First Water Summit Held in Negros Occidental

December 2017

WWF-Philippines and BPI Foundation, Inc. under the Climate Proofing Agricultural Landscapes (AgriClima) Project successfully conducted the First Water Summit 2017 with the theme ‘Managing Water Resources for the Sustainability and Equity of the Ara-al-Nahalin-Marayo Watershed’ on December 11, 2017 at the Guintubdan Pavillion, La Carlota City, Negros Occidental.

The summit gathered over 40 stakeholders from the Local Government Units (LGU) of La Carlota City, Valladolid, San Enrique, and Pontevedra, together with the officers of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Provincial Environmental Management Office (PEMO) to discuss and craft sustainable solutions to the cross-border issues that affect the sustainability of the Ara-al-Nahalin-Marayo Watershed such as water governance, water pollution, flooding, and water scarcity.

Covering a total area of 22,186 hectares, the Ara-al-Nahalin-Marayo Watershed is predominantly a sugarcane production area with over 16,000 hectares identified as sugarcane croplands. The recharge zone of the watershed is located inside the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park.

Through a symbolic call to action declaration, the stakeholders recognized the need to work together for the protection and sustainability of the Ara-al-Nahalin-Marayo Watershed which is a critical resource in the economic development of their respective localities.

This summit came after the series of well-attended multi-stakeholder planning workshops facilitated in the mentioned LGUs from September to November 2017 in line with the AgriClima Project’s goal to implement a landscape approach to the management of natural capital (soil and water resources) and mainstream climate-smart agriculture approaches to ensure the sustainability of sugarcane production in Negros Occidental. The workshops aimed to provide a common understanding on the concepts and principles of watershed management, present the results of the resources assessments conducted, and facilitate a planning workshop to distill LGU-specific gaps, challenges and potential opportunities in managing water resources.