Mindanao State University System (MSUS) is collaborating with the Philippine Environmental Governance (EcoGov) project of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in the promotion of advocacies for natural resources management based on the tenets of Islam.

On October 22, MSUS and EcoGov entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to incorporate Al Khalifa (The Steward) into the academic curricula and extension programs of the system’s eleven campuses across Mindanao.

Al Khalifa, a sourcebook developed and released in 2007 by USAID’s EcoGov project in consultation with Islamic leaders and scholars, alludes to Islamic teachings on leadership and the care and protection of the environment. It calls for transparency, accountability, public participation, and functionality in good governance. With this paradigm, Al Khalifa parallels poor governance to the ineffective management of the country’s natural resources.

“I think the whole idea of strengthening ecological or environmental governance is one urgent concern that is imperative to the survival of the Moslem communities in Lake Lanao,” points out Dr. Macapado A. Muslim, president of the MSUS and one of the signatories in the MOA.

Dr. Muslim also emphasized the important role of the academe in sustaining assistance programs. “Because the university is always there, you can be assured that programs for the community will continue to be useful to its environment.”

The Maranaos, or people of the lake, take pride in and identify themselves with Lake Lanao. Unfortunately, years of uncontrolled garbage dumping in Marawi City and unregulated forest use in the watershed contributed to the degradation of Lake Lanao.

“For Muslims, developing and protecting the environment must not only be a legal but a moral duty as well,” shares Professor Talib Benito, dean at the King Faisal Center for Islamic Studies.

One of the MOA’s objectives is to bring in technical assistance from EcoGov to the King Faisal Center for Islamic Studies so that the latter can develop localized communication materials on Al Khalifa advocacies. This is already being done for the colleges of agriculture, fisheries and forestry.

Over the coming years, MSUS and EcoGov cooperation hopes to influence Mindanao’s current and future leaders to reconsider their roles in environmental governance. In particular, it aims for Moslem community and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao decision-makers to adopt the Islamic perspectives found in Al Khalifa as they formulate management plans for their forests and forest lands, coastal resources, and urban solid and water wastes.

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