CamSur town shows effective way to reduce disaster risk

NAGA CITY, Philippines – Caring for the ecosystem is an effective and sustainable approach to reducing disaster risk while improving livelihood.

The town of Calabanga in Camarines Sur has proven this and is now helping neighboring towns in the Bicol River Basin system to develop their own programs.

Battered by four typhoons in one month in 2004, and a series of strong typhoons in 2006, town officials saw the need for community preparedness and started working on it in one of its barangays in 2006.

The town has earned the distinction of being the first municipality in the province to have developed a multi-hazard, comprehensive barangay and municipal contingency plans.

With the support of the European Commission Humanitarian aid (ECHo) starting in 2007, the coverage of the program was expanded to a few coastal barangays. By 2011, it also covered some upland barangays.

“Aside from the usual trainings, planning and drills, we also constructed through rabuz (Bicol world for mutual aid) gabions in barangay Cagsao, where we were able to demonstrate that small-scale mitigation work can be a lot cheaper,” Calabanga Mayor Eduardo Severo said.

“We also found an even cheaper alternative to gabions, which are the mangroves that are now protecting coastal areas from the surges,” he added.

Severo said the project aims to protect and reinforce the shorelines and mitigate flooding.

CARE Netherlands, a Dutch non-government organization (NGO), introduced the program, which is also being implemented in the neighboring towns of Bombon, Magarao and Canaman, which share a history of frequent and severe typhoons, flooding and storm surges.

ECHO, through its disaster preparedness program, has provided about P24 million in assistance. The grant includes funding for the planting of fruit trees in upland areas, and establishing a fish sanctuary.

CARE Netherlands representative Celso Dulce said one of their first activities was the construction of gabions.

“This is very common in communities. They all prefer something tangible, and they were saying we would like to have seawalls or gabions to protect us from strong surges and big waves,” he said.

CARE Netherlands provided the gabion wire and provided training on how to construct it, which Dulce said are “standing there strong.”

“We have shown that mitigation activities can be done at least cost. Initially the LGUs wanted to construct the usual seawall made of cement, gravel, stones and GI wires and initial cost was P6 million. We did the gabions at 10 percent of that cost. We were able to show that risk reduction can be done at least cost,” he said.

“Mangrove reforestation not only protects our communities from natural disaster and act as windbreak and shoreline stabilizer, it also rehabilitated our people’s source of livelihood,” he added, noting that fishermen have increased their catch as fishes that were not seen for a long time are returning.

Severo said the other risk reduction activities include incorporating disaster risk reduction in the school curriculum and the conduct of preparedness activities in schools.

European Union Ambassador Guy Ledoux visited the project sites – mangrove plantation in barangay Cagsao, Calabanga and barangay Palo, Canaman on Oct. 1. He lauded town officials for incorporating disaster risk reduction in its comprehensive development plan, and ensuring that disaster risk reduction programming has survived the leadership change.

“I came here to visit activities related to disaster risk reduction so I think we’re seeing the money where it’s to be used,” he said.

Ledoux also witnessed an evacuation drill as part of a disaster preparedness program financed by the EU.

EU Union provided P90 million in assistance for disaster preparedness programs to the consortium of international NGOs including CARE Netherlands, Action Contre la Faim, Plan International, Oxfam, Christian Aid and Handicap International.