ENIVRONMENT ASIA

Volume 12, No. 01, Month JANUARY, Year 2019, Pages 56 - 67

An index to determine community wellbeing along coastal community in leyte, philippines

Merites M. Buot and Ma Zenia C. Dulce

Abstract Download PDF

Coastal communities due to its geography are always susceptible to hazard. Typhoon Haiyan, the worst typhoon in the Philippines having the highest number of casualties recorded, added another burden to the coastal communities. But even with the impacts, people were still determined to stay in the area and recover as shown by their level of wellbeing. This is a continuing study after two years of the occurrence of the super typhoon. Currently, this study aimed to determine the indicators of community wellbeing and to assess the present level of Community Wellbeing Index (CWBἱ) in coastal communities. A face to face interview aided by a standardized questionnaire to 73 household heads determined by GPower analysis was conducted. Data were analyzed and community wellbeing index (CWBἱ) was determined. Results revealed that Haiyan affected communities had a strong level of CWB at 0.606. The sociocultural capital dimension, out of the 5 capitals, contributed the highest to this strong level of CWBἱ (0.202). Many of the households had the minimum educational qualification to get a job and several had the ideal age structure with less dependents. However, the natural capital represented by the ratio of forest cover had the lowest index value (0.021). Hence, ecosystem services provided by biodiversity such as productivity, protection from extreme climatic conditions, fresh air and water among others are nil. These ecosystem services could have helped raise wellbeing to a very strong level after a disaster

Keywords

Community capitals; Community wellbeing index (CWB?); Disaster; Super typhoon.

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