44 17 4 on Education for Sustainable Development in Cebu.” The project is being implemented in partnership with the Japan-based Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES). RCE Cebu established a multisectoral approach in establishing partnerships with the community. It collaborated with different stakeholders (i.e. farmers, women, multipurpose cooperatives, youths, students and teachers in elementary and secondary schools, and the community council of Campo Siete) to promote the importance of education in the sustainable development of the region in the following areas: (a) livelihood (b) health, (c) governance, (d) eco-tourism, and (e) environment protection. The overall objective of the project is to bring together the community, local stakeholders and regional stakeholders, in collaboration with global stakeholders to develop and implement an innovative project for the conservation and rational use of the 123 hectare forest reserve in Minglanilla, Cebu towards effective poverty alleviation options and sustainable development. Its specific objectives are the following: • Develop an ESD knowledge base and materials to learn options and good practices on poverty alleviation. Create effective and innovative knowledge sharing systems including community baseline maps, inventory data on resources and resource management and poverty indicators and responses as well as good practices. • Build the capacity of people in the local community to identify their poverty levels by using recently established research methods. Mobilise as many stakeholders as possible through participatory research on poverty levels and an inventory of natural resources. • Develop and implement concrete alternative options to enable conservation and the reasonable use of the proclaimed 123 hectares Experimental Forest Station (DAO 51 Series of 2004) managed by the Ecosystems Research and Development Service (ERDS) of the DENR Region 7. • Build capacity through conservation and the effective use of the 123 hectare forest resource, and by empowering RCE Cebu. • Involve the broad, multi-sectoral interdisciplinary stakeholders within the project site (the 123 hectare Experimental Forest Station and nearby communities of Minglanilla) including the local teachers’ association, women’s association, youth groups, tourism association, business council and local communities in the planning and implementation of forest conservation, natural resource management and poverty alleviation through job creation and livelihood enhancement, especially through eco-tourism. Ethnobotany Project Holistically addressing environmental degradation and biodiversity loss starts with an inventory of what and how local communities use the resources in their midst. This paves the way for more relevant and responsive adaptation and mitigation measures that will both promote environmental sustainability and address livelihood issues. Biodiversity and its link to livelihoods and development are well known, with plants being important sources of people’s basic needs such as food, medicine etc. These resources can become profoundly relevant in the context of rural poverty. However mapping of biodiversity resources in the form of biodiversity registers and related knowledge – both biogeographic and socio-cultural – is central to any intervention. To make such an exploration within RCE Cebu, Campo Siete (Camp 7), Minglanilla was selected since it is included in the Central Cebu Protected Landscape (CC PL) under Republic Act No. 9486, a law for the protection and maintenance of reforested areas in Cebu, Philippines. The CC PL spans 29,062 hectares of adjoining forestlands and watersheds located in the middle of the island-province that is home to 74 endemic fauna species, 11 of which are classified as “highly threatened.” Campo Siete is home to a 123 hectare forest reserve with a population of around 2,500 amid rich ecological resources, including seven caves, 64 species of trees, diverse species of fauna, six springs, one river, and a watershed. The forest reservation supports the residential livelihood of the community through the provision of timber and other forest products, agricultural plots, an abundant water supply, and through eco-tourism. It also serves as one of the few adequate sources of water and provides ecological balance in the whole narrow island of Cebu. Politicians have assured the poor communities in the midst of the forest reserve that they can continue to rely on the land for livelihood support as long as their activities do not destroy the forest and they contribute to its preservation. Under the law, local residents are considered tenured migrants. Ecosystem Servi ces and Sustainable Use
Traditional Knowledge and Biodiversity
To see the actual publication please follow the link above