What are the key objectives of the study?
The study aimed to develop a decision support system for effective lake governance of the seven small crater lakes in San Pablo City, Laguna. Specifically, the study sought to:
describe transformations in the resource utilization of the lakes;
characterize the change in land use surrounding the lake communities;
identify major human-induced stressors on the seven crater lakes;
discuss the evolution of the policies and institutional arrangements;
evaluate the potential socio-institutional and bio-physical scenarios based on major stressors and changes in local governance systems and
develop knowledge-sharing platforms for stakeholder utilization.
What are the study sites?
Among the 124 small lakes identified, the Seven Crater Lakes of San Pablo City, Laguna will be the focus of this study. The seven crater lakes have been regarded as threatened lakes of the year 2014 by the Global Nature Fund (GNF). Moreover, from mainly being used for aquaculture and recreation, some of these natural resources are now being utilized for ecotourism.
How were the data collected?
Primary data
Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with the community leaders and residents were conducted. The FGDs will cover residents’ historical accounts of the lake. Participatory community-based mapping was included to identify the resource use and major human and environmental risks the lakes face.
Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with the local Environment and Natural Resources Officer, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Head, and Planning and Development Coordinator will be conducted to identify data on, but not limited to, the status of the lakes, the risks associated with the lake, and current and future plans of the city. KIIs will also be done with non-government organizations and community-based organizations aimed at the welfare of the seven lakes. Existing policy and institutional settings governing the various uses of water in seven lakes will also be gathered from focal persons of respective agencies.
Secondary data
Secondary data such as water quality reports, annual reports, Comprehensive Development Plans, Comprehensive Land Use Plans, Tourism Master Plans, fishery production reports, etc., were also gathered from the LGU, LLDA, and other data sources. Climatological and hydrological data and data on water supply and demand were collected from respective agencies to map the existing water resources and users within the watershed of the seven lakes and to allocate the abstraction and discharge of water.
How were the data analyzed?
Policy analysis and institutional analyses
These analyses were to understand the different local stakeholders' roles in the lakes' management. This was done by creating an institutional landscape of various government agencies and local government offices, grounded primarily on the existing national and local policies. In addition, the roles of the local community groups were also established and laid out in the landscape.
Spatial analysis
The Participatory Community-based Mapping was intended to map out the historical land use of the LGU and the lake itself, including water and material resources and the potential risks for each lake. Residents, local leaders, representatives from concerned LGU offices, and other government and non-government agencies participated in the Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). Inputs from the mapping activity were digitized to generate maps.
In addition, any secondary data and maps available (from LLDA, MLGU’s CLUP, MGB, and others) were used to countercheck the participants' accounts gathered from the community-based mapping. News articles and literature were used to substantiate resident accounts. Quantum GIS, a free and open-source geographic information system application, was used to generate maps.
Thematic analysis
The transcriptions from the key informant interviews and focus group discussions were analyzed through thematic analysis. The primary purpose of this analysis was to identify common areas of concern regarding the management and utilization of the seven crater lakes.
Statistical analysis
Descriptive statistics was employed to describe, show, or summarize primary and secondary data, while data visualizations were used to represent information and data in different graphical forms.
How to interpret graphs and maps
Interpreting Graphs
Identify what the graph shows. Look at the 'X' and 'Y' axis of the plane and see what are variables being shown; for example year and number of households. Labels on the vertical axis ('Y' axis) and the horizontal axis ('X' axis) are often indicated on graphs.
Take note of the color code/legend.
Ask the following questions when examining graphs:
What is the pattern shown in the graph? For example an upward or downward trend line.
What are the notable data points? For example highest bar shown in a bar graph or a peak in the data points.
What does the pattern tell you about the variables considered (the 'X' and 'Y') axis? For example, an upward trend line may mean an increasing value over time.
What are the anomaly/outlier/different pattern in the graph?
What are the differences/similarities observed among lakes in terms of values?
Interpreting Maps
Bubble maps are maps that have proportional symbols.
The size of the bubbles correspond to the data's magnitude. For example, the bigger the bubble, the bigger the surface area of the lake.
Questions to ask when making sense of a bubble map according to quanthub:
How does a specific variable vary across different geographic regions?
Are there any geographic patterns, trends, or clusters in the data?
Bubble maps can also simply represent the presence and absence of a particular variable in a certain geographical space. For example, the presence of commercial establishments and residential units surrounding the lakes.
How to make sense of the Problem Tree
Consider the following elements of a problem tree when analyzing a problem tree:
The Roots (Cause)- root causes of the problem are identified in this section.
The Trunk (Problem)- the problems, in the context of this study, the human-induced stressors were identified.
The Branches (Consequences/Effects)- the effects of the the human-induced stressors on the lake health and ultimately back to the people were identified.
The problem tree should help decision-makers and concerned stakeholders design specific interventions that would address the root causes of the problems and easily describe/ measure the desired impact (improving scenarios in the 'effect' section) of those interventions.