Chapter 18 - Creative Approaches in Engaging the Community Toward Ecological Waste Management and Wetland Conservation

Authors
Aaron Lecciones
Kevin Serrona
Ma Catriona Devandera
Amy Lecciones
Jeongsoo Yu
Contacts
Resource Date:
2022

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Wetland ecosystems are often neglected despite providing a wealth of provisioning, regulatory, cultural, and supporting services valuable to humans (Farley et al., 2009; Lamsal et al., 2015). Wetlands also surpass tropical forests, temperate forests, woodlands, grasslands, and open oceans in monetary value (Chandrasekhar, 2013) and are recognized as among the most productive ecosystems on the planet. Wetlands are invaluable carbon sinks and have the highest carbon density among terrestrial ecosystems (Pant et al., 2003). However, since the 1900s, about 64%–71% of wetlands have been lost (Davidson, 2014) or degraded due to land use change and pollution from human activities. Air pollution, liquid and solid waste, and wastewater from households, industries, and agriculture, are but a few of the contaminants degrading wetlands. Currently, rivers, lakes, and waterbodies in the Philippines receive about 2.2 million metric tons of organic water pollution, while 12% of the country’s 421 rivers have been declared biologically dead (World Bank, 2003). Addressing the loss of wetlands from pollution is a key concern for policy makers since wetland ecosystem services support the livelihoods of communities throughout the country and the productivity of wetlands depends wholly on the ecological integrity of these ecosystems. This chapter discusses the approaches of organizations and communities in managing solid waste through the conservation of wetlands. Several best practices in the Philippines are identified and described through a framework of a sustainable consumption and production cycle.

Disclaimer: The Canadian Conservation and Land Management (CCLM) knowledge portal strives to capture the breadth of knowledge available pertaining to Boreal Caribou, Wetlands, and Land Management. In recognition of this goal, the current resource has been included, though users must link to an external journal or website to access the information contained within.