RP bay a showcase of ecology protection

RP bay a showcase of ecology protection

By Mynardo Macaraig

BAIS BAY, Philippines (AFP): A bay in the central Philippine island of Negros has been held up by environmentalists as a showcase of how local communities, municipal government and non- government organizations can work together to protect the environment.

Bais Bay was threatened by illegal fishermen using dynamite, cyanide and poisons and local farmers cutting down essential mangrove.

The poisons and dynamite damaged coral and large numbers of fish and wildlife, while the lack of mangrove meant silt washed down from sugar plantations, hacked out of local forests, threatened the quality of the water.

But a combination of political agreements, poverty alleviation for fishermen and farmers and local support have helped.

Penelope Wensley, a chairwoman of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) workshop, held in Silliman this week, said their studies of the Philippines, showed "cooperation, legislation and a mix of involving the communities, seems to be a framework that can be applied," to protect coastal environments throughout the world.

Since 1992, preserving Bais has been a major project of the marine laboratory of the prestigious Silliman University, located in the nearby city of Dumaguete.

It began an information campaign to educate the local communities on the long-term hazards of environmental degradation.

It also started a program to reforest the mangroves, planting seedlings in the turgid waters.

Fishermen's organizations were strengthened, and they now serve as unpaid volunteers guarding the bay against illegal fishers and mangrove cutters.

Their success has made Bais Bay a showcase of how local communities, municipal government and non-government organizations can work together to protect the environment.

Rowena Merto, a community worker and technical adviser here, says the main threat to the area now comes from outsiders illegally cutting mangroves or using poison to catch fish.

"The key issue here is information and education," Hilconida Calumpong, director of Silliman's Marine Lab, says.

But she admits that much of their progress depends on political developments. Although a Canadian grant helped start up the project, it managed to continue due largely from support of the mayors of the bayfront communities like Francisco Villanueva and Jose Baldado.

Villanueva, of Bais City, and Baldado, of nearby Manuyod town, have had the respective parts of the bay under their jurisdiction declared as marine sanctuaries.

Both have helped in strengthening the fishermen's organizations in working to protect that area. They continued supporting the mangrove reforestation project and a crackdown on illegal fishers.

To further encourage environmental preservation, environmentalists are trying to find alternative livelihoods for the people.

Silliman has started a pilot farm for mussels and clams. The mayors are promoting the bay for ecotourism, showing off their white sands, clear waters, corals and their newest attraction: whale and dolphin watching tours.

But not all reforms have been successful.

Baldado recalls that an environment department program to reforest the mountains through the grant of stewardships to local residents failed, as many of them did not plant trees and some even sold the land.