A case study of an upland watershed in the Philippines

Declining land health constrains both the land-use options that are available to farmers and profitability of their farming livelihood across many upland watersheds in developing countries. In response, governments implement land-use and management strategies intended to improve farmer practices and promote cropping systems that improve land health and income. This has proved a challenge, with patchy results at best, especially where diverse stakeholders exist with varying priorities around land-use and often-competing livelihood goals. In my thesis, I am using an integrated assessment approach to understand and reconcile local farmers and external stakeholders’ perceptions about the complexity and dynamics of land-use and livelihoods in the Cabulig watershed, southern Philippines. Insight on this is fundamental to improve land-use development plans and policy interventions, and to achieve positive change in upland watersheds. In this seminar, I will provide an overview of the research problem and methodology prior to highlighting key findings and contribution of this thesis to the research field and improved practice.

This event is free and open to the public.

About the speaker

Yuyen Piñon conducts research on policy and institutional arrangements in the natural resources management domain with particular interest in watershed management, protected area management, local governance including land tenure and land-use, and rewards on environmental services. She works as a Researcher at the World Agroforestry Centre in the Philippines and is currently a Student Affiliate at CSIRO. She holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Management from the Flinders University and BA in Development Studies from the University of the Philippines.