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Proceedings of the workshop on Turning Blue: The Role of Cities in Forwarding Blue Carbon Solutions towards Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation (EASC2018 Session 1 Workshop 2)

PUBLICATION DATE:

Friday, November 30, 2018

PUBLICATION TYPE:

Meeting Documents

STATUS:

Only Available Online

DESCRIPTION:

Attended by at least 42 participants representing local government units, national government agencies, academe, private sector, local communities, and other key stakeholder groups, the session aimed to revisit the important role that local governments play in designing and implementing innovative blue carbon solutions. The activity became a venue to discuss and share strategies and programs towards integrated marine resource management.

Fostering an interactive and dynamic interaction amongst the participants, the session employed the Marketplace Activity approach. The resource speakers presented posters highlighting the blue carbon solutions that they are implementing in their respective localities. To enable the participants to directly engage and discuss with the speakers, the plenary was divided into groups and each group was given the chance to visit each poster station. As a culminating activity, the resource speakers and the participants gathered for a panel discussion that summarized the highlights of the session. The panel discussion was also a venue for the participants to express additional questions, insights, ideas, and other pertinent feedback related to the topic of the session.

Key learnings from the workshop centered on recognizing the importance of community participation. The resource speakers noted that local governments should always encourage and solicit the engagement and cooperation of its stakeholders, particularly the local communities who can be tapped as stewards of the marine ecosystems. In addition, the session also put premium on the enforcement of the laws and policies in place. The participants and the speakers agree that ordinances pertaining to fishing activities, harvesting of marine resource, pollution, and others should be strictly enforced at all times. The local government should allocate resources to support the operations of local enforcement groups such as the Bantay Dagat.

Another theme of the discussions is linkages and partnership building. Recognizing that the effects of climate change know no boundaries, the local governments maintained that partnership building with neighboring municipalities, national agencies, academe, private sector, and others is a strategic approach to integrated marine resource management. Inter-LGU cooperation and networking also scales up blue carbon solutions and allows them to pool their resources to expand the coverage of their initiative. A good example for this is the Oriental Mindoro Marine Protected Area (MPA) Network, a province-wide effort to uphold and preserve the biophysical integrity of the seas of Oriental Mindoro.

As a knowledge sharing session, the participants and the resource speakers also discussed key points and considerations for replication of the presented strategies. The resource speakers noted that municipalities should assess their challenges, context, and priorities first before they design their own blue carbon initiatives.