Invitation: Eastern Visayas Climate Project Forum

Organized by a UP Manila BS Biology alumna:

Twenty typhoons annually visit the country bringing heavy rainfall that causes flooding, landslides and mudslides. These in turn destroy valuable agricultural land and settlements, and claim many lives every year. Other hazards such as El Nino aggravate the extent of these damages, which sum up to an annual loss of 0.5% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

Eastern Visayas, mainly consisting of the islands of Leyte, Samar and Biliran, is one of the most disaster prone regions in the Philippines, experiencing some of the worst typhoons ever recorded in Philippine history, killing over a thousand people through a mudslide in Feb., 2006, and over 6,000 people due to typhoons back in 1990-1991. Disaster preparedness is one of the weaknesses of the region and for the most part, it is still seen as emergency management. The government and the local people are neither sufficiently prepared nor well equipped to implement preventive measures and execute the right actions in the event of an emergency. Furthermore, the archipelagic nature of the country further increases its vulnerability to the rising sea levels brought about by melting polar ice caps. Some of the islands will thus be underwater and marine resources will be extinct within the century, according to United Nations studies.

It is in this context that The Eastern Visayas Climate Project Forum was conceptualized to bring together concerned and committed people from the different sectors of the society who’ll be willing to help prepare communities and people toward climate change preparedness, adaptation and mitigation while uplifting the people’s economic and organizational capacity to withstand its adverse effects.

The Eastern Visayas Climate Project Forum aims to:

1. Educate: participants on the various aspects of climate change, including the scientific basis, environmental and social impacts, policy and strategy options, and operational measures to address climate change effects.

2. Unite: key representatives from the different sectors of the society to discuss and express their concerns about climate change-related problems.

3. Form a regional network of advocates: which will be known as The Eastern Visayas Climate Project, which will initiate research, policy proposals, or advocacy programs to address the different climate change issues in the region.

Climate change is affecting EVERYONE, and WE NEED YOU to help us, help other people through this project. If you want to donate to our cause please contact any of the following contact persons:

**Mary Bernadette V. Egloso (Organizer) – marybernadetteegloso@gmail.com / 053.327.3714 / 63915.383.1788

**Dr. Eulito V. Casas (Adviser) - veulitocasas48@yahoo.com / 63939.630.4202 / 053.321.8299

For more information about this project, you can log on to https://sites.google.com/site/evclimateforum/.

People around the world and all over Eastern Visayas are ready for action. Each of us has the power to make the transition to a better, more sustainable future for us, our children and the generations to come. Together, our efforts will help solve the climate crisis.