“Agusan Marsh is one of the most ecologically significant wetlands in the Philippines. This vast expanse of marsh covers an area roughly the size of Metro Manila. It contains nearly 15% of the country’s freshwater resources in the form of swamp forests.”
That is how the website of the Society for the Conservation of the Philippine Wetlands describes Agusan Marsh, which covers an area of 14,835.989 hectares. It was declared as a protected area by the former President Fidel V. Ramos and was listed as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention (site No. 1009, effective November 12, 1999).
The area harbors unique and pristine habitats like the sago and “peat swamp forest.” In the very heart of the marsh is a semi-permanent lake, where many square kilometers of lily pads, hyacinths and other aquatic plants spread out like an enormous green quilt.
More importantly, Agusan Marsh harbors the most diverse assemblage of reptiles and amphibians and supports the largest remaining population of the estuarine crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) and the endangered Philippine crocodile (Crocodylus mindorensis).
The United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization has declared some 42,000 hectares of the marshlands as a “world heritage center” due to “its floral and faunal diversity with seven habitat types.”
The Agusan Marsh is just one of unique features of the Agusan River Basin (ARB), the country’s third largest with a total drainage area of 11,936.55 square kilometers. The 350-kilometer river originates from the highlands of Davao Oriental then traverses northward through Compostela Valley and Agusan Marsh in Agusan del Sur and Agusan del Norte before it finally drains into Butuan Bay.
Because ARB crosses three regions and eight provinces, it is divided into three sections. The upper sub-basin encompasses two provinces: Compostela Valley (Compostela, Laak, Mabini, Maco, Maragusan, Mawab, Monkayo, Montevista, Nabunturan, New Bataan, and Pantukan) and Davao del Norte (San Isidro).
The middle sub-basin has four provinces: Agusan del Sur (Sibagat, Esperanza, Bayugan, Talacogon, Prosperidad, San Francisco, Bunawan, Rosario, Trento, Veruela, Sta. Josefa, La Paz, Loreto, and San Luis), Surigao del Sur (Tagbina, Bislig City, Barobo, Lianga, Lingig, Marihatag, San Agustin, and San Miguel), Bukidnon (Impasug-ong, Cabanglasan, and Malaybalay City), and Davao Oriental (Boston and Cateel).
The lower sub-basin comprises two provinces: Agusan del Norte (Buenavista, Las Nieves, Magallanes, RT Romualdez and the two cities of Cabadbaran and Butuan) and Misamis Oriental (Claveria).
In response to the prevailing issues and challenges facing the ARB, a Lower Agusan River Basin Summit was held in Butuan City with the theme: “Alliance building for green development within the Agusan River Basin.”
More than 180 people from various sectors, including non-government organizations, indigenous people’s groups, and academe, attended the summit as way of their commitment to take on the key challenges facing the ARB.
According to Antonio M. Daño, executive director of the River Basin Central Office, protecting and ensuring the sustainable use of the river basin is not just the work of the national government agencies and the local government units but also of stakeholders, constituents and the communities.
This is particularly true now that the river basin is facing threats of deterioration, deplores Father Carlito L. Clase, acting chairperson of the Agusan River Basin Government Board. Members include governors of the seven provinces, the mayor of Butuan, secretary of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), regional directors of government agencies, religious sector and civil society organization.
All those who attended the summit signed the pledge of commitment which said in part: “to effectively and efficiently address through coordinated and integrated interventions towards the sustainable development of the invaluable natural, ecological, spiritual, cultural, economic and human resources within the river basin.”
One of the identified threats to ARB is siltation due deforestation. In 2015, Mindanao had still 22% of its area still covered with forest. But five years later, the island has a total remaining forest cover, MinDA reports.
Most of the remaining forests are located in areas where the Agusan River traverses. Mount Hilong-hilong, which lies within the political boundaries of Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur and Surigao del Sur, contains one of the few residual primary forests in the country.
The Pantaron Mountain Range – also known as the Central Corridor – also contains one of the last remaining old growth primary forest in Mindanao. The range hosts the headwaters of major rivers systems in Mindanao that include Mindanao River, Pulangi River, Davao River, Tagoloan River and Agusan River.
The soil that was once the natural resource of the farmers becomes the mud and silt of the valleys below. Huge quantities of it fill up the rivers, drastically reducing the amount of water they can carry. As rivers silt up, navigation begins to suffer; what were once highways for traffic and a productive source of high quality protein can become no more than meandering mud banks.
Aside from siltation, other identified threats are poor water quality, domestic waste, diminishing fish catch and deteriorating biodiversity. All these are due to the unsustainable and environmentally-risky human activities that include deforestation in the form of logging.
“The threats of climate change and effects of extreme weather patterns such as droughts, severe flooding and inundation, landslides and water crisis are concretely being felt in many of the communities, farms and villages in the lower ARB,” said the rationale of the summit.
Almost always, those living in the lower portion of the river basin experience flooding. Ayolani Y. Mordeno, president of the Butuan City Women’s Federation, lives in barangay Golden Ribbon, which was near the Butuan River. Every now and then, her neighbors fear for their lives when it keeps raining for successive days. It was good that their place was located in the upper portion.
“We have already relocated about 60 families in safer areas,” says Mordeno, whose house is located in the upper portion of the area. “But there are those who really don’t want to leave the area as their source of income are here.”
People have become used already to weather disturbances like a trough of a low-pressure area, tail-end of a cold front and typhoons. Should any of these happen, residents are advised to evacuate to the nearest evacuation centers immediately.
Of those who remain in the flood-prone said they won’t leave their residences because their main livelihood is getting those cut trees and logs that are brought from the upper portions of the river. “It is a risky job but they have no other choice,” Mordeno said.
Meanwhile, the unique ecosystem of Agusan Marsh is being threatened by a wide range of issues and problems to wit: pollution from mining upstream, wildlife and timber poaching and unregulated in-migration.
“The continued bio-physical deterioration, uncoordinated actions, diffused and ineffective management of the lower ARB is a real threat to the continued and future use and benefit of the local inhabitants and communities, including indigenous local communities and their ancestral domains, coming from not only the territorial local government units covering the basin but also to the intra-regional and island-wide development of Mindanao,” the rationale said.
During the summit, development goals were discussed. Four goals were identified: water resource management, watershed management, wetland management, and flood mitigation and hazard management.
“Integrated water-resource management needs to be organized up to the lowest river-basin component,” said Daño, who delivered the keynote speech during the opening program. “An effective river-basin management is irreversible for the good of the entire ecosystems.”
