Rationale. The needs to properly manage our watersheds are more pressing now than it has ever been. The increasing demand for water, timber, arable land and other valuable watershed resources alongside the worsening negative impacts of local and global phenomena such as “El Niño, La Niña and global warming have brought the necessity for sustainable watershed management to a higher level.

Excessive soil erosion and siltation, floods, droughts, shortage of water supply, the diminishing forest cover and declining land productivity are just a few but telling signs of the adverse effects of watershed resource utilization and the ever changing local and global climate.

Without appropriate interventions, our watersheds which are mostly now in varying degrees of degradation will be a greater risk of being permanently impaired to deliver many good services vital to society. The task of steering watershed managrmrnt into the roads of sustainability is daunting but not impossible. It will take concerted, determined, and deliberate actions not only of the Allah Valley landscape Development Alliance, Department of Environment and natural Resources, Local Government Units but of all concerned public and private sectors to attain the sustainability of watershed resources.

The advocacy project will be carried by the composite advocacy team composed of personnel from the the AVLDA PMO, DENR-CENRO, NIA, LGU and DENR-MGB. Each expertise to elaborate clearly the importance of caring for our watersheds.

Rationale. Allah Valley Landscape Development Alliance (AVLDA), an alliance of Nine (9) municipalities (Surallah, T'boli, Lake Sebu and Sto. Ni ñ o in South Cotabto and the municipalities of Isulan, Esperanza, Bagumbayan, Lambayong, and the city of Tacurong in Sultan Kudarat) of TWO (2) provinces namely, South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat task to protect, manage and develop the Allah Watershed, in partnership with the Kasanyangan-Mindanao Foundation, Inc. (KFI), a non-governmental organization (NGO) operating in the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City (SOCKSARGEN) implanting and promoting a program/projects on Natural Resources Management and Social Enterprise as a sustainable development approach to address poverty and unsound agro-forestry farm practices/inappropriate farming systems spearhead the forum on climate change.

The KFI and AVLDA are the two (2) major conveners of this proposed activity.

Rationale. The protection and conservation of the biodiversity of Allah Valley Landscape is the concern of all residents covering the South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat provinces. It does not limit only to one sector like the government institutions. The LGUs of the landscape have been forging unity for environment concerns which paved the way for the creation of Allah Valley Landscape Development Alliance (AVLDA). Efforts from the private sector are also expected and that resources will be pooled for the said purpose. The non-governmental organization (NGOs) and people's organization (POs) have been in the forefront of development work including the environment friendly activities in the community level in both relations and coordination aspect is working-out. Their network became a permanent representative in the AVLDA-BOD and is actively participating during meetings and activities of the alliance.

In Sultan Kudarat province, there is no established NGO network that responds to the call of the alliance unlike in the province of South Cotabato- the coalition of Social Development Organizations. While various NGOs and Pos within the province are actively engaged on environment programs and services, there is a need to gather them and bring the mandate of the alliance among their communities and beneficiaries. More so, the LGUs of the province are very articulate in bringing in the agenda of the Allah Valley Watershed in their programs and services. We all know however that NGOs have their own programs but they also practice environment related services among other their partner/beneficiaries. Thus, there is a need to group these NGOs and push for the common understanding to the concern of the Allah Valley Watershed as our immediate environ.