By
CHRIS J. TAPNIO
Philippine Rural Development Project
The tropical region has vast of areas that contain an equally wide array of ecosystems, ranging from dense tropical forests to semi-arid areas. Truly, biodiversity and endemicity of its flora and fauna is rich from its ridges to its reefs.
It is a fact that healthy ecosystems, within the context of disaster management, are considered as resilient ecosystems. Needless to say, these ecosystems play a vital role in climate change adaptation and Ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction. And its resiliency has important repercussions on the resiliency of communities around it.
Day 2 of the 2018 Summer Course in Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR) involved field work in three different ecosystems in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Fully aware that learning is not limited to the four walls of the classroom, we spent the whole day exploring these ecosystems in the hope of widening our perspective on the role played by ecosystems in reducing, managing and mitigating disasters.
The first site is on the Karst region in the Gunung Kidul Regency. Starting with a safety orientation, we trekked down the winding staircase leading to the main entrance of the cave. One can observe that the water is still pristine, and that there are still robust vegetation on top of the equally amazing rows of limestone. The Karst region provides various ecosystem services which includes carbon sequestration (as a key component of climate change mitigation), biogeochemical cycling of nutrients specifically Calcium, water filtration, among others. Karst regions usually also have forested areas (called limestone karst forests). These have unique set of flora and fauna that need to be protected and conserved from the usual drivers of degradation and decay.
Indeed, Karst is a unique ecosystem. Sadly, this area of study is still not well-researched, at least in the Philippines. I believe that baseline data is needed for continuing research on this ecosystem. Consequently, science based policies can be crafted for its conservation and protection from natural and anthropogenic threats.
However, before policies can be produced, one should not exclude the important role played by the community in its conservation and protection. For so long, most conservation frameworks worldwide did not even consider the people, who are oftentimes viewed as the purveyors of its destruction. It was a positive thing to note that there was some semblance of a conservation trade-off mechanism present in the Gunung Kidul karst region. The ecosystem provides livelihood to the local community, and in return they sustainably manage, protect, and conserve the resources from where they derive economic benefits.
The ecotourism component of the karst region focuses on the safety of its visitor as well as considering the environmental impact of the presence of tourists in the area, especially during the peak season. The number of visitors in the area is limited based on the carrying capacity of the said ecosystem. Thus, this undertaking is based on need, and not greed.
The next site was Baron beach where almost everyone was amazed at the geomorphological episodes that shaped and are continuously shaping the physical attributes of the coast. With the strong waves comes different weathering processes that changed the landscape.
Obviously, it is a fishing community as seen by the boats and nets around the area. Thus, just like in the karst region, the community is dependent on the economic benefits they get from the ecosystem. Within the context of DRR, the community, with the assistance of government personnel, have an emergency protocol in place – from the early warning systems to rescue and retrieval groups. This awareness and readiness on the occurrence of impending disasters is a lesson that should be replicated in all areas, and something that I will take home and mainstream as I go back to my own country.
The last destination for the day was Parangritis Park, where the government established the PGSP or the Parangritis Geomaritime Science Park. A short lecture was presented by the staff and what followed was a very healthy exchange of ideas from people with such a diverse background.
Just like the two other ecosystems, the sand dunes near the area act as the buffer that protect the communities against storm surges, cyclones, and tidal waves. Unfortunately, this rare ecosystem is under threat from both natural and man-made drivers of change. The aerial map shown in the lecture points to an interplay of different factors that threaten the area- from the encroachment of settlers, to indiscriminate mining of sand, to misguided and conflicting policies from government agencies. Truly, the complexity of the situation in this slowly degrading and human-dominated ecosystem is real and cannot be addressed by a single solution. Everyone – both the “hard science” of geomorphologists and the community organizers/development workers- must chip in and contribute in the crafting a science-based but people-centered policy that will protect the sand dunes but will not exclude and compromise the survival of the community.
Indeed, there is a need to increase the awareness of the people on these ecosystems. Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) campaigns should reach the grassroots. Capacity building and trainings of communities on conservation and protection of natural resources should also be conducted. They should not be left out from the planning and policy-making. For they are the major stakeholders. And in the end, they will be the ones who would count the most in the success and effective mainstreaming of the Eco-DRR policies and principles.