29 institutions sign pact to jointly manage and protect the Davao River Basin

Twenty-nine government agencies, local government units, academic institutions and civil society organisations have signed an agreement to coordinate the protection and management of the Davao River Basin, according to Edge Davao.

The Memorandum of Agreement was signed on Wednesday during an Executive Committee meeting of the Davao River Basin Management Alliance (DRBMA) in Davao City. The alliance is chaired by Atty. Maria Mercedes Dumagan, regional executive director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources 11 (DENR 11).

Under the pact, member institutions are expected to align their policies and development plans, pool technical expertise and resources, and carry out joint environmental programmes covering the basin from its upstream watersheds to its downstream coastal areas.

Dumagan stressed that cooperation is needed because activities in upstream communities can directly affect areas downstream. "Let this MOA translate into concrete commitments, coordinated programs, shared resources, and accountable actions," she said.

The alliance will follow a ridge-to-reef approach, which treats upstream watersheds, lowland communities, rivers and coastal ecosystems as interconnected. Stakeholders are expected to weigh how actions in one part of the basin may affect others, particularly downstream communities.

Leadership of the alliance will be shared or rotated among three bodies: the Davao City Watershed Management Council, the Bukidnon Watershed Protection and Development Council, and the Davao Gulf Management Council. According to the report, this arrangement is meant to give stakeholders from Davao City, Bukidnon and coastal communities a role in managing shared resources.

The expanded structure stems from the alliance's adoption of guidelines under DENR Administrative Order No. 2021-41 through Resolution No. 3, Series of 2022, which allowed it to take in more members and restructure its management body. The framework is also aligned with Executive Order No. 510, which created the River Basin Control Office, and Executive Order No. 816, which named that office the lead agency for river basin initiatives nationwide.

The partnership is intended to move protection efforts beyond the separate initiatives of individual agencies and local governments toward coordinated planning and shared responsibility.