Climate Change Synthesis Report

by the IPCC

Click here

Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Risk Reduction and Social Protection

Click here

Toward Resilience A Guide to Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation

by Catholic Relief Services – United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Click here

Biodigester Installation Manual

Click here

How to Build a Dirt Cheap House in 4 Steps

Ever wonder how to build a simple home for very little money, without going into debt? The key is to use low-cost, locally available natural materials such earth, small diameter wood and straw to keep expenses to a minimum. The real fun is incorporating all of these methods into an optimum, comfortable, affordable home.

Click here

How a forest of mangroves saved a village from ‘Yolanda’

PHOTO by MATIKAS SANTOS/INQUIRER.net

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines — The tale of two villages (barangay) in the municipality of Giporlos, Eastern Samar is a clear example of how mangroves can protect people from the wrath of a typhoon’s storm surge, even one as strong as Yolanda (international name: Haiyan).

Click here to continue

Kausaban sa Klima

Ang pagkausab o pagkabag-o sa klima o panahon adunay dako nga epekto sa kinabuhi sa tawo, sa iyang katilingban ug sa kinaiyahan (natural environment) sa iyang lugar. Dili man tood kanunay nga maot ang epekto sa pagkausab sa klima, apan ang kasagarang epekto peligroso sa tawo, sa katilingban ug sa kinaiayahan.

Click to read

The Age of Sustainable Development

by Jeffrey D. Sachs

NEW YORK – A half-century ago, John F. Kennedy observed that, “man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life.” Those words speak to us today with special urgency.

Our generation can indeed end the ancient scourge of extreme poverty. Yet it can also destroy the earth’s life-support system through human-induced environmental devastation.

Read more at http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/jeffrey-d--sachs-proposes-a-new-curriculum-for-a-new-era#xBU49XyjsVRWDsbd.99

DENR e-books on Energy and Enviornment

Click to go to the link 

Supporting REDD+Safeguards

• This paper briefly describes relevant policy documents that serve as a basis for developing a common approach such as the UNFCCC agreements, guidance provided by three global REDD+-related initiatives as well as relevant strategy papers of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It also highlights the full spectrum of approaches and activities on REDD+ and especially safeguards implementation.

Seeds of Knowledge: Contributing to Climate Change Solutions

• Presents 24 lessons learned from 17 UN Joint Programmes in the area of environment and climate change, in 17 countries extending from Peru to the Philippines. 

Renewable Energy in the Philippines: Costly or Competitive?

• A GIZ Desk Study on the facts and explanations on the price of renewable energies for electricity production

Vermicomposting

by howstuffworks.com

Deep beneath the earth, they thrive -- pink, slimy and insatiably hungry. They're with us all the time, rooting through our gardens, digging through our lawns and consuming everything in their path. Aristotle called them the intestines of the ­world. The ancient Chinese called them angels of the soil. Angels or intestines, worms are a tiny but formidable force, eating their way through organic matter and leaving a trail of rich humus in their wake. Vermicomposting is the practice of using worms to turn your organic waste into nutrient-rich fertilizer.

Click here to continue reading 

Click here to view video 

Save Loboc River

by A.S. Cajes

Busay, Loboc River, Bohol, Philippines

It's time to consider using non-motorized boats for river cruising to minimize the degradation of the river ecosystem. And instead of the amplified music, have a tour guide explain the ecological and cultural wonders of the Loboc River.

In the ecotourism side of Olango Island in Cebu, each visitor takes a non-motorized boat. One visitor, one boat. The more visitors, the more income for the fisherfolks, who also provide the boats.

Rappler Animate: Why electricity rates in Philippines are high

Click to view video

Grow Your Own Groceries

Not long ago humans fed themselves, provided for their own needs and were largely self sufficient. They knew how to feed themselves, how to take care of animals, what to plant and what to do when something went wrong. 

Visit http://growyourowngroceries.com/

Key Messages from the Cities and Biodiversity Outlook

by Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity

São Paulo’s Green Belt Biosphere Reserve, established in 1994, helps counteract the urban heat island effect by reducing the ambient temperatures of adjacent areas by up to 10°C.

Key Messages

1. Urbanization is both a challenge and an opportunity to manage ecosystem services globally.
2. Rich biodiversity can exist in cities.
3. Biodiversity and ecosystem services are critical natural capital.
4. Maintaining functioning urban ecosystems can significantly enhance human health and well-being.
5. Urban ecosystem services and biodiversity can help contribute to climate-change mitigation and adaptation.
6. Increasing the biodiversity of urban food systems can enhance food and nutrition security.
7. Ecosystem services must be integrated in urban policy and planning.
8. Successful management of biodiversity and ecosystem services must be based on multi-scale, multi-sectoral, and multi-stakeholder involvement.
9. Cities offer unique opportunities for learning and education about a resilient and sustainable future.
10. Cities have a large potential to generate innovations and governance tools and therefore can—and must— take the lead in sustainable development.

Click to continue reading

Incorporating ecosystem services into urban planning

by Stockholm Resilience Centre














Centre researchers have helped to introduce and integrate the concept of ecosystem services (ES) into Stockholm's regional planning.

Ecosystem services are environmental and social services that are produced by ecosystems through intricate interactions between organisms and the environment and that humans benefit from.

Two major reports have been published by the Stockholm County Council addressing ecosystem services. These are Svaga Samband i Stockholmsregionens Gröna Kilar (2012) and "Att planera för ekosystemtjänster i en växande Stockholmsregion" (2013).

Both reports were developed by the Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC) together with its partner the Beijer Institute for Ecological Economics in collaboration with the Office for Regional Growth, Environment and Planning (TMR) at the Stockholm County Council. The reports seek to achieve a shared vision for how the unique assets and strengths of the Stockholm region can best be managed and developed.

Click to continue

Eco-friendly Bricks

by UNDP & GEF

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility have recently introduced an energy efficient, smokeless brick-making technology to curb greenhouse gas emissions in Bangladesh, where the economy has been growing five to six percent annually for the past 15 years. Designed to replace the current, highly pollutant technology, the new technique named Hoffman Kiln was originally developed in Germany, modified in China and remodeled to adapt to the Bangladeshi needs, resulting in an even more energy efficient and cost-effective kiln.
With a construction industry that grows faster than its GDP, Bangladesh has no other option except making the brick making technology efficient and eco-friendly," said Khondker Rahman, who manages UNDP's Improving Kiln Efficiency in the Brick Making Industry project.

In the booming construction industry spurred by Bangladesh's rapid urbanization, the brick making industry remains largely unregulated and unmonitored. Every year 8.6 billion, bricks are produced here, and the demand is rising steadily at about 5.28 percent per year.

Click to view Video

Foodscaping

by Resilient Communities

Basically, foodscaping is landscaping with food.  Rather than plant flowers, trees, and shrubs that only look nice, we grow plants that look nice and provide us with a sustainable food source.

Not only does this provide us with food year after year, but we know exactly what we are eating.  On average, food travels 2,000 miles from farm to plate.  We can do better.   Foodscaping means our food only has to travel 200 feet from our garden and onto our plates.  Which would you prefer?

Many people think of food gardening as long, boring rows of plants.  This is how farming has been done for a long time.  Fortunately, we do not and should not follow this pattern for our own food.

Foodscaping allows a variety of edible species to live in relative harmony without the need for extensive human intervention.

Cost Differential

Does landscaping cost more than foodscaping?  Or is it the other way around?  Actually…it’s neither.  Both disciplines cost about the same.  The reason foodscaping is just now gaining popularity is because people were unaware of how “hands-off” a properly set up permaculture system can be.

Click to continue reading

Climate Change and Health Reference Manual

Click to read

MESSAGES, iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, vi

BACKGROUND, 1

INTRODUCTION, 5

MODULE 1 SCIENCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE, 7

   Session 1 Key Concepts of Climate Change Variability

   Session 2 Global Climate Trends, Challenges

   Session 3 Philippine Climate Scenario

MODULE 2 THREATS, VULNERABILITIES AND IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, 36

   Session 1 Sectoral Impacts of Climate Variability and Change

   Session 2 Assessing Threats and Vulnerabilities of Climate Change to Health

   Session 3 Capacity Assessment in Climate-related Health Risks

MODULE 3 CLIMATE CHANGE INITIATIVES AND ADAPTATION STRATEGIES, 115

   Session 1 Climate Change Initiatives for Health

   Session 2 Vulnerability and Adaptation Framework

   Session 3 Capacity Assessment in Climate-related Health Risks

MODULE 4 PLANNING ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND HEALTH, 127

   Session 1 Local Climate Change and Health Planning BIBLIOGRAPHY, 130

The Farmery: A Revolution at the Grocery Store

A Revolution at the Grocery Store 

by Resilient Communities

What is the Farmery?

We spend a lot of our time evaluating ways to make ourselves more self-sufficient.  In an ideal world, everyone would have acres of land where they could grow and experiment with various gardening techniques.  Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case.

Sure, there are vertical gardening methods that work well in urban areas.  Some urban cooperatives have also been successful on a moderate scale.  Either way, there are still some people that do not have the time or realize the importance of sustainable food production.

Click to continue reading

Beneficial Indigenous Microorganisms (BIMs)

by A.S. Cajes

Compost Tea used by Malagos Garden Resort in Davao City

The use of beneficial indigenous microorganisms (BIMs) is a development in the use of effective microorganisms (EMs). BIMs, as the term implies, uses locally available organic materials to come up with a mother enzyme (no need to buy from manufacturers). Producing your own mother enzyme is cost-effective compared to buying one from the market.

The technology uses microorganisms such as phototrophic bacteria, lactic acid bacteria, yeast and actinomycetes. These microorganisms are composed of microbial inoculants, which could create compost (rapid composting) in a matter of weeks rather than months.

Lacto Bacili is one of the beneficial microorganisms called pro-biotic. It helps in breaking down cellulose fibers. It converts organic materials into humus and fertilizer. It is popularly used in composting to eliminate foul odor due to anaerobic decomposition. This is possible because lactic acid bacteria thrive and feed on the ammonia released in the decomposition process. The lactic acid bacteria do the “cleansing”. They convert these wastes into unharmful ones using nature’s way of decomposition.

The procedure in producing lacto bacilli involves the following:

• Pour rice wash (solution generated when you wash the rice with water) on a container like plastic pot with lid. Allow air gap at least 50-75% of the container. The key here is the air space.
• Cover the container (not vacuum tight, allowing air still to move into the container) with lid loosely.
• Put the container in a quiet area with no direct sunlight.
• Allow the rice wash to ferment for at least 5-7 days. Lactic acid bacteria will gather in 5-7 days when temperature is 20-25 degrees Celsius. Rice bran will be separated and float in the liquid, like a thin film, smelling sour.
• Strain and simply get the liquid.
• Put this liquid in a bigger container and pour ten parts milk. The original liquid has been infected with different type of microbes including lacto bacilli.
• In order to get the pure lacto bacilli, saturation of milk will eliminate the other microorganisms and the pure lacto bacilli will be left. Skim or powdered milk, although fresh milk is best, may be used.
• In 5-7 days, carbohydrate, protein and fat will float leaving yellow liquid (serum), which contains the lactic acid bacteria. Dispose off the coagulated carbohydrate, protein and fat, add them to the compost pile or feed them to animals.
• The pure lactic acid bacteria serum can be stored in the refrigerator.
• Simply add equal amount of crude sugar (dilute with 1/3 water) or molasses. Do not use refined sugar as they are chemically bleached and may affect the lactic acid bacteria. The sugar or molasses will keep the lactic acid bacteria alive at room temperature. One to one ratio is suggested although sugar, regardless of quantity is meant simply, serving as food for the bacteria to keep them alive. Now, these lactic acid bacteria serum with sugar or molasses constitute the pure culture.
• To use, dilute this pure culture with 20 parts water. Make sure water is not chemically treated with, like chlorine, which can kill live microorganisms. This diluted form 1:20 ratio is the basic lactic acid bacteria concoction.
• Two to four tablespoons added to water of one gallon can be used as basic spray and can be added to water and feeds of animals. Lactic acid bacteria serum can be applied to plant leaves to fortify phyllosphere microbes, to soil and compost.

Keep in mind that there are other procedures in producing BIMs. Each procedure depends on the materials to be used. 

BIMs can be used to rapidly compost organic materials, including rice straw. Spraying diluted solution of lactic acid bacteria serum to the plant and soil also helps plant growth and makes them healthier. As it is applied to the soil or the leaves, these beneficial bacteria aid in the decomposition process, thus allowing more food to be available and assimilated by the plant.

Lactic acid bacteria are also known to produce enzymes and natural antibiotics aiding effective digestion. They have antibacterial properties, including control of salmonella and e. coli. To farmers, what are observed are the general health of the plants and animals, better nutrient assimilation, feed conversion and certain toxins elimination.

In addition, EM has the potential to increase rice yield by ten percent. It is also capable of reducing the emission of methane up to 54 percent in flooded rice fields when applied with organic amendments, such as green manure. Other studies show that the use of EM can lead to “low production of greenhouse gases” like methane and carbon dioxide.[1]

---

[1] Higa, Teruo and Parr James F., Beneficial and Effective Microorganisms for a Sustainable Agriculture and Environment. International Nature Farming Research Center: Atami Japan, 1994, p. 11