Worsening effects of climate change is significantly and visibly affecting the lives of many people. One way of buffering its effects is to increase the adaptive capacity of local people through enhancement of livelihoods and ecology.
Under the USAID funded project entitled "Mainstreaming Climate Change in Biodiversity Planning and Conservation in the Philippines", ICRAF will be assisting the local people within the buffer zone of Mt. Apo Natural Park covered by Barangays Kinarum and Bongolanon, Magpet, North Cotabato to increase their adaptive capacity to climate change through development of 50 hectares each of agroforestry farms in the two barangays mentioned. In preparation for this development activity, consultation meetings with the local communities were conducted on January 17-18, 2012. During the meetings, the project overview and key project activities were first presented after which criteria to be used in choosing species to plant were identified and ranked. In both barangays, suitability, high resistance to disease, insect and pest infestation and fast growing species were the top 3 criteria identified. Based on the criteria, abaca, tiger grass and coffee were identified as the top 3 crops to be planted in the farms.
Consultation Meeting at Barangays Kinarum (left) and Bongolanon (right) in Mt. Apo Natural Park.
With the project, it is hoped that supply of valuable plant resources will be enhanced. Thus, it is expected that pressure on the natural resources present in the area will be lessened. (02/28/2012)
