An In-house Training on Soil and Water Analysis Tool (SWAT) and Satellite Image Interpretation using Quantum GIS Interface was hosted by the  Geo-SAFER Northern Mindanao/Cotabato Project of Central Mindanao University last September 27-28, 2018 at Farmers Training Center, CMU. The event was participated by some of the faculty members from CMU's College of Forestry and Environmental Science, and other State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) from SOCCSKSARGEN, namely: Sultan Kudarat State University (SKSU), Mindanao State University-Gen. Santos (MSU-Gen San) and University of Southern Mindanao-Kabacan (USM-Kabacan).

The speakers of the training are composed of four (4) Flood Modeling Team (FMT) personnel of the project. The first day of the training started with the overview of the Geo-SAFER Northern Mindanao and Cotabato Project delivered by the Mr. Jim Louie Alburo. The day highlighted topics on the differences between different DEMs (LIDAR, IfSAR and SAR data) presented by Ms. Rose Angelica Amper in the morning and the Land Cover Classification Using GIS discussed by Forester Mark Daryl Janiola in the afternoon. Before the first-day session has ended, an open forum was completed by the participants and presenters. Another set of speakers took part to present their respective topics on Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) under Quantum GIS interface and Flood Modeling using Hydrologic Engineering Center – River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) on the second day of the training. The said topics were discussed by Ms. Rena Christina C. Puno and Forester Bryan Allan M. Talisay, respectively. The participants underwent actual hands-on training on the use of the mapping and hydrologic modeling software throughout the activity.

The training is part of the project’s objectives as it is advancing toward its second year of implementation. Apart from this, the team is aspiring that the expertise and knowledge of the project team that has been shared to the participants will be very helpful to sustain and uphold the project’s outputs in working towards a flood resilient Mindanao.