The Bicol Region is widely known to be one of the country’s most exposed regions to Typhoon events. Typhoons do not only often enter through the region; the region’s basin topography largely contributes to the impact of these calamity events. Flooding thus is perennial. This study presents a comprehensive overview of the Bicol River Basin, specifically Rinconada Lakes Bato and Baao, imagined as a wetland landscape reserves, serving multiple functions on flood mitigation, environmental conservation and tourism.

The Rinconada Wetlands Reserve is a concept lake and wetland management system, with a region-wide impact on resilience and ecosystems conservation. The main goal is to provide a ecosystems-based set of solutions to the perennial flooding based on the natural assets of the region. The following are the guiding principles that shaped this study:

• Flood Management and Mitigation: To identify ways of managing flood that minimizes impact on settlements and livelihoods, particularly in terms of conveyance (i. e. moving the water faster) and retention (i. e. containing / storing the water to decelerate downstream flow).

• Ecosystems Conservation: Lakes Bato and Baao, both part of the Rinconada Lake system, were formed from Bicol River Basin’s hydrological action. Water flows from the sub-basins into the lakes, producing lake and wetland ecosystems which serves as a unique ecosystem and habitat, as well as providing for local livelihood.

• Tourism: A tourism grounded on tranquility, quietness and environmental appreciation would be a focal identity of the reserves, providing additional and/or alternative income for the residents and an alternative option for tourist, within a saturated tourism market focused on adventure and exhilarating activities.

This study aims to identify a multi-faceted, with Lakes Baao and Bato as the focal feature. Components serving distinct functions would be identified and explored and their overall interaction with one another. This study is produced with the effort of a multidisciplinary team of WTA Labs, representing insights from the fields of human settlements, regional planning, geography, ecology and human ecology.