Projects against climate change
Reducing flood risks caused by expected effects of Climate Change in the Eastern Visayas, Philippines
Vegetation, Biodiversity & Ecosystems
Status : Opened
| Executive summary : | Climate Change is expected to result in more rain in the eastern Visayas in the Philippines. Increased rain will result in more flooding and this will cause more human casualties and damages to assets. In order to reduce the risk of flooding disasters GTZ will use land cover maps of six watershed areas in the eastern Visayas. The maps will be produced/updated by utilizing SPOT satellite images. The land cover maps will serve as a basis for interventions reducing the water flow and land use planning. |
| Link with climate change : | Many scientists agree that Global Warming and Climate Change increase the likelihood of extreme weather events (Summary for Policymakers, A report of Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, p.8 (http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg1/ar4-wg1-spm.pdf)). Observations indicate that rising temperatures of oceans produce more conducive conditions for the generation of tropical storms as observed in the Atlantic Ocean. In the Pacific Ocean (and the Indian Ocean) there is evidence that the number of stronger storms per year is increasing although an increase of the total number of storms per year has not been observed. (www.wunderground.com/education/webster.asp) This leads to more damages in the Philippines as higher wind speeds and heavier rains are more violent than during weaker storms. This trend is expected to continue or even accellerate with further rise in sea surface temperature. |
| Planned local actions : | see methodology |
| Country where project takes place : | Philippines |
| Name of Region of the project area : | Region 8 (Eastern Visayas), Philippines. Location of the watersheds North western corner (dec. degrees) South eastern corner (dec. degrees) Watershed Latitude (North) Longitude (East) Latitude (North) Longitude (East) Catarman 12.54 124.47 12.19 124.77 Jicontol 12.25 125.00 12.00 125.48 Pagsangaan/Binahaan 11.28 124.39 10.98 125.01 Cadacan/Hinabian 10.73 124.95 10.27 125.13 |
| Partners involved in project : | Proposed by: German Technical Cooperation, GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit), 2nd Floor, PDCP Bank Bldg., Leviste cor. Rufino Sts., Salcedo Village, Makati, PhilippinesDr. Walter Salzer, Head of Environment, Natural Resource Management and Rural Development for the Philippines (walter.salzer@gtz.de)Implemented by: German Technical Cooperation, GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit), 3rd Floor, PhilAmLife Bldg., Justice Romualdez St., Tacloban City, Leyte, PhilippinesOlaf Neussner, Advisor for Capacity Building in Disaster Risk Management (drmon@web.de)In cooperation with: Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), Hengelosestraat 99, 7514 AE, Enschede, NetherlandsDr. Norman Kerle, Regional Environmental Information System (REIS), University of the Philippines, Tacloban Campus, Leyte, Philippines Prof. Margarita de la Cruz, Head of REIS (cruzmarge2003@yahoo.com) |
| Team & research reference and experience : | Dr. Walter Salzer. More than 2 decades of experience in development work, esp. M&E, rural dev.Olaf Neussner. 18 years of experience in relief aid and development work. Work with GIS since 1995. Courses in GIS and DRM. 8 months work in DRM project.Dr. Norman Kerle. PhD in geography(volcano remote sensing). Volcanology in Costa Rica, the Philippines (1996). Extensive work on a multi-national project in Nicaragua (1998-2001). Since then he has moved into more methodological work, related to hazards, risk and disaster damage assessment with multi-type geodata.Prof. Magarita de la Cruz. A marine biologist and community development worker, expertise in coastal resource protection efforts. Chair of the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in UPVTC, as well as Coordinator for the Regional Environmental Information Systems and the Network Coordinator for the Region 8 Geographic Information Systems Network. She founded and currently serves as executive director of the Guiuan Development Foundation Inc.. |
| Context and objectives of the project : | The Philippines are located in the north western edge of the Pacific Ocean. Together with neighbouring countries the Philippines are receiving a high number of tropical storms (typhoons) originating from the Pacific Ocean every year. The typhoons enter the Philippines usually at the eastern coast of the islands Leyte, Samar or Luzon. The normal movement direction of the storms is north-west. Typhoons cause substantial disasters in the affected areas. Apart from the immediate destructive effects of high winds in or near the center of the storm large areas suffer from torrential rains. These rains often occur in a circular area of approx. 500km radius around the eye of the typhoon. The high precipitation very often causes flash floods, river floods or landslides resulting in frequent human casulties and substantial damages to assets. The Eastern Visayas (Leyte and Samar) are very exposed to the normal typhoon tracks and therefore suffer frequently from storm related disasters. GTZ has been working in the proposed project area in Disaster Risk Management since 2007 (http://www.gtz.de/en/praxis/21023.htm). Together with local governmental and other institutions GTZ has been focusing on the establishement of flood early warning systems (FEWS) in six watersheds in Samar (Catarman, Jicontol) and Leyte (Binahaan, Cadacan, Pagsangaan, Hinabian). One of them is operational (http://www.leyte.org.ph/binahaan/index.htm) and the others are in various stages of preparation. The FEWS enable the population at risk to take action before a flood hits (movement of small assets to higher ground, evacuation of persons) and thereby reduces casulties and some damages. |
| Starting date of the project : | 09/01/2008 |
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