Preparation of Caguray Integrated Watershed Management Plan (IWMP)

Started: August 2020

Completed: November 2020

A watershed or a catchment is a delineated area that collects water from the rain and drains off into a single outlet through a network of rivers and streams. Watersheds provide various goods and ecosystem services such as timber, water for domestic, commercial, and agriculture uses, livelihood for local communities, promote carbon sequestration, control soil erosion, and biodiversity conservation.

Caguray watershed is one of the major rivers in Occidental Mindoro identified as one of the country's critical watersheds. Different factors such as deforestation, inappropriate agricultural and forestry activities, overgrazing, and unregulated land conversion cause the watershed's continuous degradation. Thus, there is a need to formulate an Integrated Watershed Management Plan (IWMP) to sustain and develop existing natural resources and restore vulnerable areas.

CENRO Delos Reyes during the stakeholders workshop

Crafting the IWMP includes conducting a watershed characterization study, vulnerability assessment, problem tree analysis, and SWOT analysis. This IWMP incorporated the strategies and interventions to be established and implemented to ensure watershed sustainability. Moreover, it included the vision, mission, processes and methodology goals and objectives, scope, and limitation. It also specifies the primary strategy on technical and management aspects to address management areas' problems. Support activities such as Information, Education and Communication, Linkaging and Networking, Research and Development, Human Resources Development, Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E), Information and Database Management, Reporting, Administration and Supervision are identified to ensure the plan's success. For the plan's effectiveness and efficiency, implementation is specified, including Legitimization of the Plan, Institutional Arrangements, Work and Budgetary Requirements for 25 years.