UN DP- DAP B ohol E cotow n He alth S e ctor Page |1 Health Sector Characteristics Rationale The Ecotown Demonstration Framework aims at building ecologically stable and climate change resilient communities and local economy. The Abatan river watershed connects the 5 intervention municipalities where the Ecotown approach is being demonstrated. The inclusion of the vulnerability assessment of the health sector in five municipalities in Bohol namely Maribojoc, Antequerra, Balilihan, Catigbian and Cortes lends its significance as a contributing factor in the needed adaptive capacities for the resilience of the community. An assessment of prevailing local health systems and their exposure and sensitivities to climate variability will help us thus develop possible adaptation strategies and measures; which will have to be prioritized given the limitation of resources in the locality. The VAC component shall then provide an overview on the degree of potential climate change impact to the Ecotown sites. Climate Change and Health in Bohol Bohol Island is located in Central Visayas region to the east of the island of Cebu. It is a first class province with a population of 1,255,128 according to the 2010 census.1 Bohol is the tenth largest island of the Philippines. To the northeast is the island of Leyte and to the south, is Mindanao. Considered a tourist attraction, the Island has a lot of biodiversity to share and be visited. While it remains blessed with its environs, it also has been attended by disasters over time and is considered to be a climate hotspot. It is no. 9 on the list for islands in subsidence from a potential eustatic sea level rise of 1 meter.2 In a span of 24 days in the last quarter of 2013, Bohol was part of the Central Visayas region that experienced two disasters in October – a 7.2 Richter scale measured earthquake and on November – a 315 km/hr winds storm we called Yolanda (code named Haiyan internationally). The Philippines jumped from 14th to 7th in the climate risk index of Germanwatch 2013-12014.3 The sudden increase is believed to have as its cause the global warming phenomena causing climate change and its effect from the extreme weather events caused further by the antecedent rise in temperature. A hazard map pictures Bohol with the potential earthquake induced landslide occurrence and the places of which and what considerations the population and the local government should take upon themselves. The 1 2010 Census of Population and Housing. National Statistics Office. http://www.greenpeace.org/seasia/ph/Global/seasia/report/2007/4/the-philippines-a-climate-hot.pdf 3 http://archive.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2014/02/04/special-report-under-siege-326582 2