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FPE-Funded Researches

[2012] Environmental Reality of Naga City

Naga City is noteworthy for its commendable environmentally-conscious policies and ordinances, particularly under the two-decade leadership of the late Jesse Robredo. Today, a new mayor is acting to revitalize the city's environmental program.

Project Proponent/Partner: Bicol Consortium for Sustainable Society (BCSS)

Naga City is noteworthy for its commendable environmental management policies and environmentally-conscious city ordinances. Behind the nearly two-decade mayoral leadership of the late Jesse Robredo, the city’s waste management and watershed rehabilitation efforts have received particularly high attention. Now, the new city leadership headed by Mayor John Bongat is acting on the challenge to revitalize the city’s environmental program.

As with any city in the Philippines or elsewhere in the world, Naga is not exempted from the inevitable and persistent effects and impacts of increasing populations in an urbanized setting on the environment. The city’s population is currently growing at a rate of 2.5%, and the resulting stress on the surrounding natural ecosystems is a recognized cause for concern.

This research was therefore proposed by the Bicol Consortium for Sustainable Society (BCSS) as a timely intervention with the intention of understanding the intersection of Naga’s urban environment with other equally important ecosystems embedded within the city landscape.

The project was designed to establish a concrete linkage between the local government and a constituency that will strategically and collaboratively address city-wide concerns regarding environmental management and climate change adaptation. The participatory research strategy identified the “state of the environment” in Naga City. 

In response to the findings of the status assessment, the local city development council and local non-governmental organizations worked to realign the Naga’s environmental action programs to address the realities exposed by the studies. One of these responses was the creation of an urban environmental task force to act on climate change-related issues. The urban environmental agenda set in place by the city and barangay councils in collaboration with the NGOs will serve as a broad response framework to sustainability, environmental management, and climate change adaptation.