Integrated Lake Basin Management Expert Group Meeting in the Philippinesby Bam Azores | 07-03-2014 21:49 |
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   On March 4, 2014, I was one of the presenters at the Integrated Lake Basin Management (ILBM) Expert Group Meeting on Heartware Experiences in Asia. We were invited to share youth experiences by International Linkages office of the Laguna Lake Development Authority. This is the agency incharge of taking care of the lakes in our area - Laguna Lake, the seven crater lakes of San Pablo City and Taal Lake. ILBM is under the International Lake Environment Committee (ILEC) based in Japan. ILEC is promoting ILBM in the lakes around the world and their watersheds. ILBM is a way of thinking so that managers and stakeholders of the lake can achieve sustainable management of lakes. ILBM makes us understand that we can care for our lakes if we consider all the aspects that go into managing it. ILBM calls it the hardware, software and heartware of managing the lakes. Hardware implies the engineering and technological aspect. Software involves the institution and policy. Heartware suggests respect for tradition and culture, history of the community and advocacy. My presentation was about the activities of the children and youth members of our Friends of the Seven Lakes Foundation. I shared about the condition of the seven lakes and what we are doing to help protect them. I showed them photos of our activities like the young people conducting treeplanting, lakeshore clean-up, sachet recovery, eco-camps and others. I met many people who are interested in learning about the Heartware aspect. The person who put together the framework of the ILBM is Dr. Masahisa Nakamura, Chairman of the ILEC Scientific Community. There were delegates from Malaysia, India, Japan, Philippines and other countries. It was really a very interesting meeting and I am glad to be a part of it. You can learn more about ILEC and ILBM here: http://www.ilec.or.jp/ |
