Improved ecosystem services and reduced vulnerability to climate change through ecosystem-based management and application of ecosystem values in two river basins in the Philippines

River basins offer habitats for endangered species while also offering a means of subsistence for people in the catchment area and beyond. Apart from a local supply of water, relevant economic sectors include agriculture, energy, healthcare and the environment. The project uses ecosystem-based approaches to support national strategies while helping to improve their coordination and integration. This reduces the number of at-risk households while also improving the availability and quality of water in selected river basin areas. The project provides innovative ideas for improving the fragmented water governance system while designing attractive ecosystem service segments for private enterprise. The earnings thereby raised are used to finance management and conservation programmes. Insights into climate insurance products are adapted to local requirements, and understood by regulators and the public alike as a complementary strategy for handling climate and residual risks.

Project data

Countries: Philippines
IKI funding: 4,600,000.00 €
Duration: 03/2019 till 05/2024
Status: open
Implementing organisation: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
Political Partner: Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) - Philippines
Implementing Partner: Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) - Philippines
Online: https://www.giz.de/en/worldwide/79964.html

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State of implementation/results

A series of trainings on digital spatial data collection for watershed characterization and vulnerability assessment to climate change impacts was started in September 2022.
A Project Management Committee meeting was held in August 2022. The central role of strategies for institutionalizing payments for ecosystem services at the national level, integrating ecosystem-based adaptation into river basin management, and piloting adaptation actions through local grant contracts was confirmed by all participants.
In July 2022, the project supported the implementation of a river basin database to make informed and relevant decisions. Operationalization will be part of the coordinated implementation of ecosystem-based adaptation measures through the updated River Basin Master Plans.
To promote ecosystem-based adaptation measures, the project organized the first 'Provincial Local Conservation Area Summit' in June 2022 jointly with the provincial government of Negros Occidental.
In Negros Oriental Province, as part of the 'Knowledge Management and Communication' Action Plan, in April 2022 partnerships between government and the private sector on conservation initiatives in the river basin were promoted in order to create a common understanding of ecosystem-based adaptation.

Latest Update:
04/2023