By
CHRIS J. TAPNIO
Philippine Rural Development Project
During the last day of the week, the summer course on Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction continued with two very special lecturers known for their expertise in their respective fields.
The first speaker, from the University of the Philippines in Los Banos, Dr. Decibel Faustino-Eslava presented her lecture entitled “Geo hazards, tropical cyclones and disaster risk management in the Philippines: Adaptation in a changing climate regime.” Coming from one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, she presented the profile of the Philippines in terms of weather extremes as well as geo hazards.
Dr. Eslava gave inputs on disasters such as flooding, geo hazards and others. For example, she mentioned that flooding of rivers are natural part of its life cycle, thus the need to understand how this ecosystem behaves. In my opinion, this understanding would help policy makers integrate Ecosystem based DRR in flood control and mitigation. Furthermore, Dr. Eslava mentioned that the Philippines has frequent and recurring episodes of geo hazards since it is a country that is geologically complex. Just like countries within the so-called “Ring of Fire” there exists numerous faults and volcanoes responsible for seismic activities that exposes the communities to hazards and risks.
The lecture delved into the increasing strength of typhoons entering the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), notably “Ondoy” and “Yolanda” And in terms of the post- disaster impacts, Dr. Eslava mentioned that the communities affected were able to harness resources from the ecosystems around them. However, I believe that this was not the case for all the other communities. There were also areas whose vulnerabilities were increased due to unhealthy and degraded ecosystems. Some fishing communities hit by Yolanda, for example, only get at least 1kg fish catch after four hours of fishing. Research conducted by Dr. Jonathan Anticamara, for example, showed that harmful fishing methods such as cyanide and dynamite fishing has already degraded the coral reefs within the vicinity even before Yolanda made land fall. Thus, one key learning is that ecosystem health will always have direct effect on the resilience of both the ecosystem and the communities in the area. Conservation, protection, and resilience cannot be treated as separate areas, for these are intertlinked.
Dr. Eslava discussed Philippine policies and laws aimed at addressing Climate Change. These national laws at place were designed to mainstream the two-pronged approach of Climate Change Mitigation and Climate Change Adaptation, including Disaster Risk Reduction. I inquired about the Philippine Survival Fund based on the Philippine Survival Fund Act. Sadly, due to the volume of requirements local government units need to satisfy, only a few of them successfully tapped into this funding.
The next speaker Dr. Zulfa Hanan Ash’aari , from Universiti Putra Malaysia, presented her research entitled “Better Air Quality in Asia: Regional Action, Global Impact” She validated that high income countries have lower levels of Particulate matter (PM) compared to lower income countries. This presents more problems since lower income countries tend to have higher poverty incidences. Continued exposure to harmful PM10 and PM2.5 would give rise to more respiratory and related diseases. This is further compounded by the fact that poorer people have fewer opportunities to get access to proper health care. True enough, Dr. Ash’aari presented epidemiological studies showing health costs of pollution in major Asian cities. Thus, poverty and population are intertwined in a complex web related to air quality problems and consequently, diseases and death.
One realization that I had is that the lecture made me remember the sad case in my hometown – Baguio City in the Philippines. It was developed as a Hill Station during the American occupation of the country. Needless to say, it had a pristine environment filled with pine trees and fresh mountain air, making it the undisputed Summer Capital of the Philippines. Unfortunately, misguided development, rapid urbanization, and poor governance caused the degradation of the forest ecosystems in the city. PM levels have risen especially in the Central Business Districts. To compound this problem, local politicians would rather construct additional infrastructure such as parking lots in critical areas rather than address transportation problems via environmentally friendly mechanisms.
Which is why I am very thankful for the Universitas Gadja Mada for giving me the opportunity to learn from the world-class set of faculty from the Faculty of Geography, as well as international speakers. There is an urgent need to produce a set of professionals from diverse backgrounds- from the academe, humanitarian organizations, government personnel, to name a few, to influence our policy-makers, urban planners, and our respective governments. The time to act is now, and there is a need to cascade, mainstream and implement Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction to the most vulnerable communities in our countries.