Climate Change Strategies in the Davao River Basin

For the past 20 years, the frequency and magnitude of the flash floods and landslides in the Davao River Basin (DRB) have wrought destruction in lives, properties, public and private investments in development, and the physical and mental health of surviving families in affected barangays (villages). The past decade experienced an average of two floods/year. Twenty-one of the 36 vulnerable barangays in the Basin are prone to 100-year return flooding. Four (Brgys 8-A, Ma-a, Mandug, Tigatto) are most vulnerable to recurring floods and landslides due to extreme weather events associated with climate change. This chapter discusses climate change strategies to help address the climate emergency in the DRB. One recommendation is to include nature-based solutions (NbS) aside from hard engineering alone. NbS considers nonstructural measures such as the indigenous knowledge of the four tribes (Obu-Manuvu, Matigsalug, Ata, and Bagobo-Klata) in nature conservation. Another is to create a local version of the Climate Change Commission’s database-sharing system. The system has to be continuously populated, open-access, interactive, and staffed by a technical unit with plantilla items. Disaster risk and climate information need sound evidence gathered not only by the “experts” but in partnership with the local communities and civil society.