communicating climate change in coastal areas: a community
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Communicating Climate Change
in Coastal Areas: A Community–Based Adaptation Option
Roger Z. Guzman, Ph.D.
Adviser, Board of Directors, PATLEPAM
Executive Director, PFEC
16th National Senior Educators’ Assembly in
Environmental Protection and Management Theme: “Research and Development and Local Knowledge on
Climate Change Adaptation and Community Resiliency” Legend Hotel, Puerto Princesa, Palawan
November 24-25, 2011
Philippine Country Profile
Area:
Total ………………300,000 sq. km
Land ………………298,170 sq. km
Water ……………..1,830,830 sq. km
Boundaries:
North: Balintang Channel
South: Sulu and Celebes Sea
East: Philippine Sea/Pacific Ocean
West: South China Sea
Climate:
Tropical : northeast monsoon (Nov. to Apr)
southeast monsoon (May to Oct.)
Natural resources: timber, nickel, cobalt, silver,
gold, salt, copper, petroleum
Land use:
Arable land …………………..19%
Permanent pastures ……….. 4%
Permanent crops ……………12%
Forest & wetlands …………..46%
Others ………………………..19%
There is no doubt that the
Philippines is among the
countries most vulnerable to
climate change. Foremost of
reasons is its archipelagic
nature. About 70% of the
country’s 1,500 municipalities
lie within the 32,400-kilometer
coastline.
The Philippines also lies along the path of tropical
storms. About 20 typhoons pass through the
country every year. Since, climate change is
predicted to cause more intense and more
devastating storms, the coastal communities are
at great risk.
The Project Site 1 Situation Gubat, Sorsogon, Philippines
• Consists of a total of 42 barangays, of which 12 are
coastal
•Coastal fishing communities are in general highly
depressed due to low income and lack of employment
opportunities
•The average household income of fishermen in the
region is Php1,529 per month. The coastal fishermen
are in general considered part of the poorest of the
poor considering that their level of income is way
below the poverty line. As their number increases,
more competition for the same resources ensue, thus,
stocks decline and more fishermen resort to using
illegal fishing methods. The consequence is depletion
of resources.
The Project Site 2 Situation Batuan, Ticao Island, Masbate, Philippines
•The Municipality of Batuan has a total
land area of 5,341.40 has. This land area
is distributed in fourteen (14) barangays
of the municipality.
•The Municipality of Batuan covers the
fourth type of climate, characterized by
having no pronounced maximum rain
period and no dry season.
•Current Municipal Population stands at
12,038 persons which is relatively small
due to the fact that the municipality has
just been elevated into the status of a
town only in year 1951
•A variety of fisheries and other aquatic
resources is abundant in the municipal
waters of Batuan
The Climate Change Communications (CC Com):
A CCA Option
• is a small component of a CCA development activity
undertaken by PFEC called “Climate change in
coastal areas – a community-based adaptation
approach”
• The main activity reviewed current coastal policies and
legislation and identified its weaknesses in addressing
the impacts of climate change;
• conducted vulnerability assessment to select an area to
demonstrate bio-physical adaptation measures to protect
infrastructure and biodiversity and enhance disaster
management at the local level.
Objectives:
This CC Com project complements the Community-based Adaptation by enabling
appropriate and effective communication of its findings to the community.
As a communications project its objective is to increase knowledge and understanding
of the people of Gubat, Sorsogon and Batuan, Masbate on climate change and its
relations on their day to day activities and long term survival. It also aims to impress
on the people the urgent need to act in response to the risks of climate change related
events and that even little initiatives to address climate change can contribute in very
significant ways to bigger challenges.
The goals are: • Increased level of acceptance of interventions introduced by the main project
by increasing communities’ knowledge and understanding of climate change
issues
• Heightened level of cooperation of various stakeholders to climate change
adaptation activities
• Enabled target audience to act in response to knowledge on climate change
issues
Major Communication Interventions:
1. Film Showing cum Game Show
The first was an introduction to climate change through
film showing of Panahon Na! Ang Pinoy at and Hamon
ng Climate Change complemented by game show.
Panahon Na! is a documentary on climate change in the
Philippine context which discussed the basic concepts
of climate change such as definition, causes and effects
and some adaptation measures.
The concepts were emphasized and important concepts
clarified through games, Multiple Choice and word
game called modified Pinoy Henyo (Filipino Genius) .
There were also further explanations made on concepts,
when appropriate, during the duration of the activity.
The level of difficulty of the questions and
supplementary discussions were based on
comprehension and baseline knowledge of climate
change of the community.
• A game show was adapted from a
popular television show which the target
audience are familiar with. The
participants join as individuals.
Questions are with 4 possible answers.
The participants choose the most
appropriate answer. Their answers were
used for formulating basic concepts
such as definition of climate change,
global warming, causes and impacts of
climate change, to name a few
• A game show adapted from another
popular television show which the target
audience are familiar with. The
participants are divided into pairs,
guesser and clue giver. This was used
for concepts with multiple answers, such
as causes and effects of climate change
and adaptation strategies given specific
climate change effect.
2. Community Theatre
The second intervention was community theatre
conducted around a month after the film
showing. The activity aimed to deepen the
community’s understanding of climate change
and awareness that climate change is already
affecting their community. It was designed to
awaken the emotions and make them move to
action.
The theater group, composed of residents of the
partner barangays, were trained in theatre arts.
They co-developed the script and co-produced
the play with the theatre director. The story line
and script were based on the experiences and
changes seen by the family of the selected
group. The community theatre play in Gubat
was entitled “Pagmangno” (Awakening) and
was performed in their language Gubatnon. The
play in Batuan was entitled “Ang Sugo”
(Messiah) performed in Tagalog.
3. Local Video
The third intervention was the local video. It was a
documentary of the changes happening in the two
municipalities, produced separately. The residents were
interviewed, which included the mayor, parish priest,
barangay captain, fisherfolks and residents. They were
asked to share their stories the changes that have
happened in their area, impacts of these changes in their
lives and livelihood and actions that they can do to
minimize the effects. Footages were also taken on the
changes that have happened.
The objective of the local video was to make the people
aware that climate change is already in their municipality
and is affecting their lives, their way of life is one of the
causes and they need to work together to reduce its
impacts on their and the future generations life. The local
video documentary of Gubat was also entitled
“Pagmangno” and produced in their language, Gubatnon
and Tagalog. The local video documentary of Batuan was
entitle “Batuan” and produced in their language, Masbateño
and Tagalog.
Results: Impacts were measured in the change in level of awareness. And this was
further subdivided to the level of awareness of the changes happening and in
climate changes based on the survey results and the messages expressed by
the community members on their learning from the three major activities.
Gubat : Climate Change Awareness.
There was a 50% increase in the
number of people who are aware of
climate change
Batuan : Climate Change Awareness.
There was a 47% increase in the number
of people who are aware of climate
change
Gubat : Level of Climate Change
Awareness:
24% of the people are familiar
with the concepts; and
7% are able to discuss climate
change concepts
Batuan : Level of Climate Change
Awareness:
27% of the people are familiar
with the concepts; and
11% are able to discuss climate
change concepts
Cost / Benefit:
The total cost of the three communication intervention
activities for the two municipalities is around Php 1.0M
($22,000). The allocation of costs is as follows: 29% was spent
on the film showing, 41% on the community theatre and 30% on
the local video.
• The film showing is a necessary activity especially for the
two municipalities whose base knowledge on climate change is
very low, almost practically zero. The community theatre play
was effective in awakening the emotions. The women of the
community appreciated the community theatre play. The video,
on the other hand, was effective in making the people in the
community realize that they are already affected by climate
change but that, also, they can do something to lessen their
vulnerabilities.
Challenges/Lessons Learned The biggest challenge of the project is the limited period of
implementation especially since it coincided with the national and
local elections of the country and in the town fiesta. It further
reduced the actual duration of implementation and limited the
availability of local counterparts.
Furthermore, the available means of communication within the
municipalities and barangays was also a limiting factor in
communicating with the target community. This somehow affected
the breadth or the geographic spread of the activity. The residents
who live in the area situated far from the center were not always
informed of the activities. However because there was close
coordination and cooperation with existing institutions like the local
government unit and schools, implementing the activities and
achieving the results was still achieved.
Sustainability:
The local government units of both Gubat, Sorsogon and Batuan,
Masbate, both at the municipal and barangay level have been
given all the materials used and produced. They are expected to
continue the information education campaign in their localities.
Furthermore, the selected groups who were trained in theatre arts
and were the artists for community theatre group have organized
themselves and have sustained network with the artists and the
local government officials. There were also initial discussions
made with the association of artists at the provincial level, which
can be continued and possibly institutionalized. However, there is
still a need to strengthen their organization and leadership
capabilities.
A Case Study on CC-
Vulnerable Coastal Community
Protection and Sustainable Natural
Resource Management of Coastal Areas –
A Community-Based Climate Change
Adaptation and Mitigation Case
Municipality of Batuan, Province of Masbate
Catalytic Impact: • Restoration of Coastal Mangrove Forests
• Delineation, protection and management of
Marine Protected Area
• Restoration of Coral Reefs
• Community-Based Conservation and Aquaculture
• Resource Inventory for Livelihood Options
• Institutional, Policy and Regulatory Involvement
• Continued Capacity Building for Community
Livelihood Resiliency to CC
Conclusion: Even with limited period of 6 months, it can be seen in the results of the final
assessment that there was a significant increase in the level of awareness on
climate change. This was attributed to sustained communication activities
with the community and continued interaction. To be able to maintain these
and further move the communities to work together to lessen the effects of
climate change in their communities, there is a need to further continue the
engagement. The community has realized a better understanding of climate
change and have seen the need to work together to reduce their vulnerability
and decrease the effects on their lives. They are ready for capacity building
interventions to guide them as they work together to protect their
municipalities from the devastating effects of climate change.
There is a need for follow up activities to be immediately implemented to be
able to further deepen the community’s understanding of climate change to
mobilize more people to move while the activities of CC Com and Community
based Climate Change adaptation are still fresh in their memories. It is
difficult to leave them at this stage since they have better knowledge of the
risks they are facing.
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