TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte, Philippines — With the increasing threat of climate change and the effects of disasters growing every year in almost all areas of the country, the Environment and Rural Development Program (ERDP) Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) is pushing for wise land use planning and management, as the entity underlined, those are very important methods that guarantee disaster risk management.

Dr. Walter Salzer, Director and Principal Advisor of the ERDP-GIZ explained that the goal of land use planning for disaster risk management is to achieve use of land and other natural resources adapted to local conditions and needs, taking into account disaster risks.

He said poor land use planning is left out in current discussions on why disasters keep happening in the Philippines. “There is need to emphasize that land use planning and management are not only about physical planning but also make sense on the social and human aspect.

GIZ’s ERDP has been strengthening the capacities of local planners in the regional line agencies and local government units in this province to mitigate the impacts of climate change and natural occurring disasters. The entity has already assisted in the updating of 18 municipal Comprehensive Land Use (CLUP) and Development Plans (CDP), through participatory, bottom-up, broad stakeholder participation.

Since 2006, the GIZ-ERDP has boosted disaster risk reduction and management expertise of its local government partners in planning and implementing targeted risk reduction measures in their respective areas.