Regional Environmental Change

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-018-1332-8

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Community-based adaptation in low-lying islands

in the Philippines: challenges and lessons learned
Ma. Laurice Jamero 1 & Motoharu Onuki 1 & Miguel Esteban 1 & Nicholson Tan 2

Received: 12 April 2017 / Accepted: 29 March 2018

# Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018

Abstract
Community-based adaptation (CBA) seeks to address climate risks and socio-economic drivers of vulnerability simultaneously.
However, as CBA activities appear very similar to standard development work, difficulties in identifying good practices arise. To
clarify the role of CBA, this study elucidated how climate change can impact pre-existing development problems by investigating
the experiences of four low-lying island communities in central Philippines. The islands currently suffer from frequent and
extreme tidal flooding (following an earthquake-induced land subsidence in 2013, with a magnitude that is broadly similar to
sea-level rise projections under a 1.5 to 2 °C global warming scenario), and endured a dry spell in 2016. The study also identified
various publicly and privately initiated adaptation strategies, and evaluated their resilience against actual biophysical events. The
study conducted focus group discussions with local leaders and in-depth interviews with government officials and residents in
March 2016. Results show that tidal flooding impacted almost all aspects of daily life on the islands, while the dry spell
completely depleted their limited water supplies. The strategies implemented by governments and NGOs (e.g., seawalls, rain-
water collectors) were found to be inadequate in preventing tidal flooding and compensating for the dry spell. Also, communities
used coral stones and plastic waste for raising the floors of their homes, which have an erosive effect on their capacity to adapt in
the long term. Lack of community participation in publicly initiated projects and lack of adaptation funding for community-based
strategies were the greatest obstacles to implementing climate-resilient solutions.

Keywords Sea-level rise . Drought . Vulnerability

Introduction

Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article Climate change is expected to severely affect coastal commu-
(https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-018-1332-8) contains supplementary nities, especially those in Small Island Developing States who
material, which is available to authorized users. are considered ill-prepared to tackle its impacts due to serious
socio-economic constraints existing in these countries
* Ma. Laurice Jamero (Mimura et al. 2007; Kelman 2014). Considering that climate
laujamero@gmail.com
vulnerability is more influenced by socio-economic rather than
environmental factors (Nicholls and Tol 2006; Ayers and
Motoharu Onuki
onuki@edu.k.u-tokyo.ac.jp Forsyth 2009), scholars and practitioners alike are seeking to
elucidate the corresponding linkages between climate change
Miguel Esteban
esteban.fagan@gmail.com
adaptation and development. Nowadays, climate change adap-
tation policies are being mainstreamed into development plans
Nicholson Tan at the national and even local government levels, aiming to
nicholsontan@gmail.com
reduce climate vulnerability, increase adaptive capacity, and,
1
Graduate Program in Sustainability Science - Global Leadership in so doing, secure sustainable development gains (Ayers and
Initiative, The University of Tokyo, Rm 334, Building of Huq 2009). In line with this, development agencies are
Environmental Studies, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa implementing various adaptation programs with the specific
City, Chiba 277-8563, Japan goal of helping at-risk communities adapt to projected climate
2
Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office, G/F West
Wing, Cebu Provincial Capitol, 6000 Cebu City, Philippines
 M. L. Jamero et al.

change impacts. However, there are many challenges to designed with an awareness of potential climate risks at the
achieving this goal. community level, which is then expected to factor in to their
Designing adaptation projects based on climate vulnerabil- activities (Huq and Reid 2007). In other words, unlike pure
ity can be problematic, as it remains difficult to actually mea- development, CBA seeks to address both environmental and
sure vulnerability and to understand how it is distributed socio-economic risks simultaneously (Forsyth 2013).
across space and social groups (Adger 2006). On the one However, in practice, CBA looks very much like
hand, as the projected impacts of climate change are still un- Bdevelopment as usual,^ with additional adaptation compo-
certain at the local level, there is simply not enough data to nents being difficult to distinguish (Reid et al. 2009). Part of
quantify and disaggregate climate vulnerability (Ayers and this difficulty is due to the lack of clarity regarding the precise
Forsyth 2009). On the other hand, as climate change can occur aim of CBA, given the limited understanding of how climate
simultaneously with other hazards such as political conflict risks (especially of slow-onset impacts) and socio-economic
(Kelley et al. 2015), or processes such as globalization problems actually interact to produce climate vulnerability
(O’Brien and Leichenko 2000), it is necessary to consider a especially at the community level (Forsyth 2013; McCubbin
constellation of stressors (McCubbin et al. 2015). Thus, a et al. 2015). In effect, the resilience of Bno regrets^ solutions
siloed approach to adaptation often proves limited and against climate change has barely been tested (Huq and Reid
ineffective. 2007), and good CBA practice has been hard to recognize
In particular, engineering approaches often fail to address (Ayers and Forsyth 2009).
the underlying socio-economic drivers of vulnerability To address these challenges to CBA, the present study has
(O’Brien et al. 2007). Engineering solutions for coastal adap- two main objectives. First, it aims to help elucidate the vul-
tation typically include soft measures such as planting man- nerability of low-lying island communities, in terms of both
groves and conserving coral reefs, as well as hard measures climate risks and underlying socio-economic drivers, based on
such as building seawalls and reclaiming land (Donner and empirical qualitative data. Second, it seeks to identify the cor-
Webber 2014; Klein et al. 2001; Takagi et al. 2016; Takagi responding adaptation strategies that have been initiated by
et al. 2017). However, if incorrectly designed and constructed, public and private actors at the community level, and to test
many of these hard measures can fail (Yamamoto and Esteban the climate resilience of these strategies against actual bio-
2016). For example, in Kiribati, South Tarawa has become a physical events. In order to achieve these objectives, the study
Bgraveyard^ of poorly maintained coastal defense structures will look into the experiences of low-lying island communities
built through the Kiribati Adaptation Project II (Donner and in Tubigon, Bohol, Philippines.
Webber 2014). Due to the 2013 Bohol earthquake, the island communities
Providing a means to overcome uncertainties relating to of Tubigon have suffered from significant land subsidence. As
climate vulnerability and impacts, Community-based adapta- a result, they are currently partially or completely inundated
tion (CBA) has increasingly gained traction among national during high tides throughout the year, thereby representing
governments and international non-government organization one of the most severe cases of tidal flooding in an island
(Reid and Huq 2014). Taking the approach that adaptation is environment in modern history (Jamero et al. 2017).
development (Ayers and Forsyth 2009), CBA designs adapta- Observations from these islands can serve as a proxy to un-
tion projects consistent with long-term development goals. In derstand the consequences of flooding that future sea-level
particular, it implements Bno regrets^ solutions that aim to rise could bring to other densely urbanized coral islands, if
address projected climate change impacts, while improving the natural morphological processes and coral growth that
living standards and reducing disaster risks at the same time allow for islands to compensate for rises in sea level become
(Donner and Webber 2014). CBA is therefore in line with the less effective (Webb and Kench 2010; Yamamoto and Esteban
3rd IPCC Report, which calls for solutions that seek to address 2014). In particular, results from this study can provide insight
climate change by resolving development issues, such as into possible Bno regrets^ solutions applicable to a 1.5 to 2 °C
through increasing access to resources, reducing poverty, pro- cap in global warming, as the degree of land subsidence suf-
moting equality, improving education and infrastructure, en- fered by the islands of Tubigon is similar to the sea-level rise
couraging public participation, and developing institutional projections of various studies for such warming scenarios (see
capacity and efficiency (Smit et al. 2001). By framing climate the BStudy sites and methods^ section for details). Given that
change as a human security issue, CBA can allow for multiple these islands are already experiencing extreme tidal flooding,
points of intervention (O’Brien et al. 2007) and Bno regrets^ which other places in the planet are only expected to suffer in
solutions can promote investment in adaptation (Donner and the future, they therefore present a rare opportunity to evaluate
Webber 2014) despite uncertainty regarding actual environ- the climate resilience of adaptation strategies based on actual
mental change impacts. biophysical events, which has been a common limitation for
In theory, CBA projects are different from standard devel- previous studies on CBA (Ayers and Forsyth 2009).
opment projects, in the sense that the earlier are specifically
Community-based adaptation in low-lying islands in the Philippines: challenges and lessons learned

In April 2016, Bohol declared a state of calamity following According to the 5th IPCC report, the global mean sea level
a 4-month-long dry spell caused by an El Niño event, severely is likely to increase by 0.28–0.61 m (median value of 0.44 m)
impacting the water supply of the island communities of by 2100 under RCP2.6 or a low emission scenario (Church
Tubigon, as they mainly rely on rainwater harvesting. Again, et al. 2013). On the other hand, a broad survey of 90 experts
this dry spell will be used as a proxy to study the effect of indicated that the median Blikely^ range of sea-level rise
future changes in rainfall that can be brought about by climate resulting from a < 2 °C increase in temperature above
change (Church et al. 2013). pre-industrial level is 0.4–0.6 m by 2100 (Horton et al.
To elucidate community vulnerability, the paper begins by 2013). Forecasting a more dire scenario, another study using
outlining the island communities’ pre-existing socio-econom- a semi-empirical model estimated that limiting global
ic problems and the impacts of tidal flooding and dry spell. warming by 1.5 to 2 °C above pre-industrial level could still
Based on an understanding of how these different kinds of lead to sea-level rise of 0.75–0.8 m by 2100 (Schaeffer et al.
problems interact, the study will then explore the adaptation 2012). In view of these projections, the four islands of
strategies implemented by public and private actors. Finally, Tubigon can serve as a proxy to study the consequences of
the authors will evaluate the climate resilience of these strate- future sea-level rise for a 1.5 to 2 °C cap on global warming,
gies in terms of how they are able or unable to prevent particularly its flooding effects. However, for the authors, note
(residual) loss and damage, and discuss good practices for that at present it is not clear whether current mitigation efforts
ensuring the long-term sustainability of island communities will allow such targets to be reached (Raftery et al. 2017), and
in the face of future sea-level rise and drought. thus there is the prospect that sea-level rise could be much
greater than 1 m by 2100 (Vermeer and Rahmstorf 2009).
Following the 7.2-magnitude Bohol earthquake in 2013,
Study sites and methods the islands of Tubigon experienced land subsidence, which
in turn resulted in partial or complete flooding during normal
This study was conducted in the small islands of Pangapasan, high tides. Essentially, the land subsidence that these islands
Bilangbilangan, Batasan, and Ubay in Tubigon, Bohol, experienced is approximately similar to the range given in the
Philippines (see map in Supplementary Material). The islands studies above, as median flood height measurements alone fall
are low-lying, with highest elevations of only about + 2.0 m between 0.2 and 0.4 m and could range up to 0.9 m (it should
above water during low tides. Each island forms one local be noted that the degree of land subsidence the islands expe-
community (also known as Bbarangay^) under the municipal- rienced is likely greater than their current flooding levels).
ity of Tubigon and is governed by their respective Barangay Furthermore, the frequency of occurrence of flooding clearly
Councils. The communities only have about 60 to 250 house- represents a scenario that is far more extreme than what is
holds each, with most residents being close relatives. currently being experienced elsewhere in the world. It should
As part of a double barrier reef called the Danajon bank, the also be emphasized, however, that the analogy between land
islands are teeming with marine resources. Thus, although the subsidence and sea-level rise does not account for other inter-
settlements are very poor, many of the residents are able to related impacts of climate change, such as coral bleaching and
find sustenance in fishing and other fishing-related activities ocean acidification.
such as shellfish gleaning and fish vending (see Tidal flooding in the islands of Tubigon lasts several hours
Supplementary Material). The number of households with in- across a number of days close to the new and full moon phases
comes below the income poverty threshold of PhP 9064 (or of each month. During Habagat (southwest monsoon), which
~USD 180) per month ranges from 34 to 74% of the respec- runs from April to September, flooding often happens during
tive total populations of these islands, which is far higher than daytime. On the other hand, during Amihan (northeast mon-
the national average of 16.5% (PSA 2016). Similarly, the soon), running from October to March, flooding often hap-
number of households with incomes below the food poverty pens at night. In Batasan, flood heights ranged from + 20 to +
threshold of PhP 6329 (or ~USD 125) per month (a measure 69 cm above ground level (median of + 36 cm), and in Ubay,
of extreme or subsistence-level poverty) ranges from 22 to from + 25 to + 73 cm (median of + 43 cm), during an actual
62% of the total populations, which is again much greater than flooding event in June 2016. Both islands were partially or
the national average of 5.7% (PSA 2016). Furthermore, the completely inundated for a total of 135 days in 2016 alone. In
communities have very high dependency ratios, as about 30% Pangapasan, flood heights ranged from + 4 to + 44 cm above
of their populations are less than 15 years old. Although the ground level (median of + 20.5 cm), and in Bilangbilangan,
islands have high literacy rates, the majority of residents have from 0 to + 93 cm (median of + 24.5 cm). While Pangapasan
only completed elementary-level education. In terms of pov- was also completely inundated, a small area of Bilangbilangan
erty incidence, Ubay and Bilangbilangan are the poorest com- (about 10%) was spared from the flood. Both islands were
munities and have the smallest land areas and lowest number flooded for 44 days in 2016 (Jamero et al. 2017).
of households.
 M. L. Jamero et al.

From January to April 2016, Bohol experienced a dry spell, expensive diesel generators, only lasts for at most 8 h a day,
where rainfall measurements were 21–60% lower than aver- until midnight. The lack of electricity supply complicates di-
age, due to an El Niño event (IFRC 2016). El Niño is a tem- saster risk management efforts, particularly when typhoons
porary natural event where trade winds blowing from the east make landfall at night. However, the disaster risk significantly
to the west in the tropical Pacific Ocean weaken or collapse, increases when typhoons coincide with nighttime flooding,
causing warm water from western Pacific to move to the east. especially because community halls and school grounds des-
This affects the climate and weather throughout the region, ignated as evacuation centers also become flooded.
thought its influence can be felt throughout the rest of the The majority of the seawalls that had been built before the
world. The dry spell resulting from the 2016 El Niño created earthquake have already been severely damaged during the
a water crisis in the islands of Tubigon, as they mainly rely on passage of past typhoons and are no longer functional.
rainwater harvesting for their daily water needs. Presently, as the level of tidal flooding surpasses the height
In March 2016, the authors of the study engaged various of these seawalls, high waves can easily penetrate the islands
stakeholders from governments and NGOs, as well as from during normal high tides.
the affected communities, in focus group discussions and Tidal flooding also puts the health and environment of the
in-depth interviews (see Supplementary Material for details). islands at risk. Even before the earthquake, the trash of Ubay,
Since then, the authors have conducted field work on the Pangapasan, and Bilangbilangan was no longer being collected
island communities of Tubigon on three other occasions, by municipal authorities due to poor government solid waste
spending up to 1 month there during each visit. Site observa- management services and the remote location of the islands. In
tion during actual tidal flooding events and participant obser- response, residents bury, burn, or simply litter their trash in-
vation of residents have allowed authors to gain a deeper un- stead, potentially creating long-term health and environmental
derstanding of their daily lives and struggles and to verify problems. With flooding, loose trash items are easily carried
qualitative data gathered in March 2016. indoors by floods, while dirt from garbage pits, livestock pens,
and communal toilets is inevitably mixed into the floodwater,
heightening the risk of an outbreak of water-borne diseases.
Impacts of environmental changes
on pre-existing socio-economic problems
Dry spell
Focus group discussions with local leaders and in-depth inter-
views with residents revealed a great number of pre-existing There are no fresh water wells available on the islands. Thus,
problems across different aspects of daily life on the islands, residents usually import purified drinking water from the main-
aggravated by tidal flooding and dry spell (Table 1). At the root land (Php 20 per 20-L container if bought directly from Tubigon,
of these pre-existing problems are socio-economic and geo- Php35–40 if bought from stores on the island). Furthermore, they
graphic constraints such as poverty, limited natural resources rely mostly on rainwater for their domestic needs such as
and infrastructure, remote location, and poor government ser- cooking, washing clothes, and taking a bath. Due to this, almost
vices. By distinguishing pre-existing development problems all households harvest rainwater in their own backyards.
from the impacts of recent environmental changes in the The local governments of Batasan, Pangapasan, and
islands of Tubigon, it also becomes possible to understand Bilangbilangan also maintain public water tanks to ensure
the vulnerability of similar low-lying islands more holistically, water supply in their communities. Residents can buy rainwa-
in terms of both climate risks and their socio-economic drivers. ter from these public tanks for a cheaper price (Php 2–3 per
20-L container), compared to privately owned tanks, where
Tidal flooding rainwater is sold for Php 5–8 per 20-L container. In the case of
Ubay, residents can only buy rainwater from privately owned
Tidal flooding has exacerbated many pre-existing problems tanks, as their only public tank was damaged.
on the islands, including issues regarding land, electricity, However, due to the dry spell in early 2016, rainwater
and infrastructure. Given their small land areas, the islands supply from public water tanks quickly ran out, while the
barely have any space left for new families to build their hous- prices of rainwater from privately owned ones nearly doubled.
es or for existing families to relocate theirs. Also, farming When rainwater from both public and private sources on the
activities cannot extend beyond the scale of small backyard island ran out, residents then had no choice but to import water
gardens. However, essentially, all of the islands and their gar- for domestic use from the mainland at very high prices (Php
dens now become flooded during high tides, affecting all fam- 10–12 per container). They also started to conserve water
ilies and killing all non-salt-resistant vegetation. better, by reusing the water they used for taking a bath for
Electricity supply on the islands, provided by the washing their clothes. Nonetheless, the price and accessibility
Philippine National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) through of purified drinking water remained the same.
Community-based adaptation in low-lying islands in the Philippines: challenges and lessons learned

Table 1 Pre-existing development problems and the impacts of flooding, dry spell, and earthquake and land subsidence

Root cause Socio-economic problems Impacts of tidal flooding Impacts of dry spell Impact of earthquake (EQ) and
land subsidence (LS)

Poverty Degraded marine ecosystem EQ: Coral reefs show cracks

and physical damage
LS: Intertidal zone deepened
Illegal fishing
Overfishing
Limited alternative Livestock pens flooded
livelihood options
Limited resources
• Water Reliance on rainwater for Rainwater supply
domestic needs completely depleted
Lack of access to other Resorted to importing
potable water sources water from mainland
instead
• Land (residence Overcrowding No higher ground for available for
and agriculture) relocation
Poor diet (lacking Vegetable gardens flooded and
vegetables) destroyed
• Electricity Limited electric supply Nighttime flooding especially
(4–8 h/day only) dangerous during typhoons
• Infrastructure Dilapidated community Activities of school children and EQ: Private houses and public
buildings (hall, school, churchgoers affected by flooding buildings damaged/destroyed
chapel) Halls/schools also serving as
evacuation centers flooded
Damaged seawalls, scouring Flooding surpasses height of
along roads seawalls
During tidal flooding, waves easily
penetrate island
Remote location High prices of goods Price of imported water
imported from mainland increased dramatically
Education mostly limited to
elementary level
Poor government Poor solid waste Uncollected trash used as filling for
services management raising floors, littered, or burned
Poor health and sanitation Lose trash items carried by floods
Communal toilets damaged/flooded

Earthquake and land subsidence forcing them to go further away. Fishermen from Batasan were
also concerned by toppled coral stones within their fishing
The majority of the islands’ residents engage in small-scale ar- grounds, which negatively affected their fish catch.
tisan fishing for their livelihood, catching reef fish and crabs In addition, due to the earthquake-induced land subsidence,
using small motorized boats. However, due to illegal fishing, the intertidal zone where island residents glean seashells and
overfishing, and the growing number of residents who rely on other invertebrates deepened, reducing the area accessible for
the sea for their food and livelihood, the marine ecosystem of the this activity. Reduced catch from gleaning in turn placed fur-
islands of Tubigon has started to degrade. Still, as a result of the ther stress on the diet of these communities, as they typically
2013 Bohol earthquake, the islands’ reef underwent further sell their fish (which fetches a higher price than the shells) and
physical changes, including underwater cracks and traces of eat seashells instead.
avalanches (Nellas et al. 2015). In particular, about 1.2 has of
Batasan’s mainland-facing house reef was damaged (Nellas
et al. 2015). Its live hard coral cover declined significantly, while Community-based adaptation
its dead coral cover correspondingly increased (Nellas et al. to socio-economic problems
2015). Focus group discussions with island residents revealed and environmental changes
similar observations. For example, fishermen from Pangapasan
have complained about their fishnets being damaged by broken As discussed in the previous section, tidal flooding, dry spell,
coral stones that have rolled out of the reef cliff where they fish, and land subsidence aggravated the pre-existing
 M. L. Jamero et al.

socio-economic problems of the island communities of Planned adaptation measures

Tubigon. To address both development problems and environ-
mental changes, government and non-government organiza- Immediately after the earthquake, the communities received
tions, as well as community members themselves, have im- various types of external aid from the National Government.
plemented various types of adaptation strategies. Construction materials worth Php 10,000 (or around USD
In this study, these adaptation strategies are classified 200, see Jamero et al. (2016)) were provided for the repair
into Bplanned^ and Bautonomous^ measures, the latter of partially damaged houses. Through the Kapit-Bisig Laban
relating more closely to Bno regrets^ solutions of CBA sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive Integrated Delivery of Social
(Table 2). While Bplanned^ adaptation measures are ini- Service (KALAHI-CIDSS) program, the island communities
tiated by public actors such as government and of Tubigon were also given the opportunity to select their own
non-government organizations, Bautonomous^ measures priority projects based on their specific needs.
are initiated by private actors such as individuals and Highlighting water as a critical issue for their residents,
households (Smit et al. 2001; Monnereau and Abraham Batasan, Pangapasan, and Bilangbilangan acquired new rain-
2013). In simpler terms, whereas planned measures start water collectors through the KALAHI-CIDSS program to
from a top-down approach, autonomous measures start supplement their existing public water tanks (Fig. 1a). On
from a bottom-up approach. By clearly distinguishing the other hand, indicating tidal flooding as a more pressing
between planned and autonomous measures, this study problem, Ubay decided to use funding available through
can help understand the complex yet complementary KALAHI-CIDSS to build a 9-m seawall (Fig. 1b). As
roles that communities, government agencies, and discussed previously, Ubay has the highest flood height me-
NGOs play in adaptation, and how they can better align dian (+ 43 cm) among all four islands and experienced
their strategies. flooding across 135 days in 2016.
The various measures are further characterized in terms of Non-government organizations were also active in
their temporal scope as either Bshort-term^ or Blong-term.^ providing assistance to the island communities after

Table 2 Different types of adaptation measures implemented by various public and private actors

Actor Short term Long term

Planned National Government Provide construction materials for Acquire new water tanks
housing repair Build new seawall
Municipal Government Relocate island residents to mainland
Provide funds for road maintenance
NGO Build make-shift temporary classrooms Donate stilted houses
Elevate floors of classrooms
Create rice cooperative
Establish microfinance
Autonomous Barangay Council Elevate and extend roads
Repair and elevate damaged basketball court
Fix community hall
Repair and elevate damaged seawalls
Acquire large evacuation boats
Increase electricity supply
Community Clean chapel and other shared spaces Elevate floors of classrooms using coral stones*
after tidal flooding Elevate existing chapel using coral stones or
build new one*
Hold classes in private house
Share food with neighbors
Household Burn or bury trash Use trash as foundation for new houses*
Clean own house and backyard after tidal Elevate floors using trash or coral stones*
flooding Elevate vegetable gardens
Gleaners learn to dive

*indicates that adaptation measure has negative environmental consequences

Community-based adaptation in low-lying islands in the Philippines: challenges and lessons learned

the earthquake. About 100 households (43 of which are Even before the earthquake, NGOs have also been actively
in Ubay) were recipients of a stilted housing project supporting various community-based organizations on the
implemented by the local Diocese of Tagbilaran (Fig. islands, mainly through the implementation of livelihood pro-
1c), which were found to be effective against tidal jects. In particular, NGOs work with closely women in the
flooding (Jamero et al. 2017). International NGOs also island communities, as they are greatly interested and highly
helped build make-shift temporary classrooms, particu- participative in creating alternative livelihood opportunities.
larly in Batasan where some classrooms were totally Doing this, NGOs have been able to set up rice and
damaged by the earthquake. Also, as of June 2017, microfinance cooperatives together with existing women’s or-
the floor of one classroom in Pangapasan has already ganizations. The NGOs have also helped create new associa-
been elevated through the assistance of the Tzu Chi tions (especially where old ones were no longer functional) to
Foundation (Fig. 1d). promote broad-based participation in their livelihood projects.
Prior to the earthquake, the Municipal Government has
been providing funds to the islands of Tubigon for road Autonomous adaptation measures
maintenance on an annual basis, as part of their develop-
ment budget allocation. However, after the earthquake, Annually, Barangay Councils are provided by the National
the islands re-aligned these funds from development to Government with an Internal Revenue Allocation (IRA), cal-
adaptation, working on road elevation instead. Still, as culated based on the population and land area of each
these funds are limited, the elevation work is progressing barangay. Out of this IRA, 20% is dedicated to development
rather slowly, with only one section being completed ev- projects. However, in view of the recent environmental chang-
ery year (e.g., road section in front of community hall and es they have experienced, the Barangay Councils of the island
chapel). communities of Tubigon have decided to re-align this 20%

Fig. 1 Potential community-based adaptation strategies to climate Pangapasan elevated by Tzu Chi Foundation. e Raised road in Ubay. f
change. a Rainwater collectors in Pangapasan, and b 9-m-long seawall Repaired basketball court in Pangapasan. g Newly built chapel in Ubay. h
in Ubay acquired through the KALAHI-CIDDS Program. c Stilted house Raised potted plants in Batasan. i New stage in Bilangbilangan elevated
donated by Diocese of Tagbilaran. d Floor of primary school in using plastic wastes as filling material
 M. L. Jamero et al.

development budget for implementing adaptation measures becomes severely flooded during high tides as it was not spe-
instead. This re-alignment is not always sanctioned by the cifically designed for flooding. However, school buildings in
Municipal Government, which remains constrained by the Bilangbilangan have not yet been elevated, and children sim-
strict rules on how this budget should be used. In this sense, ply squat on their chairs when the floods come. Moreover, as
although the Barangay Council is technically still a part of the the grade 4 classroom in Bilangbilangan was damaged by
Philippines’ formal government structure, the councils of the tropical depression Queenie in November 2014, classes were
island communities of Tubigon can be considered to be held in a private house on the island instead.
implementing autonomous rather than planned adaptation
strategies. Chapels

Roads Chapels are an important part of the island communities’ lives.

For this reason, they were one of the first buildings on the
Using its annual development budget, Ubay has already raised islands to be repaired and elevated following the 2013 Bohol
its roads (Fig. 1e) by a median height of + 70.5 cm, so that earthquake. The floors of the chapels in Batasan and
people may remain mobile during flooding events (Jamero Pangapasan have been elevated, while an entirely new chapel
et al. 2017). Using the same budget, the community is plan- was constructed and elevated in Ubay (as the old one was
ning to extend the road to the lower areas of the island in the completely destroyed) through the funding and efforts of pa-
coming years. On the other hand, Batasan used its budget for rishioners (Fig. 1g). However, the chapel in Bilangbilangan
fixing the community hall, while Pangapasan mainly focused has yet to be elevated, although parishioners diligently collect
on buying food and repairing several damaged community any garbage items carried inside by the flood.
properties, such as the basketball court (Fig. 1f).
In the future, using their annual development budgets, as Food
well as their annual road maintenance allocations, the
Barangay Councils of Batasan and Pangapasan are also plan- The typical diet on the islands consists of fish, seashells,
ning to raise their roads. It is worth noting that both commu- steamed rice, and, whenever available, some vegetables.
nities envision these raised roads to also serve as seawalls, Prior to the earthquake, many residents grew their own vege-
preventing high waves from penetrating into their islands dur- tables in small gardens, where they mainly planted malabar
ing flooding events. spinach and moringa. However, due to tidal flooding, the
number of vegetable gardens has significantly decreased.
Disaster risk management Women are especially affected by the impacts of tidal flooding
on food sources, as they are mostly in charge of the households’
All of the Barangay Councils of the islands of Tubigon are hop- vegetable gardens and overall nutrition. Every barangay has a
ing to slowly repair and elevate existing seawalls in their com- team of trained female health workers who regularly and system-
munities, especially Bilangbilangan whose seawalls have already atically monitor the nutrition of school children and, with funding
been severely damaged by previous typhoons, although they are support from the government, implement a feeding program for
struggling to find sufficient funding sources. Being farthest from malnourished children. Women also mostly take care of procur-
the mainland, Bilangbilangan is also planning to acquire large ing food items for the family within the islands or from the
evacuation boats to avoid relying on the disaster management mainland, and gleaning seashells from the reef flat during low
team of the Municipal Government. Bilangbilangan is also hop- tide. Due to this, any threat to food sources concerns women the
ing to coordinate with NAPOCOR in extending the supply of most. Nonetheless, many women have begun to plant vegetables
electricity on the island from only 4 h a day to 24 h. in pots and plastic containers, which are then placed on elevated
planks or furniture (Fig. 1h). On the other hand, in order to adapt
Schools to changes in the depth of the reef flat, some women have also
started to learn how to dive (just to be able to harvest seashells).
To enable children to continue going to school during flooded Despite their poverty, island residents are usually able to
days, some islands have raised the floors of their school build- eat three times a day, with almost no household experiencing
ings, mainly through funds collected from parents. Batasan food shortage. Because they can easily catch fish or glean
has elevated the floor of one of its classrooms and no longer seashells, they mainly worry about acquiring rice, which is
holds classes in buildings that can be flooded. Similarly, Ubay also central to their diet. Nonetheless, sharing food with rela-
has elevated its old primary school classroom (shared by grade tives and friends is also a common practice on the islands,
1–4 students), although it can still be slightly flooded when- which becomes a highly valuable support system in times of
ever there are high waves. Ubay is also planning to elevate its need. Small convenience stores on the islands are also helpful
newly constructed primary school classroom, which currently in providing food on credit.
Community-based adaptation in low-lying islands in the Philippines: challenges and lessons learned

Solid waste based on how they are able or unable to prevent (residual) loss
and damage, described as the Bnegative effects of climate
During tidal flooding, the lack of a proper management sys- variability and climate change that people have not been able
tem becomes an acute problem, as garbage pits are also to cope with or adapt to^ (Warner and van der Geest 2013).
flooded and rubbish gets carried inside houses. Since flooding There are four paths to these negative effects: (1) adaptation to
typically occurs for 3–5 days at a time, residents do not start biophysical events is inadequate, (2) adaptation entails irre-
cleaning their houses until the end of this period. This means coverable economic and non-economic costs (i.e., loss of cul-
that garbage carried by floodwaters can stay inside houses for ture and identity), (3) specific strategies have erosive effects
days, posing risks to health and sanitation. Insects such as on adaptive capacity in the long-term, and (4) adaptation op-
cockroaches, ants, and centipedes also enter houses during tions are not available or possible (Warner and van der Geest
flooding. Due to the dirty floodwaters, some residents have 2013). It is important to note though that the succeeding dis-
complained about itchiness and rashes on their feet. cussion refers to potential—rather than actual—loss and dam-
To address both solid waste and tidal flooding problems, age. Indeed, so far, despite the many challenges and limita-
the residents of Pangapasan, Ubay, and, to a much larger tions to their adaptation strategies, the communities of
extent, Bilangbilangan have started using garbage, particu- Tubigon have been able to continue their daily lives on the
larly plastics, as foundations for their new houses or as fill- islands with no perceivable changes in their cultural and social
ing materials for their elevated floors. In Bilangbilangan, a relations.
new stage was constructed in front of the basketball court
using plastic waste as fillers (Fig. 1i). A local leader from Planned strategies
the island commented that BWe are happy with it as we now
have less garbage around.^ However, the effectiveness and Many of the planned strategies funded by the government and
long-term stability of these landfills is at present unclear, NGOs were implemented in response to the 2013 Bohol earth-
and there may be room for improving the way in which they quake. Thus, the assistance they provided mainly focused on
are constructed and compacted. When plastics are not prop- earthquake-induced damages and did not directly address the
erly trapped due to poor construction techniques, they can tidal flooding due to land subsidence. For example, the type
easily find their way into the marine environment especially and amount of construction materials provided by the
during the passage of destructive typhoons. Plastics can National Government only allowed residents to repair the
harm marine animals primarily through entanglement and damages caused by the earthquake, but not to re-design their
ingestion (Derraik 2002). houses to counteract the effects of flooding (e.g., by building
them on stilts). Furthermore, the island communities of
Elevated floors Tubigon were not allowed to participate in the National
Government-funded program for on-site reconstruction,
Historically, Batasan and, to some extent, Ubay have used which provided new houses to households whose homes had
coral stones for reclaiming land where new families could been totally damaged by the earthquake, in the same location
build their new homes. Coral mining was thus done gradually, where they were originally erected. Rather, in response to tidal
as the communities’ populations grew organically. However, flooding, the National Government simply advised island res-
after the earthquake many households (especially from idents to relocate to the mainland, and tasked the Municipal
Batasan) concurrently mined corals from the reefs to elevate Government with developing and implementing the relocation
their floors (Jamero et al. 2017). Excessive coral mining de- program.
stroys the reefs, which serve as natural barriers against high However, due to lack of financial resources, the relocation
waves, and reduces the sediment budget necessary for en- program has been greatly delayed and, as of June 2017, no con-
abling the natural adaptation of islands to changing environ- struction has been started yet. More importantly, many residents
mental conditions (Webb and Kench 2010). However, resi- of the island communities are refusing to migrate to the mainland
dents justified coral mining by arguing that they are only har- to preserve their fishing-based livelihood (Jamero et al. 2017). At
vesting dead corals, not knowing that under the right condi- the same time, as the coastal areas in the mainland where the
tions these can still potentially serve as settlements for coral government plans to build the relocation sites are also affected by
recruits (Vermeij et al. 2009). tidal flooding, many residents view them as a poor alternative to
the islands (Jamero et al. 2017). Thus, especially in Ubay and
Batasan, where many households have aggressively implement-
Climate resilience of adaptation measures ed a variety of adaptation measures as a result of frequent and
extreme tidal flooding, many residents no longer find permanent
In this section, the climate resilience of the planned and au- relocation to the mainland necessary (Jamero et al. 2017). The
tonomous adaptation measures discussed above is evaluated experiences of the islands of Tubigon thus show that sea-level
 M. L. Jamero et al.

rise does not directly lead to relocation, as otherwise assumed by and extending the roads, the residents are also able to maintain
the mass migration theory, and that the final decision to relocate their mobility during flooding events. By acquiring large evacu-
is influenced more by social factors rather than by environmental ation boats, the residents can readily evacuate to the mainland
factors alone (Jamero et al. 2017). Despite coming face-to-face when weather conditions worsen. However, it is important to
with a degree of sea-level rise not expected until 2100 immedi- note that the implementation of many of these strategies is
ately after the earthquake, the island communities of Tubigon progressing at a very slow pace, and the lack of funding is prov-
have apparently not yet breached the social limits to adaptation. ing to be a great obstacle (currently available development funds
In fact, whether the limits to social adaptation do exist or are are difficult to re-align and limited). This is especially true when
immutable still remains a question (Adger et al. 2009). Thus, considering the more expensive projects planned by the
governments should re-consider the priority of island abandon- Barangay Councils, such as repairing and elevating their dam-
ment (which can be taken as a failure to adapt) and focus more on aged seawalls. Thus, the autonomous measures envisaged by
developing and implementing climate-resilient in situ adaptation Barangay Councils are currently still inadequate for adapting to
strategies. tidal flooding and dry spell.
Although the government and NGO-funded programs in On the other hand, in terms of the autonomous strategies
the islands of Tubigon mainly focused on the earthquake, implemented by community members and households, potential
community participation in the selection of priority projects (residual) loss and damage may result from the erosive effects of
(e.g., KALAHI-CIDSS scheme) and suitability of the housing using plastics and coral stones as filling materials for raising
design to the local context (e.g., stilted houses for islands) floors, making the islands vulnerable in the long term.
have to a certain extent also allowed for some adaptation to In Batasan, residents have also used coral stones for raising
tidal flooding and dry spell. For example, the stilted houses the floors of their homes, as alternative building materials are
that were donated were found to be effective against tidal not available on the island. There are 251 households in
flooding (Jamero et al. 2017). However, even these Bmore Batasan as of 2015. Assuming (based on site observations)
appropriate^ strategies were still greatly limited in supply. that each home has a floor area of 5 m × 5 m, then at least ~
The new water tanks provided by the National Government 1800m3 of coral stones need to be mined in order to raise the
were unable to meet the water needs of residents, especially floors of all 251 households by 30 cm. However, this is only a
during the dry spell, when they were eventually forced to conservative estimate, as many houses have floor areas greater
import water from the mainland (at higher prices). Also, the than 5 m × 5 m, which in many cases have been raised higher
new seawall built through KALAHI-CIDSS was only 9 m than 30 cm (Jamero et al. 2017; Supplementary Information).
long and was thus too small to offer any real protection against If the coral stones that they had used before the earthquake for
the incoming high waves. Similarly, the annual funds for road land reclamation are also taken into account, the estimated
maintenance provided by the Municipal Government were not volume of mined corals can easily be much greater.
enough to promptly complete the elevation work envisioned Furthermore, assuming that 1 m2 of reef can supply 0.2 m3
by the Barangay Council. Furthermore, construction work for of coral stones (Caras and Pasternak 2009), then at least
the relocation program has not yet started, although it is argu- 0.94 ha of reef needs to be mined for 251 houses with a
able whether the program will be implemented at all. As for 5 m × 5 m floor area to be raised by 30 cm. A survey of a
NGO-funded projects, not all of the households were able to mined reef section in Batasan revealed a live hard coral cover
receive the donation of stilted houses. Also, none of the public of less than 10%, with a further 30% of dead coral with algae,
actors provided technological assistance on how households indicating that the area is already severely degraded (Jamero
can raise floors in an environmentally sensitive and econom- et al. 2017). While seawalls only offer line protection, coral
ical manner, and because of this, many of them resorted to reefs can provide area protection against waves, dissipating
using coral stones and plastic waste as filling materials. their energy before they reach the shoreline where the seawalls
Overall, the path to potential (residual) loss and damage— are constructed (Mimura and Nunn 1998). Thus, while raising
despite the implementation of planned measures—can be the floors using coral stones may have short-term merits, its neg-
inadequate adaptation to tidal flooding and dry spell. ative effects may prove far greater in the long term. In this
sense, coral mining can be considered as a maladaptive strat-
Autonomous strategies egy (Jamero et al. 2017).

Many of the autonomous strategies implemented by the

Barangay Councils may eventually prove to be climate resilient. Lessons learned
By repairing and elevating the floors of important public build-
ings, such as community halls, schools, and basketball courts (all This study built an analogy between land subsidence and
of which are also used for evacuation), the residents are able to sea-level rise in terms of flooding effects (although other in-
continue with their daily activities even during floods. By raising terconnected climate impacts such as coral bleaching and
Community-based adaptation in low-lying islands in the Philippines: challenges and lessons learned

ocean acidification are not accounted for). Given that the is- rather than simply labelling interventions as adaptive or mal-
land communities of Tubigon are already currently experienc- adaptive in binary terms.
ing the degree of sea-level rise projected under a 1.5 to 2 °C Furthermore, although the Barangay Councils were able to
global warming scenario, there are important lessons that sim- implement more promising strategies autonomously, these
ilar at-risk communities can learn from their adaptation strategies are still currently inadequate for adapting to tidal
experiences. flooding and dry spells. While the councils made numerous
First, planned measures initiated by public actors can be- internal arrangements to re-align existing development funds
come more climate resilient by increasing community partic- towards adaptation, these funds were simply not enough (al-
ipation in problem identification, scope definition, and solu- though this should not come as a surprise considering that the
tion design in order to better align planned measures with funds were not truly intended for adaptation in the first place).
actual needs and local conditions. To be able to effectively This demonstrates the importance of dedicated additional ad-
provide assistance for adaptation, governments and NGOs aptation funding for implementing climate resilient strategies.
should develop a clear understanding of their target commu- Such dedicated funding will also ensure that development
nities and their vulnerabilities. They need to clearly establish efforts are not neglected, especially when climate impacts
the pre-existing socio-economic problems of the communities are already being experienced by the communities.
and how these can be affected by the projected environmental Third, it is interesting to note that none of the planned and
changes, in order to clearly define additional adaptation com- autonomous adaptation strategies identified and evaluated in
ponents to be integrated into standard development projects. this study were entirely new. Rather, through appropriate
Public actors also need to acknowledge that communities are changes made to their design and implementation (based on
capable of implementing adaptation strategies autonomously. the specific needs and experiences of the communities),
With few livelihood options, poor education, high poverty well-established solutions can be used to address extreme
incidence, inadequate utilities and infrastructure, and small cases of tidal flooding.
areas and populations, the island communities of Tubigon In the future, more examples of climate resilient
would normally be considered to have low adaptive capaci- community-based adaptation strategies need to be examined
ties. Despite these constraints, the community members and in order to identify good practices, which can help formulate
households of the islands of Tubigon were still able to imple- appropriate strategies that promote the long-term sustainabil-
ment a good number of adaptation strategies based on their ity of coastal areas.
own initiatives. This shows that island communities are far
more resilient than otherwise assumed by the mass migration Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Angelie Nellas and
Xyza Kristina Billones of the Zoological Society of London - Philippines
theory that suggests that sea-level rise will directly lead to
for their technical assistance during our field surveys. We are also deeply
relocation. Public actors, including policy-makers, should grateful for the full cooperation of the Municipal Government of Tubigon
therefore consider how to measure adaptive capacity more and the island communities of Batasan, Bilangbilangan, Pangapasan, and
accurately in order to supplement it more effectively. Ubay in this research.
Second, additional financial and technical support are crit-
Funding information This work was funded by The University of Tokyo,
ical for increasing the climate resilience of autonomous or
Graduate Program in Sustainability Science - Global Leadership
CBA strategies. As shown by the experiences of the island Initiative, Chiba, Japan.
communities of Tubigon, when the impacts of climate change
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