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A Primer on Climate Change Adaptation in the Philippines

A PRIMER ON CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION
IN THE PHILIPPINES

Patricia Ann A. Jaranilla-Sanchez

Rodel D. Lasco
Grace B. Villamor
Roberta V. Gerpacio
Gina P. Nilo
Karl L. Villegas
World Agroforestry Centre
2007

This primer is the second part of the LULUCF Climate Change

Mitigation Projects in the Philippines A Primer. This is in response to a
growing interest on climate change adaptation after our mitigation
primer with emphasis on terrestrial ecosystems and upland
communities. The primer intends to collate all the information on the
different climate change related projects nationwide and make them
available to a wider audience who might be interested in doing some
research work or in implementing some adaptation strategies in the
country.
The status of climate change, climate variability and climate extremes
are discussed in the beginning of the book. Some questions relevant to
the topic are answered in the rest of the chapters. Case studies on
adaptation strategies/measures in the Philippines or in other countries
presented here can be implemented in the country at the community
level or at the policy level. Adaptation strategies on some sectors of the
country are included. Specifically, this primer focuses on adaptation
strategies for agriculture and forestry, biodiversity conservation, soil and
water technologies/strategies, farming practices and adaptation
strategies that can improve the resilience of communities and various
sectors in the Philippines are considered as well. Contingency plans
and gaps are identified to improve existing strategies to enhance
adaptation to climate change in the country.
The content is based on the authors’ review of technical documents,
synthesis of previous case studies, synthesis of meetings and personal
involvement in international negotiation efforts related to climate change
adaptation. The style and language of this document has been
simplified to cater to a wide range of audiences. A list of helpful
websites is also provided for those who would like supplementary
readings on the topic. The reader is encouraged to use and share this
document freely but judiciously.

Rodel D. Lasco
Country Program Coordinator
World Agroforestry Centre

Introduction
The Philippines is one of the developing countries expected to suffer most of the negative effects
of climate change. It is already known to most of us that climate change is happening. As
climate changes, developing countries like the Philippines are
faced with urgent needs for sustainable development: These are:
1.) to improve food security,
2.) to reduce poverty, and
3.) to provide an adequate standard of living for growing populations (Verchot, et al., 2007). In
the previous primer, mitigation strategies were discussed but these are only expected to cushion
the effects of climate change. Adaptation efforts are needed to improve the resilience of the
community to the impacts of climate change, climate variability or climateextremes.
What is Climate Change vs. climate variability vs. climate extremes? Climate change is any
change in climate over time (usually hundreds of years), whether due to natural variability or
because of human activity. This is usually long term and requires decades or more of statistically
significant changes in climate at the global level. Climate variability is the variations in the mean
state andother statistics (such as standard deviations, the occurrence of extremes, etc.) of the
climate on all temporal and spatial scales beyond that of individual weather events. Climate
variability is generally short term and abrupt climate variations. Climate extremes are short-term
extreme climatic conditions such as the occurrence of El Niño and La Niña in the country

Adaptation vs. mitigation … Why adaptation?

Mitigation strategies are usually measures added to a project or activity to reduce, prevent or
correct the impact of climate change. These are anthropogenic interventions to reduce the
emission or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases (GHG). Adaptation on the other hand, is
process by which strategies and actions to avoid, moderate, cope with and/or take advantage
of the consequences of climate events are developed, enhanced and implemented. Both
mitigation and adaptation are urgently needed if we want to reduce climate change and its
impacts over the coming decades. Although there are quite a number of mitigation projects
implemented in the country, we can only do so much to reduce the impact of climate change,
variability and extremes. Limited focus is given to mutually supportive adaptation strategies
necessary to increase the resilience of local communities vulnerable to these climate changes,
variability and extremes. This can be done side-by-side with mitigation strategies to minimize
further impact on the most vulnerable populations and ecosystems.
Adaptation strategies are very cost effective compared to mitigation and can be done from the
policy level down to the grassroots level. There are plenty of adaptation measures both
natural and human-induced. This publication will focus on human-induced adaptation measures.
A changing climate … what has happened in the Philippines so far?
The IPCC (2001) projects under various scenarios that in the
next 100 years, global mean surface temperatures will increase by 1.4-5.8 o
C and the global mean sea level will rise by 0.09- 0.88m. The Philippines all in all has not only
become warmer in the last few decades but it has also become drier (6% decline in rainfall for
the past century). Data from 1961-1999 shows that the Philippines experience an average of
2325 mm of rainfall and 25.7 o C of annual mean temperature The Global Sea Level Observing
System (GLOSS), which routinely monitors in several hundreds of locations including Manila
and Legaspi shows how the sea levels have been rapidly rising throughout the years (Figure 3).
This is very alarming because there are a lot of coastal towns with livelihoods dependent on the
surrounding water bodies. Submergence of small islands located just a little above sea level
might occur if this sea level rise continues.

What are the projected impacts of climate change to

different sectors?
Agriculture
The increasing extreme weather events brought about by climate
change have huge impacts on agriculture.
a) Crops
IPCC (2001) reports that climatic variability and change will affect scheduling of cropping season, as well
as the duration of the growing period of the crop. Crop yield are expected to decline. Acute water
shortages combined with thermal stress should adversely affect rice productivity despite the positive
effects of elevated CO2 in the future. Crop diseases such as rice blast, and sheath and culm blight of rice
also could become more widespread. The increased incidence of pests and diseases such as the
Black rice bug (Scotinophara lurida), Waya-waya (Stenocranus Pacificus Kirakldy) for corn, the incidence
of Abaca Bunchy top (Babuvirus Nanoviridae) usually in Abaca (Musa textilis) but now
found to be affecting corn also), Caragumoy bleaching of their primary crop for basket weaving (as a
result of increasing surface temperature) were noted by the Provincial Agriculture Office of Albay.
(Personal Communication with the provincial agricultural specialist: Jojo Elvira, 2007). Massive
agricultural losses were also experienced in major rice and corn-producing regions in the Philippines (e.g.
Cagayan Valley) resulting from extreme drought and weather disturbances
such as storms and typhoons. Immediate impacts from prolonged drought and excessive flooding in
agriculture production areas threaten the livelihood and resiliency of poor farmers in the region.

b) Livestock
The IPCC WGII (2007) identifies some increase in incidence of diseases due to global warming that will
affect livestock in the mid-latitude areas like the Philippines. For example, the blue tongue disease that
mostly affects sheep, goat and deer is projected to spread from the tropical countries to the mid-latitude
areas (Anon, 2006, van Wuijickhuise et al., 2006). Studies are still lacking on the impacts of CO 2 and
climate change on the pest-plant dynamics or impacts on livestock health. (IPCC WGII,
2007)

c) Fisheries/coastal
According to the IPCC (2001), the coastal ecosystems are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate
change in Southeast Asia. Many wild stocks are under stress as a result of over exploitation, trawling on
sea-bottom habitats, coastal development, and pollution from land-based activities. Marine productivity is
greatly affected by plankton shift in response to temperature changes induced by ENSO. The coastline is
routinely lashed by storm surges and cyclones so sediment load is added to the coastal waters.

Forestry
Vulnerability analysis of forest ecosystems in the Philippine’s Initial National Communications (1999)
explains how both the quantity and quality of forest goods and services can significantly
be affected by climate. Forest clearing for conversion to cropland and pasture are the primary reason for
forest loss. This can be aggravated with increased flood and droughts brought about by climate change.
All these will have severe effects to the environment such as increased soil erosion, loss of soil fertility,
loss of genetic variability in crops, and depletion of water resources. (IPCC, 2001)
Impacts on forests such as changes in the flowering of trees, production of seeds, palatability to
herbivores, etc. as a result of climate change can severely be affected. Moreover, IPCC predicts that
climate change is likely to worsen pest, disease and weed management problems particularly in
plantation and production forest. Forests such as pine forest are vulnerable to
fire and climate change induced increases in fire risk.

Biodiversity
The impacts of climate change on biodiversity are increasing at an alarming rate. Climate change
together with land use change and the spread of exotic/alien species will most likely limit the capacity of
species to migrate promoting loss of some species. At the species level, climate change affects
biodiversity by:
1.) changing species distribution;
2.) increasing extinction rates;
3.) changing reproduction timings and;
4.) changing the length of growing seasons for plants. (CBD, 2007)

Basic ways and forms to adapt to climate change

The Philippine Initial National Communication on Climate Change (1999) notes that adaptation measures
to climate change can be screened by the following:
1.) addressing high priority issues involving irreversible catastrophic consequences of climate
change, long term decisions and unfavorable trends;
2.) determining its effectivity;
3.) low cost (inexpensive);
4.) feasibility and must not have significant barriers to overcome (institutional/legal, social and
cultural, market and technological).

There are some fundamental forms of adaptation given by McCarl (2007) that can be applicable in the
Philippines setting.
• Crop, forage, and tree species/varieties – adaptation by altering the mix of crop, forage grasses or
trees species employed. For example: growing crops, grasses or trees which are more heat tolerant.
More generally this involves replacing some proportion of the crop,

Crop and tree management - Modifying cropping schedules by planting or harvesting earlier to adjust to
altered soil warm-up rates, soil moisture conditions, earlier maturity dates, altered water availability
regimes. Trees and crops can be managed by increasing inputs, altering rotation ages, thinning (to
mitigate fire risk), replanting, or altered pest management among other possibilities. Producers may also
use seasonal climate forecasting to reduce production risk.

• Water management - Adaptation may be through theprovision of irrigation water including investing in
facilities, changing drainage management regimes, altering tillage practices to conserve water, modifying
farm schedules (time of planting/harvesting) to better match water availability, changing crop species to
more drought tolerant plants/trees etc.

• Pest and disease management –Adaptation can occur through wider use of integrated pest and
pathogen management or preventive veterinary care, development and use of varieties and species
resistant to pests and diseases, maintaining or improving quarantine capabilities, outbreak monitoring
programs; prescribed burning and adjusting harvesting schedules.
• Management of natural areas - Some forestry production occurs relies on passively managed, natural
ecosystems which may require more active management under climate change to migrate in new better
adapted species or deal with climate change enhanced pest, disease or fire risks.

Fire management - Forests, grasslands and to some extent croplands are vulnerable to fire and
climate change induced increases in fire risk. Such risks maystimulate adaptive actions like salvaging
dead timber, landscape planning to minimize fire damage, and adjusting fire management systems.

• Land use or enterprise choice change - Climate change may alter the suitability of land or a region
to such an extent that certain enterprises are no longersustainable and that it may be desirable to adapt
by changing the land use from crops to pasture or trees, trees to grazing land. For the climate change
adaptation practitioners, the USAID has devised a 6-step approach for assessing vulnerability and
identifying and implementing climate change adaptations.

Adaptation strategies in the Philippines:

Recommendations from the Philippine Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) Sub-global Assessment
(Lasco, et al., 2005) recommends a variety of adaptation options to the perceived impacts of climate
change on Philippine agriculture.
• Development of stress-tolerant varieties through plant breeding and biotechnology
• Development of new farm management techniques that will respond to the management of crops under
stressful conditions and the management of plant pests and diseases;
• Adaptive design and development of efficient farm tools and
implements; and
• Improvement of post harvest technologies which include
among others the utilization and processing of farm
products, by products and agricultural wastes
• Further recommended is the design and installation of a
management information system (MIS) for agriculture which would provide timely and accurate
information on climate hazards and their likely impacts to agricultural activities. MIS must be able to
provide the following:
o Nature of climate variability particularly rainfall
o Effects of climate change on other physical
processes (e.g. soil erosion, pests, etc.;
o Effects of crop yields from farm production, food
pricing and supply, farm income and
o Effective policy response to changes in land
use, plant breeding, etc.

Water resources
There are many water resources adaptation measures currently available in the country that enable it to
respond to climate change impacts on water supply and demand. Some limitations to the adoption of the
adaptation measures include financial and socio-cultural factors (social and cultural behavior or
traditions).

Adaptation measures on the demand side:

1.) Enhancement of irrigation efficiency (Jose and Cruz,
1999);
2.) Introduction of low water use crops and efficient farming
practices (Jose and Cruz, 1999);
3.) Recycling (reuse) of water (Jose and Cruz, 1999);
4.) Improvement of monitoring and forecasting systems for
floods and droughts (Jose and Cruz, 1999);
5.) Use of water pricing policies and structures; policies and
long-term development plans to incorporate potential
impacts to climate change (Jose and Cruz, 1999);
6.) Conservation and improved efficiency (Philippines’ Initial
National Communication to Climate Change, 1999);
7.) Technological Change (Philippines’ Initial National
Communication to Climate Change, 1999);
8.) Treated and Untreated water supply/pricing (Philippines’
Initial National Communication to Climate Change,
1999);
9.) Water treatment and recycling for major users
(Philippines’ Initial National Communication to Climate
Change, 1999);
10.) Introduce low water use crops and farming practices
(Philippines’ Initial National Communication to Climate
Change, 1999)
Agriculture
Currently, there are flood control and drainage programs by the government. For example, the BSWM
has been training farmers to operate and maintain the Small Water Impounding Management (SWIM)
projects that will be turned over to them. There are about 25 sub-projects covered by this arrangement.
(MTPDP, 2001)
Farmers’ initiatives and indigenous strategies in the
Philippines
The IPCC recommends adaptation measures to reduce the negative effects of climatic variability by
changing cropping calendar to take advantage of the wet period and to avoid extreme weather events
(typhoons and strong winds) during the growing season.Application of farmers’ appropriate technologies
and indigenous knowledge enabling them to adapt during drought incidences:

􀂃Use of herbal pesticide/botanical spray to control droughtinduced

diseases and pests thriving in trees/plants;
􀂃Weeding is not done during El Niño to conserve water;
􀂃Muyung of Ifugao, which combines the under planting ofannual and perennial crops in a secondary
forest; and
􀂃Irrigation is done when there is no wind to preserve moisture (water easily evaporates in the presence
of wind during dry season).

Indigenous disaster management practices or disaster countermeasures were compiled in different

projects funded byPCARRD and collaborated by PHIVOLCS, PAGASA and UGAT (1998) in the Natural
Disaster Management Among Filipino Cultural Communities.
• Typhoon and flood forecasting techniques of:
o the Ivatans and Cordillerans based on sky and cloud
appearance, plant manifestations, and unusual animal behavior,
o the Manobo and Subanen methods of using the stars and constellations to forecast heavy rains and
droughts
• Drought forecasting techniques of the Bagobos and Mandayas
• Monitoring of precursory signs of volcanic unrest by the T’bolis and identification of escape routes in
case of eruption.

The construction of emergency shelters such as the ayob or

kubol of the Mangyan, the kurob of the Mamanua, the
ayungan of the Manobo, and the tambubong of the Mandaya
• Preservation and stockpiling of food, fuel and indigenous medicine in preparation for typhoons and
floods
• Early warning systems using indigenous devices such as:
o the taguyods of the Yakans
o the agong, gimbae, kuratong and budiong of theManobos
o the color-coded flag signals of the Aetas.
• Custom of collective self-help or bayanihan in responding to disasters and in carrying out recovery
activities (common in all the groups studied) though called by many names:
o yaru among the Ivatans
o ugbu among the Cordillerans
o tawang-tawang among the Tausug, Samal and Yakan.
• The drought coping mechanisms of the Bagobo and T’boli
• The Aetas community and agricultural rehabilitation after the
Pinatubo Volcano 1991 eruption and ensuing lahars.
• The clever way of selecting safe sites for settlements and houses to ensure that these are protected
from strong winds, above the reach of floodwaters and away from landslide prone areas. Notable among
the Ivatans, Cordillerans, Mangyans and Manobos.
• To prevent/minimize landslide and soil erosion:
o the rice terraces of the cordillerans
o the hedgerows planted by Ivatans along hillsides
• Tree belts to protect crops and houses of Ivatans from strong winds
• The adaptive agricultural cycle and cropping systems of the Ivatan, Cordilleran, and Subanen
• Typhoon- and earthquake- resistant houses
o the jinjins of the Ivatans
o the binangiyan of the Cordilleran
• Riprap:
o the riprap built by Igorots and Ivatans along river banks are used to prevent water from overflowing to
their farms and settlements, and on the slopes to prevent erosion.

What role does tropical forest and agroforestry systems

have in climate change adaptation?

Tropical forest adaptation

Vulnerability analysis of forest ecosystems in the Philippine’s Initial National Communications (1999)
explains how both the quantity and quality of forest goods and services can significantly be affected by
climate. Because of this, some environmental services of forest ecosystems such as water cycle
regulation or soil stability can directly contribute to increasing resilience. Adaptation strategies should
include forest goods (e.g. timber,fuelwood, and NWFPs), agroforestry, forest services and
governance. Figure 8 shows the relationship of adaptation to climate change and the environmental and
social services of forest ecosystems.

Agroforestry as an adaptation measure

Agroforestry has a very important role in climate change adaptation especially in smallholder farming
communities. Farmer management can play a large role in adaptation, although, different agroforestry
systems vary in the way they sustain the farmer’s agility to respond to external pressures, stresses and
fluctuations (this is the concept of “sustainagility”) (Verchot, et al., 2007). The increased inter-annual
variability in rainfall and temperature will greatly affect farmers. Agroforestry offers a means fordiversifying
production systems and increasing the sustainagility of small-holder farming systems against climate
change (wetter and drier years) because tree based systems have the following:

a.) deep root systems are able to explore larger soil volume for water and nutrients (helpful during
droughts);
b.) increased soil porosity, reduced runoff and increased soil cover lead to increased water infiltration and
retention in the soil profile that reduces moisture stress during low rainfall years;
c.) higher evapotranspiration rates than row crops or pastures; can maintain aerated soil conditions by
pumping excess water out of the soil profile more rapidly than other production systems; and
d.) often produce crops of higher value than row crops.

In the country, majority of the upland areas are inhabited by farming communities who are among the
poorest of the poor. These communities often benefit least from assistance coming from government and
private institutions whose aim is to alleviate poverty among the upland communities. With minimal
outside assistance, these upland communities are prone to climate-induced risks such as landslides (soil
erosion), droughts, heavy rains, typhoons (tropical cyclones) and other calamities. Insufficient/lacking
adaptive capacity is a major obstruction in mainstreaming climate change and sustainable development
especially in developing countries like the Philippines. Capacity building and proper implementation of
policies and agreements (both national and international) will enable the country to develop strategies
from the farmer level up to the policy level.

What are some of the knowledge gaps in climate change

adaptation? How can we close this knowledge gap?

There is still so much to do when it comes to knowledge gaps in climate change adaptation. The main
challenge is to systematically bridge the communities, local and international institutions, and the
environment with the adaptation process. Effective communication through information dissemination is
needed to bridge the knowledge gaps in climate change adaptation. Information availability and
dissemination is very important to improve the scientific capacity of the scientific community
(research institutions, government agencies and policy makers); enhance monitoring systems and
develop early warning systems; and promote a mechanism or tools to translate available information for
policy makers to decide on policies/strategies that will enable the Philippines to adapt better
to a changing climate. With or without climate change, different sectors in the Philippines are quite
vulnerable to environmental disasters. In the Philippines, adaptation to climate variability and extremes
are already somewhat in place.
However, some necessary adjustments to changing conditions still need to be made in the infrastructure,
management practices, institutional arrangements and policies. Climate change is generally not
considered in thep lanning of adaptation strategies. Enhancements in the policy
framework are needed to include steps to reduce this vulnerability and enhance adaptive capacity of the
country. The water resources policy framework in the country can help in adapting to climate change but
it can still be improved to accommodate adaptation strategies for long-term planning to include climate
change. There is a need to document adaptation strategies on the ground and how it has affected the
communities affected by changes in climate.

When we talk of climate change, sustainable development, adaptation, mitigation and biodiversity,
several issues crop up.
These issues should be communicated to all sectors of society with these 3 simple messages:
1.) climate change is happening;
2.) adaptation is necessary for the communities to cope with climate changes
3.) mitigation is essential to avoid the dangers of climate change.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265495245_A_Primer_on_Climate_Change_Adaptation_in_t
he_Philippines