USAID RDM/A Regional Environment Office Weekly Report Week Ending May 9, 2008

Marikina, Philippines Passes Ordinance for "Total" Septage Management. On April 28, 2008, Marikina City, Philippines launched the “Todo Sipsip” septic tank cleaning project, which aims to desludge all septic tanks in the city by 2010. Marikina City is implementing the project in cooperation with Manila Water Company with support from USAID’s ECO-Asia program. During the launch event, the Vice Mayor announced the passage of a new city ordinance on mandatory septic tank desludging and design standards for new septic tanks. The event drew 500 people and featured Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Day activities, including hand washing demonstrations, speeches by city officials, and community entertainment activities. Over the next two years, the local villages and Manila Water Company will cooperate in ensuring effective cleaning of septic tanks.

Lam Dong Province, Vietnam Improves Rural Livelihoods through Public-Private Partnerships. On May 7, 2008, three private handicraft groups in Lam Dong Province, Vietnam, made their first commercial sale of laminated bamboo handicrafts for export to the U.S. with support from the USAID-funded Asia Regional Biodiversity Conservation Program (ARBCP). Prior to ARBCP engagement, the only formal bamboo processing activity in the area was chopsticks production, which supports fewer livelihoods and provides smaller incomes. ARBCP estimates that handicraft production creates more than 15 times the number of jobs and 7 times the income than chopsticks production per unit area of land under conservation management. The public-private partnership includes ARBCP, the Lam Dong Provincial government, Vietnamese homewares exporters, local enterprises, and forest resource-dependent communities.