Wednesday, July 27, 2011

DENR V conducts orientation on Integrated Coastal Management for LGUs of Sorsogon


by Irma A. Guhit

SORSOGON CITY, JULY 22  (PIA).... A total of 60 participants attended the two-day orientation training  here this week at the Tentyard Hotel on the Integrated Coastal Management  (ICM)  for Local Government Units in the province of Sorsogon.

Spearheaded by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) RO 5, the training intends  to capacitate the participants on how to harmonize the existing ICM  plans  of the 16 local government units in a more integrated manner through the identification and integration of certain new policies with regards to tourism opportunities, climate change mitigation and adaptation mechanisms and come up with a common ICM vision as stipulated on the new ICM guidlines , the EO 533.

Identification of the existing resources, practices, threats, and  opportunities for development in a more long-term sustainable development plan were given a very significant consideration focusing in the areas for development that will form part of the LGU's vision to formulate an  integrated coastal management working draft.

"We are here to guide our planners and various stakeholder specially  the local governments units of the province of Sorsogon  to assess , formulate and come up with a more long-term sustainable ICM plans that will incorporate and  see the value of the coastal resources they have here in the province of Sorsogon" Director Robert Jara, Philippine representative to the Partnership for Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEM-SEA) said.

Director Jara explained  that the two-day training is one of the several  steps initiated by DENR V  to eventually gather needed  basic information, data  and situation of the current coastal resources state,also in relation to the implication  of  solid waste management  and how this can be integrated in the ICM plans properly by the stakeholders in the  LGUs with the new provided issuance  of   EO 533.

"One of the main goals of this training too is to find out how these existing plans now being implemented by our local LGUs in the management of their coastal resources be assessed and evaluated on the premise ot the EO 533', Jara said.

 According to Jara the presentations and the different modules he provided are now the latest mechanisms used by different countries  in Asia that are being shared to other Asian countries to achieve a sustainable development targets at the local government level importantly in the integration of coastal management plans within certain areas on watch.

Sorsogon being  surrounded by two bodies of water, the pacific Ocean and the China Sea is one critical area that is now being watched specially in the observance of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation, according to Jara.

Jara said that the ICM plans that the LGUs of Sorsogon have to prepare into  a working paper and  implement should  be based in three levels. It should focus on governance,second on sustainable development aspects and the third level should be based on proposed  projects and programs to be implemented with total consideration on impending threats identified based on their respective Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plans and most importantly zero in on opportunities for sustainable development.

He also emphasized that the ICM plans should also follow the full cycle of having the preparation ,initiating, developing, adopting, implementing and refining and consolidating phases. Proper consultation with various stakeholders be conducted so that the plan they have to come up with  will have a sense of ownership. Revisions can be done as they see the need for it.

The two day training gave the participants a collective way of coming up with a working platform to enable convergence of sectoral objectives, harmonize actions, implement consultative decisions and processes and  develop needed  required capacities or personnel in the LGUs. (PIA-SORSOGON).

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