strengthen the is an alliance composed RBOs in preparati on for of Davao Watershed their insti tuti onalizati on Management Council, Davao as managers of these river Gulf Management Council basins. You can help us enrich the MindaNOW Portal! An enhanced MindaNOW Portal, now.minda.gov.ph, will be accessible by the 3rd Quarter of this year. Once completed, it will provide extensive, substanti al and valuable data and informati on on Mindanao environment. Your contributi ons will A young boy enjoys enrich the MindaNOW Portal. clean and safe water. 3 River basin master Project completes updating plans integrate CCAM and DRRM of Mindanao topographic map In coordination with DENR and NEDA, MindaNOW is A two-year project On 15 January 2010, assisting in the development of designed to update and an agreement was signed River Basin Master Plans that transform the topographic with Japan Internati onal integrate the Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation and maps to Philippine Reference Cooperati on Agency Disaster Risk Reduction and System of 1992 and reformat (JICA), the funding agency Management. the maps to the scale of and MinDA, the major 1:50,000 has been completed coordinati ng body for the said To date, the Mindanao River and will be soon available project. Basin and Buayan-Malungon for both private and public River Basin master plans have JICA, as the funding been completed, the Davao sectors. agency dispatched a project from all sectors during the River Basin and Cagayan de The project enti tled team that pursued on implementati on of the Oro River Basin are ongoing Mindanao Topographic Map the technology transfer project. and the Tagum-Libuganon, for Peace and Development to its counterparts in The updated topographic Lake Lanao-Agus and Tagoloan master plans are up was proposed by the Nati onal the course of the project map will be used as a base for bidding. Mapping and Resource implementati on. Meanwhile, map for the spati al and Informati on Authority as counterpart agencies, regional planning and is a The master plans are being (NAMRIA) to update the 50 to MinDA and NAMRIA acted reliable reference for the formulated to serve as a long 60 year-old topographic maps as coordinati ng bodies that Disaster Risk Reducti on term guide for the development of Mindanao that include the facilitated the involvement of Management (DRRM) plans of river basins while the strengthening of the RBOs is island provinces of Basilan, other government and non- of the local government units being pursued. Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi. government organizati ons and agencies. Resource management project to commence in July 2013 A project designed to promote sustainable watershed management in two priority river basins in Mindanao will kick off in July this year. Called the Integrated Natural Resources and Environmental Management Project (INREMP), the program encourages the parti cipati on of indigenous peoples and resource-poor communiti es to help curb the degradati on of Mindanao’s watersheds. The project also aims to alter practi ces that are seen to cause forest denudati on and promote among Mindanao farmers sustainable agricultural practi ces and President Benigno Simeon Aquino III and MinDA Chair Luwalhati Antonino discuss the Mindanao Resource technologies. map during the Mindanao Power Summit held in April last year. 4 A newsletter of the MindaNOW: Nurturing Our Waters Program Sulog is a quarterly publicati on of the Mindanao Development Authority Move to include Liguasan through its fl agship program called the Nurturing Our Waters Program or MindaNOW. The term Sulog is a Bisayan word for current, but specifi cally Marsh in NIPAS pushed defi nes the current that is present in bodies of water like streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans. It connotes strength, power, and consistency. Sulog MinDA is facilitati ng Liguasan Marsh lies plays major role in the formati on of the Earth’s landscape and acts as key the applicati on fi led by at the confl uence of element that connects the ridge to the reef. the Pulangui, Maganoy, regional government of You want your stories published in the succeeding Sulog issues? Please the Autonomous Region Buluan, and Ala-a rivers send your contributi ons to [email protected]. in Muslim Mindanao while the Libungan and Ebpanan marshes lie (ARMM) to include at the confl uence of Earth Dates to watch Liguasan Marsh in the Libungan and Mindanao June 5 Nati onal Integrated rivers. Protected Areas System World Environment Day Liguasan Marsh is (NIPAS). The move is home to about 112,000 June 8 seen to provide the Maguindanaoan families World Oceans Day legal framework for whose livelihood are the establishment and dependent to fi shing and June 17 management of this agriculture within and World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought important ecosystem. around the marshland. Mindanow Calendar What’s up MindaNOW? Mindanao Experts Forum: June 6 MindaNOW Research Priorization Workshop In November this year, a pool of experts and practitioners will convene in Davao City to showcase June 7 MinDA-academe partnership in undertaking science-based Mindanao Devevelopment Forum researches and studies.