This paper will describe the current management strategies in the Manupali watershed aimed for both the economic and environmental sustainability. In Section II, we describe the watershed in terms of the hydrology, as well as its biophysical and socio economic characteristics. The third section is a discussion of the current management activities. We will investigate the realities of watershed management at various perspectives: financial, technical, social/institutional, and political/legal. A discussion of the challenges in the implementation of the said plans is in Section IV. A brief conclusion and some recommendations will be discussed in Section V.
Presenters describe the goals of the information, education and communication strategy as: to draw and test innovations in technology and information packaging and dissemination among SANREM partners and to effect increased awareness, develop positive attitude and persuade and motivate farmers to adopt technologies and practices towards sustainable agriculture and natural resource management. The objectives of the strategy are: popularize, package and disseminate project outputs using an innovative communication strategy; provide timely and appropriate information that will help strengthen capacities for environmental decision making among communities, government and academic institutions; mainstream research results into the formal curriculum in the Philippines and Vietnam;
Local research in the Manupali watershed, with about 60% of its land area belonging to the upland municipality of Lantapan, Bukidnon, found that water quantity and quality declined due to soil erosion and domestic waste contamination. As population grows and agriculture becomes more integrated to the market, water deterioration is projected to worsen. Both economic and environmental sustainability then depend on the following management bodies: 1) the management of the Mt. Kitanglad range, the headwaters of the Manupali, 2) management of the tributaries that are within the agricultural areas of Lantapan and 3) the management of the bigger watershed cluster to where Manupali belongs. The first two management entities have management plans in place; with some funding pledges for the Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park (a protected area by law) Management Plan. The Lantapan municipality watershed management plan still needs funding support and an institutional body that can implement said plans. The bigger watershed cluster plan(Upper Pulangi) is being developed and success in the management depends in part on the commitment of the several communities that compose this cluster. Some of the challenges that were identified in implementing the several watershed management plans charged with sustainability of the Manupali are financial sustainability, limited economic instruments, weak property rights, lack of administrative mechanisms, human capital and institutional constraints, and a legal basis for the management structure.
