Context
Caraga is an administrative region of the Philippines, situated in the north-eastern part of the island of Mindanao. It is noted for its wood-based economy, extensive water resources and rich mineral deposits, such as iron, gold, silver, nickel, chromite, manganese and copper. The region also boasts great biodiversity, particularly in the Agusan Marsh in Agusan del Sur province. However, the entire ecosystem and its biodiversity are at serious risk from natural resource management that is not adapted to the local situation and focuses solely on economic interests. The indigenous communities make up a large part of the local population, but they are severely marginalised. Their knowledge and land and resource use practices are not taken sufficiently into account.
Despite its development potential, Caraga remains one of the poorest regions in the country, with 40 per cent of the population living below the poverty line in 2012. The uneven distribution of land and resources is one of the causes of political and social conflict. Furthermore, the communist rebel group, the New People’s Army, is still active in the region.
A participatory peace and conflict analysis identified five peacebuilding measures that are necessary for the Caraga region:
1. Classification and demarcation of land
2. Improvement and enforcement of regulations on the use of land and natural resources
3. Management and use of existing resources
4. Human security, primarily by means of local conflict transformation and improved living conditions
5. Access to public services
Objective
Natural resources and other assets in selected areas of the Caraga region are managed in a manner that promotes peace and sustainability and benefits the local population.
Approach
The programme provides advisory services to government departments in order to improve the situation of local civil society and to raise awareness of resource management geared towards sustainability. It also promotes processes that involve all stakeholders, thereby stimulating dialogue between parties in conflict and helping them to reach informal and/or formal agreements themselves. Arbitration and mediation are used to settle conflicts, particularly over land and diverging land-use interests, both within and between local communities. In addition, the programme advocates greater recognition and use of indigenous practices to conserve biodiversity and conflict-sensitive resource management in the Agusan Marsh.
Results
Results achieved by the programme so far include:
• The development of a conflict-sensitive ecosystem approach with local partners for the municipality of Malimono and its surrounding uplands and lowlands. The indigenous population is involved and their rights are recognised.
• The creation of community-based management structures and the joint drafting of a conflict-sensitive development framework for a disused timber area by Butuan City’s municipal administration and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
• Improved cooperation between the provincial government of Agusan del Sur and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples in defining and recognising traditional territories of the indigenous population.
• Negotiation of a partnership agreement with five Manobo indigenous communities on the use of indigenous practices for conserving and documenting biodiversity.
• Greater consideration of conflict issues in the local development and land use planning processes of the provincial government in Surigao del Norte.
• Inclusion of the needs and concerns of the indigenous population in the national land use planning guidelines of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board.
• Revision of the Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plans for indigenous peoples based on the practical experience gained in the programme’s pilot areas.