The Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) has expressed support for the community-led restoration efforts of the Leyte Sab-a Basin Peatland (LSBP), the second largest peatland in the Philippines.
In a phone interview on Thursday, DEPDev Eastern Visayas director Meylene Rosales said they met this week with officials of the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) and Visayas State University (VSU) to discuss the four-year initiative of local natural environment stewardship in LSBP.
“We pledged full support, citing the project’s alignment with the region’s thrusts on climate action and disaster resilience. The newly created RDC-Environment Committee will help coordinate efforts to safeguard the environment,” Rosales said.
Covering the towns of San Miguel, Alangalang, Santa Fe, and Palo in Leyte province, the project will benefit over 14,000 residents through community-led restoration efforts and peatland-friendly policies, according to Rosales.
VSU earlier emphasized that successful peatland restoration requires communities to be actively engaged in conservation efforts, as continuous drainage and other harmful practices increase the risk of flooding, drought, and peat fires over time.
The project builds on IIRR’s earlier work in Leyte from 2018 to 2021, known as the Leyte Sab-a Peatland Forest Restoration Initiative (LSPFRI), which initiated the process of reinstating, reverting, and restoring peatland areas.
The earlier initiative accomplished several key milestones, including confirming the LSBP, delineating the peatland’s boundaries, launching awareness campaigns, identifying flora and fauna, conducting technical and legal studies to support the development of the LSBP management plan, and drafting a provincial local conservation area ordinance.
The LSPFRI found that the peatland exhibits diverse vegetation, having a wetland forest, boggy areas, sedge and grasslands, and a diversity of endemic flora and fauna, as well as threatened animals and freshwater fish species found mostly in the wetland forest ecotype.
The basin absorbs and holds water during the rainy season, releasing it slowly to maintain base flows in the outflow rivers, according to the initiative.
Peatlands are vital features of the local ecosystem, as they help regulate water flow, minimizing the risk of flooding and drought in low-lying areas.
They also play an important role in long-term climate change mitigation by moderating atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.
Measuring 2,107 hectares, the LSBP is the second largest in the country. As Leyte’s primary water catchment, it has played a key role in disaster risk reduction, economic livelihoods, and biodiversity conservation.
(With report from PNA)
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