National Wetlands Action Plan
This National Wetlands Action Plan for the Philippines is the guiding document for the Philippines to promote and implement strategies and actions for the conservation and wise use of its wetlands, incorporating urgent concerns such as biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The document provides a framework of strategies and actions for all concerned sectors of the society including government agencies, non-government organizations, business sector, small communities and indigenous people, for the management and wise use of wetlands and their resources for the enjoyment of their benefits by the present and future generations.
Download The National Wetlands Action Plan 2011-2016
- Part I: The State of Philippine Wetlands
- Part II: Updating the 1993 National Wetlands Action Plan: The Process
- Part III: The National Wetlands Action Plan for the Philippines (2011-2016)
Updating the 1993 National Wetlands Action Plan
Desk Review and Small Group Workshops
Four Technical Working Groups (TWG) were formed representing focal areas of concern namely Freshwater Wetlands, Marine and Coastal Wetlands, Wetlands Policy, and Enabling Activities. Each group compiled information from various sources and reviewed the consolidated information.
Stakeholders Recommendations: the Dumaguete Conference
As a result of the review, working documents were prepared for the National Conference on Wetlands, Climate Change Adaptation and Biodiversity Conservation held in Dumaguete City on 12-14 January 2009. The Dumaguete Conference marked the second stage of plan formulation. At the Conference, the working documents were presented and subjected to further discussion and validation. There were two main outputs at the Conference, a Conference Resolution and the elements of an updated National Wetlands Action Plan for the Philippines (NWAPP). The Conference Resolution recognized the importance of wetlands to humanity and to nature, its critical state owing to the various threats on these ecosystems, and strongly affirmed that the concerned authorities particularly the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Philippine Congress, and the Local Government Units, take action in implementing the priority activities endorsed by the participants. The updated National Wetlands Action Plan took into account how wetlands are affected by extreme climatic changes and the important role the wetlands play in climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The outputs were further subjected to iteration and refinement by the Ad Hoc National Committee on Wetlands whose membership was constituted at the Dumaguete Conference. A Final Workshop was convened which was attended by the Ad Hoc Committee Members, TWG members and other key personalities who helped in crafting the updated NWAPP.
Regional Consultation and Integration Workshop
The draft NWAPP was subjected to a series of Regional Consultations to ensure that all key stakeholders were involved in the review and were able to provide inputs to the document. The consultations were held to prioritize specific wetlands for management and identify their management needs through participatory processes, identify partners and their roles (specific responsibility centers), resources available and solicit commitments for its implementation, and to solicit the endorsement of the updated NWAPP by stakeholders.
Mainstreaming the NWAPP: Adoption and Institutionalization
In 23 September 2011, the Ad-Hoc Technical Working Group was convened to review the consolidated outputs from the Integration writeshop. This version is the final product of these series of consultations and iterations.
The 1993 National Wetlands Action Plan
The National Wetland Action Plan was prepared by the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) of the Philippines in coordination with the various government agencies, non-government organizations and academic institutions concerned with the use and conservation of wetlands.
The actions presented have been developed through a national Workshop on the Protection and Sustainable Use of Wetlands in the Philippines held in October 1992 at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna. The output of the Workshop was reviewed by the Ad-hoc Committee on Wetlands created under DENR Special Order No. 219 series of 1993.