Coastal economy

DISASTER Risk Reduction ( DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) are two sides of the same coin, but as it is now, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and the Climate Change Commission (CCC) are two separate agencies that should really work together as if they are conjugal twins.

Needless to say, natural disasters and ensure their supply of water. and climate changes have other Aside from their supply of water, effects on the economy of the they would also have to ensure their affected areas, effects such as the supply of power, more so if they damage to the local infrastructure are off the power grid, or if their and the loss of livelihoods. Worst connections to the power grid have than that, these twin factors been destroyed by the disasters aggravate other local problems that have hit their localities. such as the incidences of hunger For sure, there are many ways and poverty, and the spread of of solving their problems, but diseases, as well as setbacks in local among other solutions, I believe education and healthcare targets. that the most practical solution for

Whether they like it or not, the them is to improve their own local local communities that are affected economy, with the end goal of not by these twin problems have no only achieving their short term choice but to become multitasking, productivity, but also their long for example they have to implement term sustainability. programs and projects that would It is against this backdrop that reduce the impacts of the natural I am now trying to “invent” the disasters, at the same time that they concept of building a “coastal would also have to implement other economy”. In simple terms, what programs and projects that would that really means is making the increase their local food production coastal communities achieve the twin goals of reducing the impacts of natural disasters, at the same time increasing their incomes by way of having several means of production that are disaster proof and climate resilient, hopefully that is.

Since the “coastal economy” is a difficult concept to explain, I would rather give actual examples of what could be grown or planted, rather than talk about abstract notions that might sound rather vague.

My first example is the planting or replanting of coconuts, a species of trees in the palm family that grows very well in the coastal areas, because it is actually very well adapted to salt water and highly saline soils.

Botanically, the fruit of the coconut tree is a drupe and is not a nut. Some would even say that the fruit is more of a berry than a nut. In that connection, others would also say that the fruit of a strawberry is actually not a berry, but a nut. Just like the coconut tree, the “talisay” trees that are often the neighbours of coconut trees are actually sea almonds that are true nuts.

Nipa or Nypa is another species of trees in the palm family that is sometimes called the “mangrove palm”, not so much because it is true mangrove, but because it is found in the same areas where mangroves are found, in the same saline or brackish swamps and swampy environments. In the sense that the “talisay” trees are the natural neighbors of coconut trees, the nipa trees are also the natural neighbours of mangrove trees.

Wherever mangrove trees are found, planktons would also grow and where there are planktons, the fish would also breed and grow, together with shrimps and crabs. It is said that wherever smaller fish are found, the bigger fish “butanding” (whale shark) would also come to feed, and so the cycle continues.

Kolo or rimas ( breadfruit) is now almost practically forgotten as a local food source is. It is a species of trees that is closely related to jackfruit. Along with ube ( yam), breadfruit is said to be the fruit that enabled shipwrecked sailors in the Pacific islands to survive. It is called breadfruit because it tastes like bread when it is cooked.

The fact is, the sailors and the natives in those islands survived on breadfruit and yam without eating rice or other grains. In a worst case scenario, that could also happen in the Philippines if there is a shortage of rice, but