BSWM highlights role in addressing desertification

MANILA, Philippines - As the observance of the World Day to Combat Desertification approaches, country parties to the United Nation Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) agree that the soil is a key for securing water, energy and building resilience to climate change.

With this year’s theme “Healthy soils sustain your life: Lets go land-degradation neutral,” the role of the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) as the national focal agency to UNCCD is now put in the limelight.

BSWM takes the lead in fulfilling the country’s obligation to the UNCCD.

The BSWM’s role will be enhanced with the agency’s selection as the chair of the subcommittees on land and water under the Committee on Conservation and Management Resource and Development (CCMRD) of the Philippine Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD).

The sub-committees will serve as venues for consultation to put together country position, to discuss technical and policy issues on land and water, and to prepare national country reports.

Both subcommittees as reorganized will consist of 25 core member-institution/organizations who will attend the regular meeting, and 30 expanded members who will be on call depending on the issues and agenda that will be discussed on the table.

“Putting new life to these sub-committees and assigning the chairmanship to BSWM will greatly help us to fulfill our commitment to the to the UNCCD and to implement the updated Philippine National Action Plan (NAP) to combat DLDD(2010-2020); the plan being land and water center,” according to Silvino Tejada, BSWM executive director and national focal point of UNCCD Phillipines.

The first Philippine NAP was formulated in August 2004 covering the period 2004-2010.

It was a water-centered action plan that focused on sustainable management of critical watershed areas in “seasonally arid” areas suffering from food insecurity.

 The first Philippine NAP 2004-2010 faced several challenges during its implementation, including the lack of institutional arrangements, financial and manpower constrains and insufficient awareness and advocacy.

These challenges were also recognized by UNCCD as a whole such that during the 8th Conference of the Parties (COP 8), country parties of the UNCCD adopted the 10 year strategic plan and framework 2008-2018 or the “strategy”.

To enhance the implementation of the convention, the parties should align their NAP and other activities to the strategy.

This serves as the basis to update the country’s work programs and the Philippine NAP to combat DLDD.

The overall development framework of the updated Philippine NAP to combat DLDD (2010-2020) consists of a sound national development strategy that highlights long and short to medium term policies and programs on sustainable land management (SLM) to prevent the impacts of desertification, land degradation and mitigate the impacts of drought.

Meanwhile, the Philippines, though the BSWM was selected as the new network coordinating unit of the Asian Soil Conservation Board (NCB).

This further bolstered the BSWM leadership in the promotion and implementation of sustainable land management to combat DLDD not only at the country level, but also at the regional level.