CITIZEN-SDSS: Study Landscapes Profile Philippines

This document is part of the CITIZEN-SDSS project and provides background information on e.g., the socio-economic profile, topography, land cover and land use, forest change dynamics, and climate patterns of the study landscapes Balasig watershed, Maasin, Penablanca and Silago in the Philippines. CITIZEN-SDSS is focused on fostering nature-based solutions (NBS) for sustaining and expanding forest landscapes by integrating local stakeholder aspirations into land use planning through spatial decision support systems (SDSS). The Philippines, with only 24% of its forest cover remaining, faces severe threats from deforestation, degradation, and climate change, despite being a global biodiversity hotspot and a vital provider of ecosystem services and livelihoods. By focusing on the Philippines, the project addresses both urgent ecological risks and pressing socio-economic needs thus, safeguarding biodiversity, supporting local communities through NBS interventions such as agroforestry, forest restoration, assisted natural regeneration, riparian buffer restoration and other sustainable land management practices. Through Citizen Science approaches and spatiotemporal modelling, CITIZEN-SDSS develops context-sensitive, scientifically rigorous pathways for sustainable land and forest management, ensuring that decision-making processes are inclusive, locally grounded, and responsive to long-term environmental and livelihood priorities.