The University of the Philippines, in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST: National Research Council of the Philippines, DOST-National Capital Region, Technology Application and Promotion Institute and the National Academy of Science and Technology), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR: Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA), the Environmental Management Bureau) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), will be organizing a two-day forum entitled “Lake Ecosystems Assessment in the Philippines (LEAP): A Science and Policy Forum for a Sustainable Laguna Lake Management”. The forum is to be held at the Summit Ridge Hotel, Tagaytay City from 22 to 23 November 2016.

In support of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Administration goal of restoring the environmental integrity of Laguna Lake to benefit the members of grassroots communities along the shorelines, this two-day program primarily aims to draft a set of multi-sectoral policy recommendations pertaining to Laguna Lake management.

The two-day event is part of an on-going research program funded by the UP System’s Emerging Interdisciplinary Research (EIDR) Grant that aims to provide the most recent set of information for setting the future directions of Laguna Lake by looking at its bio-geophysical characteristics, pollution levels, watershed changes, and how its many communities envision the lake to eventually take shape. By partnering with DOST and DENR, these information will be utilized to formulate science-based policies for the integrated management of Laguna de Bay, and hopefully also of other large urban lakes.

Day 1 of the forum will provide a venue for the presentation of the most recent scientific information on the various aspects of the lake’s health. Day 2 will be a policy workshop that will utilize the environmental updates and baselines established by the preceding papers. Presentations made on the first day will be transcribed, edited, reviewed, and published into a book, with permission from the presenters, to serve as a comprehensive reference material on Laguna Lake. Outputs of the second day will be packaged as policy papers for submission to relevant groups for lobbying towards a sustainable integrated management of the lake.