 |
Environment
and development in coastal regions and in small islands |
 |
|
Environment
and development in coastal regions and in small islands |
|
 |
An
ecological assessment of Ulugan Bay, Palawan, Philippines, CSI info 12
Appendix III
Contributions from the wise coastal practices for sustainable human development forum relating to Ulugan Bay and the Philippines
The Wise Coastal Practices for Sustainable Human Development Forum may be accessed at: http://www.csiwisepractices.org, user name = csi, password = wise.
Each contribution has a number such that the uniform resource locator (URL) for a contribution is: http://www.csiwisepractices.org/?read=x where x is the number of the contribution. The URLs are included for the three following contributions, as well as for the list of additional contributions relating to the Philippines, listed at the end of this Appendix.
Combining research and education in protected area management / Ulugan Bay, the Philippines
(http://www.csiwisepractices.org/?read=78)
Posted by: Miguel Fortes
Date: Thursday, 12 August 1999
(Extract)
As part of the bigger project, a workshop undertaken by Green
Globe, an international NGO,
mandated to take charge of the tourism component, was held in Puerto Princesa,
16–18 June 1999. It looked at the potential of Ulugan Bay as a tourism destination.
But the way their recommendations were formulated was not culturally sensitive
enough, so we reacted strongly (but discreetly) against it. Simply prescribing
cottage industries just because there are people who make baskets is courting
disaster. Somewhere within the prescription, there has to be an effective cultural
dimension to link with the action.
A most significant and surely a wise practice is our integration or linking of the research and teaching obligations of the UNESCO chairholders with the tourism and management activities in Ulugan Bay. For my part, my team does the assessment of the coastal resources (seagrasses, coral reefs, mangroves, fishes, seaweed) and investigates the demographic dynamics of mangrove saplings at both reforested and natural sites (with a scholar for the M.Sc. degree). This management-oriented research now forms the basis for the tourism plan, likewise augmenting and updating the body of knowledge useful in the formulation of policies for area protection and sustainable use.
On the other hand, the chairholder in the social sciences very recently finished a socioeconomic profile of the communities in the bay. In contrast to similar or related works in the past, this profile is much more receptive to the actual needs and perceptions of the people. With the scientific and educational inputs, it now forms a major basis for the tourism and management thrusts of the project. Come August, all these inputs (scientific, socio-cultural, anthropological, legal and educational) will be collated and integrated in a workshop in Palawan and immediately shared with the people.
Dr. Miguel D. Fortes
Environmental Science Program
College of Science
University of the Philippines
Diliman, the Philippines
Exposing the hypocrisy of some ‘environmental’ resorts
http://www.csiwisepractices.org/?read=174
Posted by: Miguel Fortes
Date: Saturday, 19 February 2000
In response to:
‘The
role of non-governmental organizations in programme implementation’
by Jean Wiener
It is not only self-serving governments and NGOs that we have to deal with, but also the owners and managers of self-serving ‘environmental’ tourism operations.
The Province of Palawan is the ‘last frontier’ of the Philippines as it is relatively the most environmentally pristine. This month (February 2000), environmental compliance monitoring was conducted of a resort in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. This resort is known internationally as a destination for nature lovers.
The results of the compliance monitoring showed several violations of our environmental laws:
The possession of several large pieces of freshcut squared timber, all of which have no existing permits (nato, a hardwood species);
Use of fresh-cut premium hardwood of the manggis species and of nato and saket species, for the construction of a staff house, all without any permits to possess or utilize the above mentioned premium hardwood or for its transport – manggis is classified as a banned premium hardwood as it is now a threatened species;
Building of a structure without any building permits nor an Environmental Compliance Certificate, with the use of fresh-cut round timber without any permit; the said structure was built in contravention of the mangrove stewardship agreement, knowing all too well that no permanent structures may be erected under such agreement; and,
The existence of an unauthorized corral for black tip sharks.
For several years now our communities have been reporting illegal logging activities in their respective barangays. The illegal loggers have been saying that the wood that they have been cutting from the mountains of Palawan was destined for this resort. For several years now, we have been trying to catch them in the act, and now we have finally succeeded.
This resort is operating without an Environmental Compliance Certificate. Their application is pending with the Regional Executive Director for Region 4. The owners and managers of this resort claim to be advocating the cause of the environment. They are nothing but hypocrites. They are one of the reasons why the hardwoods of Palawan are being cut, further compounding the critical state of our environment.
Dr. Miguel D. Fortes
Environmental Science Program
College of Science
University of the Philippines
Diliman, the Philippines
The impact of migrant fishers on sustainable development / Ulugan Bay, Palawan, the Philippines
(http://www.csiwisepractices.org/?read=330)
Posted by: Rebecca Rivera-Guieb
Date: Friday, 2 February 2001
In response to:
‘Enforcing
environmental laws: a societal approach / the Philippines’
by Bob Johannes
The prevalence of illegal fishing is indeed a very complex social phenomenon that needs careful and thoughtful analysis. It is unfortunate that poverty is sometimes used as an excuse for the continued use of destructive fishing methods. Poverty largely influences such methods but there are a variety of other factors that account for its prevalence. The existence of institutions with their corrupt practices has been mentioned. A lack of environmental consciousness and ecological values may be another. I want to share with you, an interesting insight in the socioeconomic research done in Ulugan Bay for the UNESCO-CSI/UNDP (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – platform for Environment and Development in Coastal Regions and Small Islands/United Nations Development Programme) project on community-based sustainable tourism.
The residents of Ulugan Bay in Palawan Island, the Philippines, have observed the effects of temporary migrant fishers’ activities on their livelihoods. Although an accurate number of these migrants has yet to be established, residents have reported that, in Buenavista, 3–5 boats of migrants from the Visayas (another island in the Philippines) regularly fish in the bay every year. Each boat carries 30 fishers. These migrants fish for about 5 days and then leave, only to return again after 3 months. This pattern of operation means that these groups fish for approximately 20 days in a year. They are reportedly using compressors and cyanide. In the adjoining community of Cabayugan, about 100 fishers from the Visayas also regularly fish in the bay using cyanide. They fish for a full straight month, at least six times in a year.
It is the residents’ opinion that these temporary migrants do not care about Ulugan Bay because they can always go to another area if they can no longer catch anything in the bay. These migrant fishers are also organized into groups managed by medium to large-scale fishing businesses, thus, their concern is possibly only to earn as much as they can and then move from one area to another. Their pattern of exploitation is observable but little is known of their organization, their skills and conditions. What has been observed is their apparent lack of responsibility and sense of ownership of the waters they exploit.
There are very few studies that have looked at the conditions of temporary migrant fishers. Their number is increasing as fish catches become more scarce, thus an investigation of their impacts on local fishing, their relationships with the communities they temporarily stay with, and their values and perspectives on the environment is badly needed.
Prof. Rebecca Rivera-Guieb
Environmental Science Program
College of Science
University of the Philippines
Diliman, the Philippines
Other contributions to the Wise Coastal Practices for Sustainable Human Development forum relating to the Philippines include:
Environmental impact assessment as a management tool / the
Philippines
Miguel Fortes
http://www.csiwisepractices.org/?read=37
Public-private partnerships for marine pollution management /
Batangas Bay, the Philippines
Chua Thia-Eng
http://www.csiwisepractices.org/?read=57
Local stakeholders’ concerns versus business priorities
Philippe MacClenahan
http://www.csiwisepractices.org/?read=61
Usefulness of the consultative processes
Chua Thia-Eng
http://www.csiwisepractices.org/?read=65
Further questioning the role of some NGOs / the Philippines
Miguel Fortes
http://www.csiwisepractices.org/?read=146
Further developments at Ulugan Bay, the Philippines
Miguel Fortes
http://www.csiwisepractices.org/?read=150
Sustainable tourism in a biosphere reserve, Puerto Galera,
the Philippines
Miguel Fortes
http://www.csiwisepractices.org/?read=197
UNEP’s Global 500 awards: wise practices in action
Moderator
http://www.csiwisepractices.org/?read=248
Local (Palawan, the Philippines) and global aspects of
renewable energy
Hugh Trudeau and Stefan Gössling
http://www.csiwisepractices.org/?read=254
The future of the Wise Practices Forum – an Asia-Pacific
regional perspective
Maarten Kuijper
http://www.csiwisepractices.org/?read=285
Education rather than purchasing is a better option for
conservation / the Philippines
Guillermo H. A. Santos
http://www.csiwisepractices.org/?read=292
Sustainable tourism through the preparation of a tourism
master plan / the Philippines
Melissa Macasaet and Martin Felstead
http://www.csiwisepractices.org/?read=298
Enforcing environmental laws: a societal approach / the
Philippines
Bob Johannes
http://www.csiwisepractices.org/?read=300
Land purchase/lease for conservation does work – some
examples
Ray Leonard, Jean-Luc Solandt, Clive Gilbert, Sibylle Riedmiller, Collette
Wabnitz
http://www.csiwisepractices.org/?read=329
