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The Philippine focal points for the Ramsar CEPA Programme: the
Society for the Conservation of Philippine Wetlands (for
non-government concerns) and the Protected and Wildlife Bureau
of DENR (for the government), had been holding CEPA (communication,
education and public awareness) activities directed at promoting
the conservation and wise use of wetlands.
This year, in time for the celebration of World Wetlands Day on 02 February
2005, a national workshop was conducted to craft the first draft of the National
Wetlands CEPA Action Plan. Key stakeholders nationwide was invited
to the workshop.
The need to have a National Wetlands CEPA Action Plan is recognized so
that all CEPA activities will be done in a more strategic manner in
order to be more effective in catalyzing change towards promoting the
conservation and wise use of wetlands on a nationwide scale. The
formulation and implementation of National Wetlands CEPA Action Plan
is viewed as an intervention that would not only reduce conflicts over
wetland resources, but also increase the number of advocates, actors
and networks involved in the issues, and build an informed
decision-making and public constituency.
The product of the workshop will then be subjected to consultation and will be
put online (this site) for comments and discussion. The final version is
aimed to be completed in November 2005.
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In support of the design competition organized by the architecture
students of the University of the Philippines - Diliman, in
partnership with the Society, an exhibit was set up at the lobby of
the Visitors Center. "Developing Lumban Delta as an
Eco-Tourism Site" is a competition participated by 35 groups
of architecture students from various architecture schools in Luzon.
The winning entries will be part of the exhibit in the coming 10th
Living Lakes Conference in May 2005 at Tagaytay City, and will later
be donated to the Municipal government of Lumban.