Community-Based Management Planning and Payment for Environmental Services: the Case of The Subanen of Misamis Occidental, Philippines

Abstract

This paper explores the use of community-based management
planning (CBMP) in developing a Payment for Environmental
Services (PES) scheme for the conservation of Layawan
Watershed, particularly the services that the Subanen Tribe
provides. The study used the participatory three-dimensional
modelling (P3DM) as a tool in community-based management
planning. The tool served as guide in identifying land uses and
the management strategies to be used for the management
planning. Community-based management plans were developed
with the vision of uplifting the Subanen’s status of living and at
the same time conserving and protecting the Layawan
watershed. However, the communities do not have sufficient
means of livelihood to support their needs, and if this is allowed
to continue, it can make them turn to extractive and possibly
destructive activities within the watershed. Recognizing
Subanen’s important role in protecting the watershed and
securing watershed services, there is a need to support the
Subanen, possibly through a sustainable financing mechanism
such as PES.

Through P3DM, the communities were able to visualize their
current situation in a holistic way. They were able to appreciate
the connection between their livelihood and the surrounding
environment, paving the way for their willingness to participate
in a PES scheme as environmental services (ES) providers of the
Layawan watershed. The communities recognized that the
conservation and protection of the Layawan Watershed is also
to their best interest because the area is not only a source of
natural resources but also serves as their home and ancestral
domain. They believed that the agroforestry system is a strategy
to address their problem on low household incomes thus, they
will be able to conserve and protect the watershed even as they
enhance their income-generating capacity.