ONE of the core values of the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines-CAR is professional-academic excellence made relevant to the regions development. Equipped only with the commitment to contribute to nation-building, they exemplify relevance as they also journey in personal development.

Paul Joseph A. Nuval, TOSP-CAR 2010 and presently a research technical support staff of the Department of Agriculture Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources-CAR, will be graduating next month with a Master in Development Communication degree from the BSU Open University. His adviser is Dr. Lita Colting. He shares with us his study abstract that associates the richness of the indigenous culture in the Cordillera with contemporary challenges of our society.

His study Lapat System as an IKSP of the Maeng Tribe of Tubo, Abra: A Climate Change Adaptation Strategy in Fisheries Resource Management determined effective governing practices of the Lapat system; ascertained how these practices aid the community in adapting to climate change; verified the process of integration of the Lapat system into the Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development Protection Plan (ADSDPP) of the municipality; and identified the perceived challenges in the promotion and implementation of the Lapat system.

Lapat system refers to the indigenous resource management system of the Maeng Tribe of Tubo in managing the natural resources within their Ancestral Domain. The purpose of the practice is to regulate, protect, and conserve the use of resources and its biodiversity.

The implementation of the Lapat follows three steps: information dissemination; performance of ritual called bagawas; and the observance of the Lapat. All the community members act as forest guards and when violations are committed, that is the time when the barangay council, TULAS, and Dap-ay come into play. Rituals involved are performed as indigenous disciplinary measure for violators.

Based on the findings, the characteristics of Lapat that can be an adaptation strategy for climate change relates to the regulation and prohibition of the harvesting of forest and water by-products to maintain its biodiversity. Also, the study narrates the interrelationship of the human responses to Lapat system such as to human activities, felt and/or observed climatic changes, to their biodiversitys inventory.

Further, the study underscored Lapat system and the three encapsulating concepts: IP rights over land and resources; protection of biodiversity; and the ecosystem-based approach. These three concepts converge as a potent climate change adaptation measure. The perceived effects of climate change to fisheries according to the fisherfolk respondents were traced to rainfall, river levels and flows, temperature structure, and water parameters. The impacts of these climatic changes were determined in the bio-physiological, migration pattern, reproduction, and metabolism of the fish species.

In adapting climate change in fisheries resource management the study revealed that the Lapat system affects and impacts production, ecosystems, farming systems, communities, and wider society and economy.

Regarding the process of IKSP integration in the ADSDPP of the municipality, the community followed the project development cycle in creating and formulating the ADSDPP from planning, design and development, implementation, to evaluation. Three significant effects of the ADSDPP were noted in the study: protection of cultural integrity; stronger community dynamics; and strengthened environmental protection. The study recommends that the LGUs continue involving the IPs and their leaders in policy making, governance, and implementation of projects as it was established that this increased the community participation and maintained the cultural integrity of the Maeng Tribe.

Lastly, other municipalities can adapt the process done by the Maeng Tribe-Tubo in integrating the IKSP of the community into formal policies and/or in the ADSDPP to ensure that community participation is valued and the elders are still given key roles in decision-making.

Read more from the original source:
Guinaran: The parable of the Lapat system of Tubo