case studies undp: trowel development foundation, philippines

7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: TROWEL DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION, Philippines

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Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities

Philippines

TROWEL DEVELOPMENTFOUNDATION

Empowered live

Resilient nation

Empowered live

Resilient nation


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UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES

Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that wo

or people and or nature. Few publications or case studies tell the ull story o how such initiatives evolve, the breadth

their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practition

themselves guiding the narrative.

To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to ll this gap. The ollowing case study is one in a growing ser

that details the work o Equator Prize winners vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmenconservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local succ

to scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models

replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reerence to The Power of Local Action: Lessons from 10 Years

the Equator Prize, a compendium o lessons learned and policy guidance that draws rom the case material.

Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiatives searchable case study database.

EditorsEditor-in-Chief: Joseph CorcoranManaging Editor: Oliver HughesContributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding

Contributing WritersEdayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Toni Blackman, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Larissa Currado, Sarah Gordon, Oliver Hughe

Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Patrick Lee, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma,

Mary McGraw, Gabriele Orlandi, Brandon Payne, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding, Luna Wu

DesignOliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Amy Korngiebel, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis, John Mulqueen, Lorena de la Pa

Brandon Payne, Mariajos Satizbal G.

AcknowledgementsThe Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude Trowel Development Foundation, and in particular the guidance and inputs

Leonardo B. Rosario. All photo credits courtesy o Trowel Development Foundation. Maps courtesy o CIA World Factbook and Wikiped

Suggested CitationUnited Nations Development Programme. 2012. Trowel Development Foundation, Philippines. Equator Initiative Case Study Series. N

York, NY.
http://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=casestudysearch&Itemid=858http://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdf


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PROJECT SUMMARYTrowel Development Foundation is a community-basedorganization employing climate-adapted aquaculturetechnology to replant mangroves. Mangrove reorestationeorts have ocused on planting native tree species instrategic areas, resulting in restored marine biodiversity,ood security, and protection o coastal areas.

The initiative also works to increase local incomes andimprove livelihoods through a value-chain system to markettie-crabs. The group has established ve community-managed tie-crab arms that benet 250 subsistence

shing households. This innovation has been implementedin idle shponds, where mangrove-riendly and climate-adapted tie-crab attening technology has been employedto double the income o shing households.

KEY FACTS

EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2010

FOUNDED: 2004

LOCATION: Northern Samar province

BENEFICIARIES: Over 250 families

BIODIVERSITY: Mangrove ecosystems

3

TROWEL DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATIONPhilippines

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Background and Context 4

Key Activities and Innovations 6

Biodiversity Impacts 9

Socioeconomic Impacts 9

Policy Impacts 10

Sustainability 11

Replication 11

Partners 12


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4

Northern Samar province is located on the eastern side o the

hilippine Archipelago. It is bound on the north by the San Bernardino

trait, on the east by the Pacic Ocean, on the west by the Samar Sea,

nd on the south by the provinces o Samar and Eastern Samar. It is

omposed o 24 municipalities and 569 barangays covering a total

and area o 3,693 square kilometers. The province is characterized

y a varied topography with mountains and undulating terrain that

s exposed to wind, typhoons and rainall, with warm equatorial

waters owing northward along the eastern coast. The province has

complex mix o terrestrial ecosystems and habitat types, which

nclude natural terrestrial ecosystems composed o lower mountain

orests, agroorestry areas, lowland agricultural areas, beach orests,

quatic ecosystems (rivers, streams, mangrove swamps, aquacultureonds and reservoirs), seagrass beds, and coral rees. Wetland orests

urround the reshwater swamps and coastal orest. The cultivated

rea, which covers 171,000 hectares o the province, or roughly

8 percent o the land, is used or coconut (140,212 hectares), rice

26,737 hectares), root crop (1,710 hectares), banana (679 hectares),

nd corn (542 hectares) production.

Environmental threats to an area of mega-biodiversity

he waters o the coast o Northern Samar are inhabited by

ommercially important sh and marine species. The provinces

ch abundance o biological diversity helps to account or the

hilippines classication as one o the worlds 18 areas o mega-iodiversity. Thirteen o the Philippines orty indigenous mangrove

pecies are ound in Northern Samar, as are twenty-our ree-based

sh amilies, thirty economically important sh species, two

ndigenous seagrass species, and several endemic seaweed varieties.

mportantly, Northern Samar supplies 60 percent o the countrys

rablets. This diversity and abundance o sh, coral and mangrove

esources, however, has been severely degraded due to illegal

shing and destructive activities such as dynamite shing, coral

arvesting, and mangrove deorestation. In the case o the latter, a

ubstantial proportion o the provinces mangrove orests have been

systematically deorested to convert land into settlement are

or shpond use. Hundreds o hectares o sh ponds, previo

used or milk sh and prawn cultivation, have been abandoned

now sit idle and unproductive.

Root causes of poverty in Northern Samar

Northern Samar is also an economically marginalized provin

recent survey o the region ound that 14 o 24 municipalities

poverty rates higher than 50 percent, making it the seventh po

among the countrys 79 provinces. Roughly 50,000 househol

Northern Samar suer rom extreme poverty.

The economy is largely dependent on the agriculture and sh

sectors. Small-hold armers are the norm, with the average a

tending to less than ve hectares o land to cultivate coconut,

corn, bananas, abaca, pineapple, ginger and vegetables. Copra

root crops provide the primary sources o rural income. Small-

production also predominates in the shing sector, where

shermen use traditional shing techniques and equipment

as hook and line, sh netting, and small-scale aquaculture. S

scale shing operations cultivate Spanish mackerel, grouper,

big-eyed scad, round scad, herring, anchovies and salmon. O

marine resources include cuttlesh, crabs, shrimp, squid and lob

As shing incomes have plummeted, so has the ability o s

amilies to provide or basic ood security, health, education, houor other economic needs.

Growing levels o poverty can be linked, to a certain exten

diminishing outputs rom the provinces sheries. According

Fishery Resources Management Conerence in 2006, the decl

trend in the provinces sh production stems rom dwind

productivity due to overshing, destructive shing methods,

o strong sheries regulation and enorcement, lack o sh

inormation, inaccessible credit acilities, lack o post-ha

acilities, and weak institutions and organizations. So too, pov

Background and Context


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n Northern Samar has been exacerbated by the negative impacts

climate change. It is particularly vulnerable to tropical cyclones,

ooding and coastal erosion, which introduce insecurity and

ncertainty or an already vulnerable rural population.

nnovative technologies for local livelihoods

ince 2004, the Trowel Development Foundation has worked to

trengthen the adaptive capacities o coastal villages to the impacts climate change by securing the livelihoods o subsistence shing

ouseholds. The project ocus was and remains the productive

tilization o idle shponds, namely through the introduction and

mainstreaming o mangrove-riendly, biodiversity-enhancing, and

isaster-resilient tie-crab attening technology. The tie-crab attening

pproach tying individual crabs to bamboo poles has helped to

ouble the income o shing households. The Trowel Development

oundation has also ocused on mangrove reorestation, planting

ative tree species in abandoned sh ponds to restore aquatic

iodiversity, improve ood security and enhance the protection o

oastal ecosystems.

ive community-managed tie-crab arms have been established,

which together benet more than 250 subsistence shing

ouseholds. Aquatic biodiversity has recovered, as evidenced by the

rolieration o native sh, crustaceans, and mollusks which are now

arvestable in the tie-crab arms and neighboring areas. Stocks o

mud crabs have increased substantially due to the release o gravid

mud crabs into the wild or spawning. Over 20 hectares o mangrove

orest have been replanted and maintained.

he Trowel Development Foundation is guided in its work by our

ey objectives:

. Increase by 80 percent the ood security and income o 1,000subsistence shing households through the establishment o

community-managed tie-crab arms.

. Restore local aquatic biodiversity and enhance the protection o

10 barangays through mangrove reorestation in idle shponds.

. Enhance the economic productivity o subsistence shing

households by building mutually-benecial market supply

chains in the local mud crab industry.

. Develop viable value chains or crab-attening and marketing.

As crosscutting issues, the Trowel Development Foundation aims to

nhance the local economy, ensure environmental sustainability, and

improve local governance. To bolster the local economy, the initi

works through community-managed tie-crab arms to increase

supplies o mature mud crabs. Market supply chains are not

developed or tie-crabs, but or a range o locally harvested ma

resources and products. The benets are ound not only in impr

livelihoods and incomes, but also in improved ood security athousehold level. On the environment side, the initiative has oc

on the restoration and recovery o degraded mangrove ecosyst

Targeting previously idle sh ponds, mangrove reorestation

helped to reduce shore erosion, buer against climate-rel

natural disasters, and has promoted the regeneration o se

marine species. Local governance eorts have ocused on

institutionalization o co-management systems which encou

the active participation o local shermen, and partnership

cooperation with womens sel-help groups, national governm

agencies and line ministries, local government units, acad

institutions, civil society, and other community-based organizat

The coastal communities in Northern Samar, Philippines continue to face the threat of sea-lev

rise and strong storms due to climate change. As an adaptive response, the small-scale fishers in th

province developed an integrated strategy that involves disaster-resilient aquaculture, ecologic

mangrove restoration and value-chain development in tie-crab fattening and marketing.

Leonardo B. Rosario, Trowel Development Foundation


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Key Activities and Innovations

he Trowel Development Foundation was born in 2004, ollowing

n Integrated Support or Local Actions Towards Coastal Resources

Amelioration and Augmentation o Livelihoods program unded

by New Zealand Aid. This program was implemented in twenty

oastal barangays. The ounders o what would become the Trowel

Development Foundation were asked to implement the program

n Lavezares. As in the other barangays, the traditional shing

ommunities in Lavezares were suering rom low incomes due

o dwindling sh catches resulting rom illegal shing, a lack o

ppropriate shing gear and equipment, and an absence o viable

lternative livelihood options.

Transition to a community-owned initiative

When the project ended in 2007, the Trowel Development

oundation developed a continuity strategy to sustain advances

nd gains made during the course o the program. Specically, the

trategy ocused on the local aquaculture industry and the gap in

ppropriate technologies or small-scale armers and shermen.

ollowing a gap analysis based on several key considerations

ncluding potential t with coastal and marine and environments,

vailability o necessary raw materials, and market demand priority

was given to mud crab and seaweed cultivation, as these were seen

o have the highest enterprise potential. Trowel Development

oundation began by undertaking a comprehensive inventory a

ocial mapping o local technologies and practices in mud crab andeaweed cultivation. A viable, transerable crab-attening technique

was identied that involved tying crabs to individual bamboo poles.

o test the approach, a two-hectare demonstration arm and training

acility or tie-crab attening was established. On- and o-site training

was oered to small-scale shermen. Mangrove restoration and

eorestation were instituted as a central conservation dimension

o the strategy. Supply-chain and marketing support or attened

ie-crabs was also provided, closing the loop on market access and

business development.

Evolution of project goals based on local demand

The initial objectives o the project were to increase the incom

200 subsistence shing households by 50 percent, to protect

enhance local biodiversity in nine mangrove sites, and to aci

co-management arrangements or the conservation and sustain

use o aquatic and mangrove resources. These objectives

later expanded to cover incomes and ood security or a tot

1,000 households, mangrove reorestation in idle shponds,

market supply-chain development. Growth in the number o ta

beneciaries was quite simply a unction o local interest

demand rom small-scale shermen. The issue o ood security

introduced in acknowledgment that tie-crab attening could alsused or consumption, and to directly address an existing decie

Lastly, supply-chains were prioritized based on a perceived ga

avorable markets or locally produced products.

Planning, mobilization, and evaluation

To date, Trowel Development Foundation activities have

delivered through three phases: assessment and planning, educa

and mobilization, and evaluation. The rst phase on assessm

and planning had two stages. The rst stage was an exerci

institution-building, scoping and visioning. Project orient

assemblies were held to raise awareness and understandin

the various aspects o Trowel Development Foundation objecand proposed activities, to mobilize relevant stakeholders, an

secure needed commitments. During this stage, the projec

management council was ormed, project operation and investm

plans were ormulated, and an MOU was signed between the proj

stakeholders regarding partner responsibilities and commitm

o resources. The second stage involved community assessm

denition o project priorities, and crab industry scoping. In the

instance, local consultations and site inspections were undert

to identiy and select idle shponds that could useully be inclu


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n the project. This was complemented by participatory resource

ppraisals, which gathered data on community and household

ssets in the target villages, easible cooperation guidelines and

riority areas, and potential project collaborators. Lastly, a crab

ector study and value-chain analysis was conducted on the linkages

etween members o the tie-crab association and other industry

takeholders. Based on the ndings o this study, an industry

rotocol was drated to ensure a steady supply o quality lean crabs,

eliable market outlets that oer air prices to local shermen, andccessible business development services.

he second phase on education and mobilization had three stages.

he rst stage ocused on awareness-raising within the local crab

ndustry, using the ndings o the sector study and value-chain

nalysis. A standard protocol on crab attening was developed,

long with a trading plan. Training on the tie-crab attening

was provided to project participants. The second stage invo

mangrove reorestation and restoration in strategic portions o

and abandoned shponds. Community members were involve

documentation o mangrove species as well as replanting e

Fattening sites were identied, arm areas were demarcated, bam

poles were set up, a eed area and guard house were establis

lean crabs were procured and distributed, and harvesting

marketing was acilitated. The nal stage in this phase was a

parade and mangrove estival, where wholesale and retail markesupport was provided and market agreements between

armers and buyers negotiated. These public events also serve

a means o exchanging best practices in tie-crab attening betw

stakeholders. The third phase o Trowel Development Founda

development involved mid-term assessments and pro

evaluations, where the net benets and costs to participa

communities were determined.

Support local adaptation strategies because the negative impacts of climate change hit loc

communities the hardest.

Leonardo B. Rosario, Trowel Development Foundation


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Innovations in technology, value-chains, and governance

The most noteworthy innovation o this project is the disaster-

esilient tie-crab attening technique, which involves tying individual

rabs, each with a buoy, to bamboo poles staked two meters apart.

As a consequence, crabs do not easily escape during arm ooding

a regular occurrence), as they are securely astened to the bamboo

poles. In the event that the poles break during oods, the crabs can be

ecovered, as the buoys are easily visible rom above the oodwater.When aced with more severe storms, armers can quickly collect

he crabs, place them in a secure shelter, and then return them

o the arms ater the storm has passed. Individual eeding allows

or regulation and rationing based on the consumption capacity

o individual crabs, meaning that there is less wasting o ood as

ompared to grow-out methods o crab cultivation. In addition to

being an easily transerred technology, tie-crab attening adds to

ease o harvesting, greater selection in harvesting based on weight

nd maturity, and a higher return on investment, as prots are 50

percent higher over a 15 to 20 day period as compared with the

grow-out method.

Additionally, the Trowel Development Foundation has created a

uccessul value-chain or crab attening and marketing. The process

ocuses on consolidation within the existing tie-crab association

o improve its collective productivity, to set standards, and to

enhance collective bargaining capacity when negotiating with

mainstream markets. Industry orums and training in marketing and

negotiation help to strengthen armer engagement with industry

takeholders. Industry protocols have been enhanced, and in some

ases pioneered, to advance investments in crab research, crab

nursery establishment, crablet collection, crab attening, and crab

marketing. Negotiations between crab growers and buyers are

acilitated in advance o the attened crabs being ready or market

n order to establish mutually benecial outcomes and to bolsterhe bargaining power o local crab growers who are otherwise in a

ompromised position.

Another project innovation has been the co-management approach

o mangrove restoration, which brings together a range o relevant

takeholders, including civil society organizations, government,

nd the business sector. Cooperating organizations are equal and

ctive participants in decision-making, and each perorms a distinct

developmental unction that complements the work o other players.

Similarly, benet-sharing is at the heart o the co-management

rrangement.

Multifaceted service delivery and capacity building

Above and beyond its work in tie-crab arming, mangrove

eorestation and market supply-chain development, Trowel

Development Foundation is actively involved in integrated service

delivery to the local community, including credit and savings

ervices. These services are provided or small-scale armer activities

nd enterprise development in the orest, agriculture, and shery

ectors. The initiative also provides technical support and guidance

o local armers on organic agriculture, orest management and

agro-orestry techniques, community-based coastal resou

management and conservation, and community mobiliza

Further still, Trowel Development Foundation oers training

community members on project management, bookkee

accounting, and gender sensitivity.

Organizational structure

On an organizational level, the Trowel Development Foundaretains our technical sta members, including a project t

leader, an aquaculture ofcer, a orestry ofcer, and a develop

ofcer. Administrative support is provided by a nance o

and a bookkeeper. Technical support is provided by consult

with expertise, respectively, in the areas o aquaculture, or

and value-chain development. Project management is a sh

responsibility between the Project Management Council, the

Crab Industry Association, the Project Technical Team, and a num

o barangay sherolk and armers organizations.

The Project Management Council is a multi-stakeho

interdisciplinary governance unit. It is variously composed o

representatives rom sherolk, armers and womens ederat

a municipal agricultural ofcer and municipal councilor rom

Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries; the chairperson o

University o Eastern Philippines, Department o Fisheries;

provincial ofcer o the Bureau o Fisheries and Aquatic Resou

and the Executive Director o Trowel Development Foundation

decision-making body is charged with overall strategic dire

and policy guidance or the organization. Its members deter

resource requirements, ensure a avorable policy environm

through local government unit advocacy, provide technical

nancial assistance through line ministries, and set criteria o

selection o project beneciaries. Overall coordination o the Tr

Development Foundation is undertaken at the community levthe Tie Crab Industry Association, with assistance rom the Pro

Technical Team the project team leader, aquaculture ofcer, s

ofcer, and community development ofcer.

To coordinate Trowel Development Foundation work, our unct

committees have been established. A sanctuary committee

charge o the development and management o the crab sanct

including monitoring and enorcement. A production comm

ensures the steady production o mud crabs, the developme

tie-crab arm plans, the monitoring o mud crab production

tie-crab arm, and reporting on perormance and obstacles. A c

committee sets organizational policies or credit availability and

monitors the use o credit unds by community members, ensthat credit unds are paid on time, and monitors adherence to c

policies. Lastly, a marketing committee lays the oundation or ai

equitable market supply-chains through price negotiation sup

and industry meetings. Fisherolk, armers and womens edera

provide volunteer labor and resources or the implementatio

project activities at the barangay level. These communities

directly involved in coordination o the tie-crab arms and the

sanctuary, as well as the credit and marketing aspects o the pro


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Impacts

BIODIVERSITY IMPACTS

The municipalities o Lavezares and Rosario in which the Trowel

Development Foundation is currently active have a combined

ggregate coastline o 102 kilometers, comprised mainly o coastal

nd marine ecosystems and wetlands that include mangrove

wamps, aquaculture ponds, reservoirs, coral rees, and seagrass

beds. The regions mangrove orest contains thirteen mangrove

pecies o seven amilies, the most dominant o which are

Rhizophora mucronata and R. apiculata, which are ound in all Trowel

Development Foundation project sites. Due to ongoing degradation,

mangrove orest densities are low and increasingly shrinking, with

n average o 6,000 stems per hectare. It is this trend that the TrowelDevelopment Foundation is working to reverse.

The projects positive biodiversity impacts have stemmed largely

rom the reorestation and restoration o mangrove ecosystems.

These activities have resulted in the recovery, reappearance and

prolieration o sh species, as well as other endemic marine auna.

Reorestation eorts have ocused primarily on idle and abandoned

shponds.

Beyond mangrove replantation, the act o tie-crab arming itsel

has proven to have a number o biodiversity benets. The tie-crab

pproach allows or more targeted and less destructive harvesting,

nd the demarcation o tie-crab arms has in many case (whetherdeliberately or otherwise) created de facto marine sanctuaries where

quatic species have been able to regenerate and thrive. Tie-crab

armers have reported the reappearance o native sh species in arm

ites and in adjacent areas. Specically, wild milk sh, rabbit sh and

hrimp can now be ound and caught, both inside the arms and on

heir peripheries. Farmers have also been supported to strategically

elease attened and matured crabs or spawning in the wild. This

has led to a dramatic increase in crablet stocks, which, according to

egg production numbers oered by the South East Asian Fisheries

Development Centre, have grown by over 12 million individuals.

SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS

Trowel Development Foundation has improved the quality o

o over 250 amilies, who can now meet basic needs as a resu

increased incomes and diversied livelihood options. On ave

participating amilies have seen an increase in monthly earnin

USD 69. This revenue is reported to have been invested into sc

ees and meeting the subsistence needs o local households. Pr

activities have also resulted in greater ood security, through

reliable and regular production o attened, mature crabs, as w

the reappearance o wild sh in the crab sanctuaries. Where ar

had no reliable source o sh previously, they now report an ave

weekly take o three kilograms o wild milk sh, rabbit shshrimp. The sh caught is equivalent to an additional USD 32

month.

For tie-crab attening, the cost o land averages USD 313 per he

per year. Since tie-crab armers only require about 100 sq

meters or a unctioning small-scale arm, the cost o the pond

is very low. The time required to develop a unctioning tie-crab

is also minimal, taking between 15 and 20 days or crabs to atte

which point they are harvestable. There is a strong market and

demand or tie-crabs, both locally and or export. Tie-crab ar

can make gross average revenue o USD 161 per attening cycle

Within the over 1,000 small-scale shermen amilies engagetie-crab arm management, women have been a primary ta

o capacity building and support. Specically, local wo

are supported to engage in the buying and selling o lean

robust crabs, each earning USD 5 or a hal day o trading. Tr

Development Foundation has also promoted a Passing on the

approach, whereby primary project beneciaries are encour

to transer and share the original assistance they received to o

amilies in need o capacity building support.


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POLICY IMPACTS

Trowel Development Foundation actively advocates at the local

and provincial levels or community- rights and entitlements, and

he delineation o mangrove orests or both tie-crab arming and

community co-management. At the time o this study (2011), a

municipal tie-crab ordinance was still being negotiated in order

o ormally establish mud crab sanctuaries in the mangroves o

wo municipalities. At the provincial level, Trowel Development

Foundation has succeeded in introducing a mud crab ordinanc

all o Northern Samar. Tie-crab armers help enorce the ordin

by reporting violators who export y-size or undersized cra

outside the province, thereby diminishing the sustainable

reproductive capacity o local crab populations and ecosystems

organization is also in conversation with the Provincial Govern

Environment and Natural Resource Ofce regarding the alloca

o unds or mangrove reorestation eorts in two municipalitie

10


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Sustainability and Replication

SUSTAINABILITYn terms o nancial sustainability, the capital requirements o the

roject are relatively small. Material and labor inputs are minimal.

Materials needed, including lean crabs, bamboo poles and crab

eeds are widely available in project sites. Also, tie-crab attening as

technique requires only modest levels o expertise and knowledge,

most o which is already widely abundant amongst the local

opulation.

he nancial sustainability and viability o the Trowel Development

oundation is provided or by partners and collaborators, who

er in-kind support, sot loans, grants, the use o laboratoryacilities and manpower. The organization is engaged in ongoing

utreach eorts to make connections and linkages with relevant

takeholders capable o contributing support and resources.

artners such as the Philippine Social Enterprise Network (value-

hain development), the University o Eastern Philippines (technical

upport on coastal resource management), and the Southeast Asian

isheries Development Center (aquaculture scientists) all bolster the

nitiatives sustainability.

he Passing on the Gits approach has been institutionalized

nd contributes to project growth and sustainability. The original

ecipients o project assistance are required to transer an equal

measure o assistance to a selected recipient amily. The approachs still in the process o being socially embedded amongst the small-

cale shers in the coastal communities, but has a high degree o

otential or expanding the number o participating armers and

roject beneciaries.

REPLICATION

or the Trowel Development Foundation, success has bred interest

n other communities. As is oten the case with biodiversity

onservation initiatives, it has been necessary to communicate

the incentives and benets possible rom thoughtul, sustain

resource management. Neighboring communities and municipa

have been able to see rst-hand the positive, transormative e

Trowel Development Foundation activities have had on the

economy, on household-level ood security, and on mangrove

coastal ecosystems. Equally attractive to communities is how e

transerred the project model is to other sites, and the relat

low levels o capital investment and resource inputs needed

organization has also provided an instructive model o how to

start-up unds or crab arming through micro-nance loans.


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1212

he project model is currently being promoted among local

overnment units or integration into local development plans. For

xample, the municipality o Calauag invited Trowel Development

oundation to share its tie-crab attening technique with

overnment ofcials in 2009. The technique was also eatured in

he national aquaculture conerence Fishlink 2010, which brought

ogether shpond owners, aquaculture scientists, ofcials o national

overnment agencies, and local government units rom all over the

ountry.

PARTNERS

robust partnership makes the Trowel Development Foundation

ossible. Dierent partners make dierent contributions, depending

n their expertise and respective value-add. Several partners

rovide technical support and guidance in project implementation

and management. Other partners (mostly in government) pro

a conducive policy environment, demarcating zones or pro

implementation. Some partners support with the publicatio

manuals on ecological mangrove. Others still help to establish

tie-crab arms and construct the necessary acilities guard ho

molting pens, eed areas, and pole areas.

The main stakeholders in this partnership are:

The College o Science and Fisheries Department o

University o Eastern Philippines

Bureau o Fisheries and Aquatic Resources

Local Governments o the Municipalities o Lavezares

Rosario

Municipal ederations o shers and armers organization

Lavezares, and their member organizations


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FURTHER REFERENCE

Trowel Development Foundation website trowelsamar.weebly.com/

Trowel Development Foundation Photo Story (Vimeo) vimeo.com/15746250

Equator Initiative

Environment and Energy GroupUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

304 East 45th Street, 6th Floor

New York, NY 10017

Tel: +1 646 781 4023

www.equatorinitiative.org

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UNs global development network, advocating or change and

necting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better lie.

The Equator Initiative brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses and grassroots organizati

o recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions or people, nature and resilient communities.

2012 by Equator Initiative

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http://vimeo.com/15746250http://vimeo.com/15746250http://vimeo.com/15746250http://vimeo.com/15746250http://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348160384.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348151578.pdf

case studies undp: trowel development foundation, philippines

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