Main beneficiaries are elders--cultural experts. For Culture, Conservation and Climate [3Cs] Background
KIN in partnership with the Ecosystems Alliance of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the Xavier University McKeough Marine Center (XU-MMC) is pursuing the operationalization of PES (payment for ecosystems or environmental services) scheme for Mt. Kitanglad and Mt. Kalatunga
n range natural parks for the period of June 2014 - May 2015. Our XU-MMC counterparts have linked with the PASu Kalatungan and the MILALITTRA tribal people’s organization for an integrated project on the restoration of 1,500 hectares of degraded lands within the Cagayan de Oro River Basin especially along the Batang watershed areas inside the MILALITRA CADT. The costs of restoring it for five (5) years while ensuring Talaandig tribal community benefit reached a budget of P35M. The project will be sustained through a PES system which is the core of the XU-MMC partnership reaching out to the business and public sectors to contribute in restoring degraded watersheds. On the part of KIN and in partnership with the Kitanglad Council of Elders headed by Datu Makapukaw Adolino Saway, we are pursuing a unique model of providing a mechanism to incentivize indigenous peoples for protecting forests and ecosystems inside Mt. Kitanglad. Our common objective wa to come up with an appropriate mechanism for rewards (not purely payment) for environmental and ecosystems services (R/PES) in the ancestral domains of the Talaandig, Bukidnon and Higaonon tribes. What is TĀLAMA? The word TĀLAMA first came out as a response to the Integrated Assessment on Culture, Biodiversity and Well-being sponsored by KIN and XU-MMC together with Council of Elders of KKP_KKSP (Kitanglad-Kalatungan-Pantaron and Kimangkil-Kalanawan-Sumagaya-Pamalihi) sometime in February 2012. One of the inputs focused on examining the government’s Social Security System which was explained to them by Atty. Albert Lagamon. During the open forum, it turned out that there’s also a unique and hidden practice on preparing for contingency situations particularly among pregnant mothers--the TĀLAMA. The intuitive and unspoken practice of mothers preparing for the TĀLAMA enable her to prepare for her delivery, especially in a difficult circumstance. Because of her TĀLAMA she can handle difficult situations and the same time guarantee the welfare of the baby. The Council of Elders recommended adopting the TĀLAMA practice beyond every Mother’s caring heart for her baby, to expand the principle to include not only important needs for the baby but also for the present and future of the tribe. Thus the TĀLAMA became their unique and modified PES and Social Security scheme combined to be piloted in Mt. Source of TĀLAMA
On November 25-27, 2014, in our 3rd CoE Meeting at KIN office together with the 12 tribal advisers, we also learned that it was Magbabaya (Creator) that showed the way for the first act of the TĀLAMA. In the ways of Magbabaya, the Creator provided us with nature--our environment; we see these in many forms like land, water, air, fire, plants, animals among other creations. All these combined--the natural environment is the cradle of human welfare, resilience, and survival generations after generations. With the use of Kagbatasan (culture) expressed in indigenous knowledge, skills and faith, the tribes were able to maintain their customs and traditions since the time of their ancestors. The above practices “Talama”, Buni-buni” (family-oriented savings) persists till now, notwithstanding modernity, and the colonial efforts to convert them from who they are as people. Beneficiaries will be the members of the Council of Elders (CoEs) and their counterpart tribal forest guardians and the Kitanglad Guards Volunteers (KGVs). These beneficiaries are those we have known in KIN and PASu from the start of the MKRNP-CPPAP project; or even before the CPPAP, in which their parents and grandparents and greatgrandparents a long, long time ago, have been rendering sacrifice in protecting the forests and sacred domains. As the tribe and their ancestors protect the forests it also benefits preserving the environment that includes many parts like the plants, the animals, the rivers, the creeks, the land and its surroundings--the entire ecosystems network. These tribal beneficiaries have strong practice of culture and are known to be respectful, kind, and harmonious in dealing with fellow tribes and non-tribes like the government and other stakeholders. At the start, we will target 400 beneficiaries of the TĀLAMA IP Social Trust Fund. It is designed as a social reward for IPs active in their voluntary efforts for protecting the remaining forests of Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park. Under the TĀLAMA pilot scheme, a monthly incentive (example P500 or P1,000 depending on public and private support) will be given to active tribal elders, forest guardians and KGVs for their performance. Their accomplishments include preserving their culture especially for tribal experts--like baylan (shaman, spiritual leaders), talamuhat (ritualists), mangunguyamo (midwives), balignao (teachers), balaghusay (arbitrators), mananalsal (toolmaker), palagbatbat (historian), mangangapi (herbalists), malagbasuk (natural farm expert), paggalad (tribal guard))--all for conserving natural resources (forests, watersheds, and biodiversity). Their works also include for maintaining non-destructive livelihood activities, for community disaster preparedness--all for the benefit of the environment, the climate and all of us. The good and healthy forests in Mt. Kitanglad serve as our buffer from adverse effects of global warming and strong typhoons that are occurring more frequently.
