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Building Resilience to Floods and Rain-Induced Landslides in Barangay Napaan

Barangay Napaan is highly vulnerable to flooding, flash floods, and landslides. Community members decided to address these risks and strengthen their resilience.
Multiple Authors
Community members looking for the safest possible land site for the Multi-Purpose Evacuation Center

Introduction

BarangayNapaan, Malay, Aklan is located in the northwestern tip of PanayIsland in Central Philippines and is the biggest of Malay’s 17 barangays (villages). The village center wheremost of the population lives is an upland valley located in the confluence ofNapaan River andKamaigin Creek. These rivers swell quickly, even with small amount of rain, causing flash floods. Steep slopes and reduced forest cover have also made the village prone to rain-induced landslides. The rapid-onsetof floods and rain-induced landslides pose serious threats to the lives, livelihoods and assets of residents.

The Napaan riverbed is shallow and silted from slope erosion and disturbances from upland activities. Previous flood control infrastructure (cement wall) did not prevent flood events. Photo Credit: PRRM

Despite the high level of risks the community is exposed to,there are no facilities for fire, police, evacuation, protection and warning services inNapaan. Displaced and affected families use the barangay hall for evacuation and safety. Unfortunately, the barangay hall is located in a flood-prone area that is regularly flooded to a depth of one-meter. This often leaves the community completely isolated and cutoff from any emergency response and assistance during severe flooding events. The town’s emergency warning and emergency aid assistance does not reach vulnerable households inNapaan on time, due to the severity of the flooding and the distance of the community from the town center. A multipurpose emergency evacuation facility will address the vital need for a safe emergency facility, and slope protection measures will reduce the impact of flash floods, erosion and landslides on the community.

This pagepresents the project called “Building Resilience to Floods and Rain-Induced Landslides in BarangayNapaan”, identified and developed by the community.

Methodology

The community-led project (CLP) places urban poor communities as activeand informedparticipantsat the centre of the process of resilience planning, from assessment to implementation,andgives them a role in the maintenance ofcommunity-led projects.Through the Community Resilience Planning (CRP) process,people from poor and vulnerable groups work together with other stakeholders from government and the private sector to collect and analyse data about how hazards impact vulnerable groups and livelihoods and design and agree resilience solutions. TheCommunity Resilience Planning process requires strong social mobilization, communication and engagementwith all stakeholders. It also requires the creation of the Community Stakeholder Group (CSG), an institutional and multi-sectoral mechanism for transparent and effective information sharing, decision-making and implementation of community decisions and actions.

Source: Project Methodology, ADB-RETA 9329

Community-Led Resilience Project

Through the CRP process, the community identified and developed the project called “Building Resilience to Floods and Rain-Induced Landslides in BarangayNapaan”. It will strengthen community resilience to the impacts of climate-related hazards such as floods, flash floods and rain-induced landslides through nature-based solutions and the construction of community multi-purpose evacuation center.

The impact of floods andrain-induced landslideswill be reduced bystabilizing the river bank through the use ofcoco-nets andthe planting ofindigenous shrubs and trees.Gabionswill reduce the run-off and velocity of water in critical sections.Erosion and landslide control measureswill help protect themulti-purpose evacuationcenter and areas near the rivers that pose landslide concerns for houses andotherstructures located near the river.

Community members looking for the safest possible land site for the Multi-Purpose Evacuation Center Photo Credit: PRRM

Innovations

The design ofamulti-purpose evacuation center and nature-based protection measures through the use of coco-net matting for erosion controlisan innovation that promotes community resilienceby acreating safe emergency evacuation facility for the community,and reducingthe impacts offlash floods, erosion and landslides. The project design takes intoaccount the projected increase in rainfall and flood levels due to climate change in Malayover the next 5 decades as informed by climate change projections.During the next 50 years, rainfall in Malay is expected to increase by 22% to 30% from current levels in the months of December to February andthis willincrease the frequency and severity of flooding and landslides in the area (PAGASA, 2018).

Slope Protection Design Photo Credit: PRRM

The multi-purpose evacuation centerwill beequipped with training facilities,anearly warning system,anemergency command center,and anursery. There will also be space tosupportlivelihoods and income generationactivitiesfor vulnerable households. It willpromoteorganic farming and livestock raising,and thegrowingofnative treesandnature-based solutions. The center will be operated and managed bymembers of thecommunity and will be linked to the community’s early warning system and evacuation plan.

Gender and social inclusion

Gendered designs help in addressing gendered social norms that discriminate against women. The design of the evacuation center incorporates kitchen and laundry facilities and child-minding areas within the center (not outside) to help address the needs of the community during evacuation. There are also separate comfort rooms and wash areas designated for women and men to increase the security of women and children during high-stress situations. During crisis, the center can promote the equitable sharing of unpaid household care such as care of children and elderly people, and cooking etc., between women and men. It is also critical to ensure women and girls are not exposed to gender-based violence when in and getting to and from the center.The evacuation center will be used as a livelihoods center to ensure the continuity of income for poorer households during times of crisis and evacuation.

Issues and Challenges

Implementation of the community-led project (CLP) encounteredseveral challenges including the need for quick action to address the community’s urgent need to tackle flash floods and landslides. There were very few safe sites for the location of the multi-purpose evacuation center and community capacity to manage and maintain thecentre will need to be strengthened.The municipality will also support the community in improving its knowledge, skills and capacities in disaster risk reduction, early warning andearly action andin operating a community emergency command system.Local government fundingwill be institutionalized throughtheannual budgetto support the ongoing sustainability of thecenter’smaintenance andoperations.

Expected Results and Impact of the Project

TheBarangayNapaan Multi-Purpose Evacuation Center will significantly increase the readiness of the community to respond to flash floods.The center will also serve as a training venue for livelihood seminars, skills-training, and other activities.The incomefrom rentalswillbe used to cover the cost of thecenter’supkeep, operations and maintenance. With an expected rental revenue of P1,000per activity,the center can earn up toP4,000.00 per month,which is enoughto cover operational costs.Measures to stabilize the riverbanks willreducethe loss anddamageexperienced by the community caused by flooding and landslides made worse by climate change.

Barangay Napaan Community-Managed Multi-Purpose Evacuation Center. Photo Credit: PRRM

The project is still ongoing and is funded and supported by the Asian development bank through the Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund (ADB-UCCRTF) and implementedby Oxfam in partnership with the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM).

About UCCRTF. The Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund is a $150 million multi-donor trust fund (2013-2021) administered by the Asian Development Bank under the Urban Financing Partnership Facility. With funding from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Governments of Switzerland and the United Kingdom, it aims to support fast-growing cities in Asia to reduce the risks poor and vulnerable people face from floods, storms or droughts, by helping to better plan and design infrastructure to invest against these impacts.

ADB-RETA 9329. Oxfam and local partner Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement is implementing ADB-RETA 9329 Promoting Urban Climate Change Resilience in Selected Asian Cities Subproject 3 (SP3): Pilot and Project Development Activities. The goal of the project is to contribute to climate change resilience by empowering vulnerable communities through community-led initiatives. The project is implemented in 9 pilot communities in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines and Myanmar.

Contact details

Dr. Virinder Sharma

Senior Urban Development Specialist

Asian Development Bank

[email protected]

Sharon Taylor

Project Manager (Philippines)

Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement

[email protected]

Jose Arianne Gonzales
Communications and Knowledge Management Specialist
Oxfam Great Britain
[email protected]

Citation

Jeans, H., Deocariza, M., Gonzalez, J.A., Taylor, S. and Manangan, N. (2021) Building Resilience to Floods and Rain-Induced Landslides in Barangay Napaan. On weADAPT, the Collaborative Platform on Climate Change Adaptation.

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