Proposed Ligawasan Marsh Protected Area: Management Plan

The Government, with the support of the Global Environmental Facility (GEF)World Bank/United Nations Development Programme, has now undertaken two studies: (i) the Protected Area Suitability Assessment (PASA) Study, completed in 2001, and (ii) the Wetland Biodiversity Component for Ligawasan Marsh Study, completed in 2004, which gathered the required scientific information. These studies have also completed the required stakeholder consultations at national, provincial, municipal, barangay, and sitio levels. There was a strong consensus among the stakeholders that LM should be proclaimed as a PA under the NIPAS Act.

The outputs of the Wetland Biodiversity Study include three documents

contained in three volumes:  

Volume I  :  Long-term Management Plan (the Plan) for the whole LM complex. The Plan, which covers 21 municipalities and one city, is based on the results of PASA and Wetland Biodiversity Component;  

Volume II  : Medium-term Investment Program for the LM proper. The Program, which covers 10 priority municipalities located in the LM proper, is basically a five-year time slice of the Management Plan; and 

Volume III :   Project Brief. It is actually the Investment Program transformed into the GEF format. The Plan lays out the detailed management activities aimed at providing direction for conserving and protecting the biodiversity and natural resources of the LM complex.  

The Plan contains the Description, Evaluation, and Management Prescriptions. The description presents the physical, biological, demographic and 

socieconomic characteristics of the proposed PA. The evaluation presents the assessment presented in the description, and also the threats, constraints, and conflicts in managing the PA. The management prescriptions detail the different management strategies and specific actions required. 

The Plan is designed so that it will have a positive impact on the environment, it will ensure the sustainability of biodiversity and the cultural heritage of the people in the marsh, and it will also reduce the poverty of the inhabitants there. The community will be empowered to help them effectively implement the proposed conservation programs, which they helped formulate and developed. The capacity of local government units, NGOs, private sector enterprises, and other stakeholders will also be strengthened so that they can provide effective partnership with the local communities in the long-term conservation of the marsh.