PHILCAT

The Philippine Conservation Approaches and Technologies (PHILCAT) was formally organized in September 23, 1999 through a Special Order issued by the Secretary of Agriculture. It aims to document and promote SWC (Soil and Water Conservation) approaches and technologies to ensure broader adoption and contribute in preventing land degradation. Chaired by the Bureau Soils and Water Management, it was reconstituted in April 27, 2007 to enhance participation of more organizations. To further strengthen PHILCAT, a new Special Order was issued in January 20, 2011 with 18 members consisting of national government agencies (NGAs) and non-government organizations (NGOs). PHILCAT is a nationwide initiative of the Philippines. Its general aim is to develop sustainable land management (SLM) decision support tools for combating land degradation, and the effects of climate change.

The project focuses on five ecosystems of the Phillipines: 1) Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) - Benguet, 2) Region III - Central Plain of Luzon, 3) Region IV - Southern Luzon, 4) Region VIII – Leyte, 5) Region X – Bukidnon.

The Philippine Conservation Approaches and Technologies (PHILCAT) was formally organized in September 23, 1999 through a Special Order issued by the Secretary of Agriculture. It aims to document and promote SWC (Soil and Water Conservation) approaches and technologies to ensure broader adoption and contribute in preventing land degradation. Chaired by the Bureau Soils and Water Management, it was reconstituted in April 27, 2007 to enhance participation of more organizations. To further strengthen PHILCAT, a new Special Order was issued in January 20, 2011 with 18 members consisting of national government agencies (NGAs) and non-government organizations (NGOs). PHILCAT is a nationwide initiative of the Philippines. Its general aim is to develop sustainable land management (SLM) decision support tools for combating land degradation, and the effects of climate change.

The project focuses on five ecosystems of the Phillipines: 1) Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) - Benguet, 2) Region III - Central Plain of Luzon, 3) Region IV - Southern Luzon, 4) Region VIII – Leyte, 5) Region X – Bukidnon.

The PHILCAT project concentrates on five main objectives which will be reached through their various outputs:

Objective 1: To document available SLM and climate change adaptation best practices and success stories

• Guidelines and protocols to select SLM best practices completed
• SLM best practices identified and selected from the 5 strategic ecosystems through the conduct of seminar-workshop in the identified SLM centers.
• SLM best practices are documented using WOCAT questionnaires on technologies and approaches, and mapped/tagged

Objective 2: To increase capacity and awareness of local partners on SLM and climate change adaptation strategies.

• Trained project staff and local partners on the application of WOCAT tools and methodologies.
• Well-informed local partners regarding SLM as climate change adaptation options.

Objective 3: To develop SLM knowledge management and decision support tools using WOCAT methodology.

• Documented SLM best practices are entered in the WOCAT database.
• Summarized report of SLM best practices generated from the WOCAT database.

Objective 4: To strengthen the PHILCAT in its advocacy and activities related to SLM.

• PHILCAT institutional members’ active participation and contribution in the project implementation and WOCAT activities.

Objective 5: To communicate and disseminate results to land users, SWC advocates and specialists, and policy and decision makers to facilitate broader adoption.

• Knowledge products on SLM are disseminated for local use; active website accessible to public.

From July 2013 to June 2015 PHILCAT was able to secure funds and implement their project "Development of Decision Support Tools on Sustainable Land Management to Address Abiotic Stresses in Areas Vulnerable to Climate Change". The utilization of the WOCAT questionnaires QT and QA was central to this project implementation. Prior to the documentation activities there were two trainings with 50 participants conducted and five workshops with each 40 participants held. The documentation of four approaches and nine technologies was completed in July 2015 and the data was entered into the WOCAT database.

PHILCAT is also participating in regional and international events on the topic of SLM such as the "FAO expert consultation on SLM " in Bangkok (September 2015) and the WOCAT launch event "A knowledge management platform goes new" in Mexico (March 2015).

Within the project "Development of Decision  Support Tools on SLM to Address Abiotic Stresses in Areas Vulnerable to Climate Change" a compendium of SLM best practices was prepared and materials for dissemination to land users and policy and decision makers were established. After the project termination the sustainability of the gains of the project was guaranteed by these activities.

Currently, PHILCAT is part of the FAO project "Decision support for mainstreaming and scaling up SLM (DS-SLM)".