Int’l groups launch effort to save lakes in SEA

TAGAYTAY CITY – Two international and regional entities have agreed to undertake a project aimed at helping improve the conservation and development of lakes in Southeast Asia, including those in the Philippines.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) along this line was signed here recently by the government-hosted, Los Baños-based Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the United States-based LakeNet Secretariat.

Signatories to the three-year covenant were SEARCA director Dr. Arsenio M. Balisacan and LakeNet president Dr. David Road Barker. Witnesses were SEARCA deputy directors Dr. Djoko Supropto and Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit Jr.

SEARCA is one of the 14 "centers of excellence" of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO), an intergovernment body founded in 1965 to promote cooperation among Southeast Asian nations in education, science, and culture.

The LakeNet is a non-government organization with a network of more than 1,000 organizations and individuals in more than 100 countries, working for the conservation and sustainable development of lakes.

Under the MOU, LakeNet and SEARCA will implement a technical cooperation project through a grant with funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) under the auspices of the Lake Basin Management Initiative in 2003-2004.

It will also strengthen the capacity of watershed management and sustainable development activities as part of a longer term cooperation during 2004-2006.

Moreover, the two entities will share information and experience regarding lake basin management through LakeNet’s global network and other exchanges; and strengthen the capacity of lake resource management institutions in Southeast Asia.

SEARCA and LakeNet were among those who attended the First National Congress on Philippine Lakes (LAKECON 2003) held recently at the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) in Tagaytay City.

The congress identified major lake-specific issues that will serve as inputs for research and development planning and advisory; identified research gaps in lake resource management; and came up with a national agenda on lake resource management.

The congress was held through the joint efforts of the Office of the President; agencies under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Science and Technology (DOST), and Agriculture (DA); UP System; Earthquake and Megacities Initiative; Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC AQD); and SEARCA.