On June 27, a virtual dialogue on cooperating in rainwater harvesting and utilization was held for the first time between the CAS-TWAS Centre of Excellence for Water and Environment (CAS-TWAS CEWE) and the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM), Department of Agriculture (DA) of the Philippines. This event was coordinated by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Regional Knowledge Sharing Initiative (RKSI) and the Center for China and Globalization (CCG). Delegates from ADB, CCG, BSWM and the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences (RCEES) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) joined the dialogue.

    At the dialogue, Dr. Wang Yawei first gave a general introduction on CEWE. Following that, Engr. Ernesto B. Brampio, Chief of the Water Resources Management Division (WRMD) of BSWM, introduced the WRMD, BSWM, DA and the demand for cooperation. Rainwater harvesting and utilization are of great significance to improving the agricultural productivity and achieving sustainable development in the Philippines. Therefore, the Philippine government has been vigorously promoting rainwater harvesting for irrigation, and has seen lots of results. Nonetheless, the country also faces some technical challenges. Professor Wei Yuansong from RCEES systematically explained the research conducted by RCEES concerning rainwater harvesting and utilization as well as the application of the research results. Engr. Ernesto spoke highly of RCEES’ related efforts and expressed the hope that the two sides may conduct cooperation to address the problems specific to the Philippines in terms of rainwater harvesting and utilization.

    Professor Yang Min, Deputy Director of RCEES, outlined the future cooperation between China and the Philippines in his summary. Specifically, RCEES will set up a special cooperation team to formulate a cooperation plan on working with the Philippines in rainwater utilization. In the near future, the team will focus on investigating and evaluating the existing harvesting and utilization facilities in the Philippines, identify the main technical needs of the Philippines, and select suitable locations to carry out demonstration projects on rainwater harvesting and utilization, in a bid to ultimately promote the application of the project results in the Philippines through technical standardization. In this process, communication and cooperation with ADB will be strengthened, and a tripartite working mechanism will be established.

CAS-TWAS Centre of Excellence for Water and Environment

International Cooperation Office, RCEES, CAS