AVLDA to fast track resource mapping, assessment

In a bid to fast track the rehabilitation and development of the Allah Valley watershed areas, the Allah Valley Landscape Development Alliance (AVLDA) has secured the services of the Environmental Science and Social Change (ESSC) for the conduct of the resource mapping and community base resource assessment project for the area.

Abdula Bansuan, executive director of the AVLDA Program Management Office, sais ESSC was tapped by the agency for the landscape updating and mapping of the project area using the Geographical Information System or GIS and Remote Sensing Technology and Community-Based Resource Assessment and Field Mapping.

ESSC is a non-government organization based in Metro Manila involved in environmental and Bansuan said that the consultancy services offered by ESSC is premised on the need to undertake watershed processes on planning and development to include preliminary and comprehensive watershed characterization.

He said there is a need to establish statistical compendium and environmental management information of the Allah Valley that would be essential data in the preparation of development projects.

The Allah Valley watershed is a drainage area of river systems supporting various existing facilities that needs immediate protection and rehabilitation.

The area is part of the 102,530 hectares of river and watershed systems in the provinces of South Cotabato and Sultan kudarat that was earlier declared as Allah Valley Watershed Forest Reserve through Presidential Degree 2455.
The severe degradation of the vegetative cover of the watershed due to various conflicting policies of different institutions and the weak implementation of environmental laws were seen to have led to major disaster such as the Lake Maughan tragedy in 1995 and the flooding of the Allah River in 2002 due to an earthquake.

These tragic events affected around 23,786 families and estimated P515M worth of damages to crop and infrastructure.

Owing to this, the AVLDA deemed it necessary to engage the services of ESSC in providing the technical assistance to come up with updated information and characterization of the Allah Valley Landscape through GIS mapping and remote sensing and to conduct community base resource assessment in at least four pilot barangays.

The AVLDA paln to utilize the pilot barangays as an anchors for the implantation of the sustainable management of the Allah of the Allah Valley Landscape.

Bansuan said the scope of services of ESSC, which is funded by AVLDA trust Fund to about P2.5M, will cover the establishments of the updated land cover and landscape mapping within one year.

It would also coordinate and oversee the conduct of all project-related activities, prepare and submit monthly status report to AVLDA-PMO and to the provincial government of South Cotabato as the basis of project evaluation and conduct the presentation and publication of outputs and findings by the end of the project.

By: Teddy B. Balolong