A Philippine NGO advances the government's agenda on climate change

Danny O. Calleja in the Business Mirror (Philippines): The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) has lined up measures against the effects of global warming on agriculture and forestry in support of the National Science Intervention Plan (NSIP) that addresses issues on climate change.

As a council tasked to lead environment research and development (R&D) which is one of the priority sectors of the eight-point agenda of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) that formulated the NSIP, PCARRD has been extending support in crafting national policies related to agriculture, forestry and the environment.

Its strategic plan for the forestry cluster includes the environmental services subcluster that tackles concerns on water resources and watershed management, Tomas Briñas, DOST regional director for Bicol based here, said last week.

…PCARRD executive director Patricio Faylon in an earlier report said that among the council’s major research initiatives to address climate change is the “Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Strategies in Natural Resources, Agriculture and Rural Communities in the Philippines.” This initiative would help formulate strategies and mitigating measures to manage the impacts of climate change at the community level, Faylon said in the report.

…Another project of the council is called Carbon Sequestration Valuation of Different Vegetation Types (secondary growth forest, mossy mangrove, plantation forests) in the Philippines which will evaluate the amount of carbon stored and sequestered by different forest types in the country….