ADB supports Marikina River Basin project on climate resilience

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna, Philippines – An Asian Development Bank-supported project on climate covering the Marikina River Basin is on.

Dubbed as Technical Assistance (TA)-811 PHI: Climate Resilience and Green Growth in the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape (UMRBPL): Demonstrating the Eco-town Framework (46225-001), the project will be undertaken until Dec. 31, 2014.

The ADB has commissioned the Philippine government-hosted, Los Baños-based Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) to conduct the project.

In the process, SEARCA will closely coordinate with the Climate Change Commission (CCC), the project’s implementing agency; ERGONS Project Marketing Consultants, an associate in the project; and the participating local government units (LGUs) of Antipolo City and the Rizal towns of Tanay, San Mateo, Rodriguez, and Baras.

The contract project was signed by Anders Pettersson, ADB senior procurement specialist and chief negotiator for director; and SEARCA director Dr. Gil Saguiguit Jr.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by Srinivisan Ancha, ADB principal climate change specialist, Southeast Asia Department; Teresita Pascual, ERGONS managing director; Maria Lovella Segayo and Alexis Lapiz, both of the CCC; and Dr. Lope Santos III and Imelda Batangantang, both of SEARCA.

Saguiguit said the project aims to demonstrate the eco-town framework in the UMRBPL and strengthen the capacity of the LGUs to mainstream green, climate-resilient growth options in developing planning.

The project will contribute to efforts of the Philippine government, particularly those of the CCC, in mainstreaming climate change at the national and local levels.

“SEARCA believes that the fight against climate change can be won at the grassroots level where localized interventions will play a big role,” Saguiguit said.

“One such intervention is the adoption of the eco-town framework wherein an ecosystem-based management approach and sustainable financing mechanisms such as payments for ecological services are used to establish climate-resilient communities,” he added.

Major project activities include climate modeling and risk assessment, greenhouse gas inventory, production of geographic information system (GIS) maps, and full socio-economic profiling at the UMRBPL.