Guardians of Watershed

GUARDIANS OF WATERSHED

A Learning from Laiban 

At the invitation of Donna P. Reyes, Phd,  Director at the Environmental Studies Institute (ESI) of Mirriam College, visited the community of Laiban, Tanay, Rizal.  Tanay is 56 kilometers away from Manila.   The area is significant and strategic in terms of water security for Luzon.  The national government has a long standing mega-dam plan to secure secondary water source for Manila and nearby provinces.  This time, the purpose of our visit to Laiban is to celebrate graduation of one of ESI’s scholars. I was with Donna Reyes, ESI Executive Director and two of the staff, Xcel Diamante and Eric Buado.   In the heat of noonday sun, we reached the picnic area, a thatched bamboo hut in the middle of the dry riverbed.  Many children were jumping in the cold river waters and swimming away.   Kimberly, the young lady who graduated in college gave a short speech of thanksgiving and then we all ate. She is from the Dumagat tribal group in Laiban. 

The State of the Philippine Forests

In the beginning of 20^th century, Philippines had 21 million hectares of forests left.  Now there is only 3 million hectares left.  In one century, Philippines lost 62% of its forest covers.  Of the 38% left, only 800,000 hectares are primary forests, the rests are what Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan called, “scars” (Ploeg, Masepiquena, & Bernardo, 2003).

Figure 1 The Sierra Madre Mountain Range , spotted by Swedish satellite, produced by Conservation International for the Sierra Madre Biodiversity Corridor program, as cited by (Ploeg, Masepiquena, & Bernardo, 2003)

Conservation Program

In 2004 Mirriam College signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to manage a 180-hectares of forest land in the village of Laiban within the Kaliwa Watershed for a period of 25 years. The Kaliwa Watershed is home to the part of Sierra Madre Biodiversity Corridor (SMBC), which was identified as one of the 14 biodiversity conservation sites within SMBC. This project is significant because of its springs and rivers located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains. It is an important wildlife habitat that contains dipterocarp trees, a wide array of birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles, some of which are threatened and endemic species (Miriam College, 2004).

The overall goal of the project is to create a sustainable and replicable wildlife conservation model that will serve as a Window to the Sierra Madre.  Through the project, Miriam College/ESI aims to (1)Develop a field study site for the academic and environmental outreach programs of ESI and other programs of Miriam College and (2) provide a venue for constituency-building for sustainable development (3) increase the capacities of the host communities (4) develop conservation and natural resources management models for watershed resources (5) protect and rehabilitate forest, cave and freshwater ecosystems and wildlife (6) enhance linkage for research, educational and public services.  The project components include (1) Protection of natural habitats (2) Rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems (3) eco-historic tourism (4) Agroforestry (5) Information, education, and communication (6) Livelihood activities. (Miriam College, 2004) 

Laiban is a small town with a total of 4,500 (1,800 male; 2,700 female) inhabitants (Office of the Barangay Council of Laiban, 2010).   The name Laiban means “baga” or charcoal flame, came about since 16^th century during this time the ancestors who lived in this area uses the charcoal to dry body covering made of tree bark or huge leaves before wearing them.  The village of Laiban is situated on the western part, inside the Sierra Madre range.  The area is home to the Dumagat and Remontados group of indigenous people (Miriam College, 2004).

The communities live on farming, fishing (rivers) and small business.  They produce rice, corn, coconuts, mangoes, bananas, taro, avocado, peanuts, ginger, cassava, and green citrus (dalandan).  Its identified tourism facilities include Laiban Dam Tunnel, Souvenier Center (in Manggahan), Maysawa Falls, Makay-ngaran Falls, Puting Bato River, Putting Bato Lagundi, Grotto Palanasan, and Red Anak River. 

Challenges – Slash and Burn (Swidden) Agriculture

Kaliwa watershed is classified as forest reserve and declared as National Wildlife Park and Sanctuary.  At present it is reclassified as protected area under National Integrated Protected Areas Systems(NIPAS).  This area is considered degraded because of slash and burn farming.   Slash and burn agriculture has been traditionally practiced in Laiban by its indigenous population for centuries.  Lacking of flat areas, the people clear the steep slopes to plant edible crops.  Nowadays, because of economic interests in cash cropping, unmitigated slash and burn results to slope deforestation causing degradation that cascades down to the rivers and natural waterways.  Danger of flash floods during the rainy season is a reality.  Deforestation is also causing siltation in the rivers with much of the mountain topsoil.

Recently, the Aquino government has revived the Laiban Dam Project being proposed since the time of Marcos administration.  The environmental impacts of this proposed damming project will include drowning 16 barangays situated along the river, biodiversity in the riverine and slopes of the proposed dam site will be submerged under water.  The Dumagats and other residents of the area with the help of NGOs have petitioned the local government to stop the project over the years.  Now, the issue is once again revived by the Aquino presidency.

A Community Based Conservation Model

ESI introduced a community based conservation model in Laiban.  Partnering with local farmers and their families, the community was trained to collect seeds from endemic trees in the area for seedlings. In return, ESI buys the seedlings for us in the reforestation, rather than sourcing it from outside.   During off-planting seasons, the farmer work in the reforestation planting the local seedlings to the managed reforestation areas. They earned income by the number of seedlings they planted in the reforestation area.  Monitoring of the reforestation is the joint responsibility of the local farmers and ESI.   This ongoing biodiversity conservation program is one of the most successful in Luzon and the second implementation of this model. 

Figure 2 Site of Laiban, Tanay, Rizal  Source: (Villegas & Pollisco, 2008)

Figure 2 Site of Laiban, Tanay, Rizal  Source: (Villegas & Pollisco, 2008)

The reforestation initiative will help conserve and protect the biodiversity in the area and equally provide protection to the Kaliwa Watershed to ensure its ecosystem health.   Providing additional livelihood in the form of seedling bank, developing ecotourism in the area, will help residents not encroach in the forest and riverine ecosystems for livelihood.   This initiative gives hope for the real guardians of the Laiban watershed.