Proposed agency to save Kalinga’s ‘River of Life’

Kalinga lone district Rep. Allen Jesse Mangaoang is pushing for the creation of the Chico River Basin Development Authority at the House of Representatives even as the so-called “River of Life” faces threats.

In a recent technical working group (TWG) meeting of the House Committee on Government Enterprises

National Scientist Angel C. Alcala wrote that since the 1970s, frogs have been dropping dead in significant numbers around the world. These were recorded by scientists in western United States, Puerto Rico, and Western Australia in the 1970s and in Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Venezuela in the 1980s.

At first, the events were believed to be just “normal variations in natural populations.” At other times the causes were linked to fungus attacks, as in five continents where 100 species were infected.

But as the declines grew even more widespread and more severe towards the 1990s and 2000s, the scientists concluded that these resulted from climate change — in addition to already known human-induced causes of habitat (forest) fragmentation and destruction and overexploitation.

“There is evidence for the link of global amphibian population declines and species extinctions to climate change during the decades of the 2000s,” wrote Alcala in the Philippine Journal of Science in 2012, together with co-authors Abner A. Bucol, Arvin and Privatization, Mangaoang underscored the importance of the Chico River in sustaining agricultural development in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) as well as in nearby areas.

The TWG was specifically formed by the committee to tackle Mangaoang’s House Bill 381, which bats for the creation of the Chico River Basin Development Authority and the definition of its powers, functions, and C. Diesmos, and Rafe M. Brown.

They cited a source that said in Sri Lanka, for example, 19 out of the 103 species of frogs became extinct, “and most of these were restricted to high elevations of 1,800 meters where average annual temperature increased by 1.3 degrees Centigrade and average annual precipitation increased by up to 20 per cent during the period 1869 to 1995.”

In this connection, it would be of interest to find out if climate change has affected frog populations in the fragmented Philippine forests at higher elevations particularly in areas that were explored by Alcala and his research team in the 1950s-1990s.

In the Philippines, Alcala and his team assessed the vulnerability of amphibians to climate change. They considered five criteria in the assessment (and five grades per criteria), namely: Status (alien or endemic), elevation (lowland to 500m and above), habitat (non-forest, ground forest, arboreal forest), mode of reproduction (tadpoles or direct layers on ground or trees), and rarity (common or rare).

Based on the scores, Alcala and his responsibilities.

According to the Kalinga solon, Chico River – known locally as the River of Life – irrigates some 11,000 hectares of farmlands in the province’s Tabuk City Valley, and another 10,000 hectares in Quezon, Isabella. It also provides water to the various rice terraces found in Mountain Province and upper Kalinga towns.

Mangaoang stressed the need for an authority to oversee the river by group concluded that almost one-fourth (24 percent) of the total known 107 species of Philippine amphibians were Highly Vulnerable and almost half of all the species (48 percent) were Moderately Vulnerable.

Since there are new species of Philippine amphibians yet to be described, and most of them live in forested mountain habitats, “the percentages of vulnerable taxa are expected to climb sharply,” they added.

The Highly Vulnerable species could be affected by the drying up of their microhabitats in high elevation due to climate change. “They spend most of their lives in perpetually moist microhabitats and utilize as egglaying sites leaf axils of screw pines, root masses of aerial ferns, moss grow- noting its problems: Decreasing water discharge, massive siltation, and pollution.

The lawmaker said while concerned local government units have implemented programs to solve these problems, “the efforts are not sustained and not coordinated.”

Mangaoang said his measure offers a holistic solution to the problem affecting the Chico River, primarily with the creation of a central agency ing on tree trunks, and top surfaces of broad leaves of forest shrubs. These microhabitats easily desiccate with decreases in atmospheric moisture.” The Moderately Vulnerable group occupy forest floors and limestone caves and widely distributed on islands at various altitudes. Both groups of species include “small amphibians that live on small islands that are susceptible to environmental and atmospheric disturbances and may be at risk of extinction.” About 85 per cent of Philippine amphibians inhabit forested areas, and more than 78 percent of them are endemic (or indigenous) species.

In a place where species richness and endemism are high but habitat destruction is rapid, as in the Philippines, that will implement policies and programs geared toward the protection, promotion and development of the Chico River basin and its river lines.

CAR Regional Director Ralph Pablo of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources suggested that representatives from the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development and the Laguna Lake Development Authority be invited in the next meeting to share their insights. species extinction is also high. This is why the Philippines is considered one of the four conservation “hotspots” in Southeast Asia and one of 25 hotspots around the world, the authors explained.

In addition, the Philippines is most vulnerable to climate change, with “high exposure frequencies of droughts, cyclonic storms, landslides, and floods, all of which are believed to be driven by changes in temperature and precipitation.”

Alcala et al. wrote that Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration projected that in 2020, annual temperature rise is between 0.9 °C and 1.4°C, and in 2050, 1.7°C and 2.4°C. The dry months of March to May will become drier and the wet months of June to November will become wetter.

They also wrote: “Reduction in rainfall in most parts of Mindanao for all seasons is predicted. Stronger southwest monsoon winds are also projected in Luzon and Visayas. Areas with increasing elevation in slope are more vulnerable to excessive rains, landslides, and flashfloods.” ACEDO (SU Research and Environmental News Service)

CELIA E.