A paradise threatened

The province of Palawan, specifical ly Puerto Princesa City, is one of the last natural resource and forest bastions of the country. Results of the resource and social assessment (RSA) of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources-Fisheries Resource Management Project (BFAR-FRMP) showed that 41 percent of the 253,982 hectares of the ity’s total land area is classified as timberland while 35 percent is agricultural, attesting to the relatively unexploited condition of the city’s terrestrial resources. However, the natural resources of the city are also threatened by overexploitation and migration.

In the last 12 years, there has been a 10.2 percent decline in the city’s forestlands. Between 1990 to 1995, the City’s population growth rate, which is at 6.6 percent, more than doubled the already high national population growth rate of 2.36 percent. The City’s total population is at 127,577. The RSA also showed that there are symptoms of overexploitation of fisheries resources. The potential yield of Puerto Princesa Bay’s stock range of demersal fishes is only 146 to 1,370 tons per year. However, the current demersal yield was estimated to be 2,069 tons a year.

Managing Coastal Resources

Honda and Puerto Princesa Bays are pilot areas for a so-called integrated coastal resource management or ICRM. Implemented by the local government unit of Palawan, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources - Fisheries Resource Management Project (BFAR-FRMP), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and other non-government organizations (NGOs), ICRM affirms the symbiotic relationship of coastal, river, lowland and upland ecosystems. FRMP is a six-year project that started in 1998 and is funded by Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Asian Development Bank (ADB). FRMP aims to address the issues of poverty and fisheries resource depletion

Puerto Princesa City is the only city out of 100 FRMP-covered cities and municipalities nationwide that integrates the various ecosystems in coastal resource management. Part of ICRM strategies include: upland and mangrove reforestation; riverbank rehabilitation; establishment of fish sanctuaries; fisheries law enforcement, legislation and regulation; restocking of vital marine plants and animals; waste management; and enterprise development, among others. Included in the project are capacity building that aims to enhance the capacities of the implementers in ICRM and in information education and communication (IEC).

Love Affair With Nature

The "Love Affair with Nature" is an annual special event initiated by Mayor Edward S. Hagedorn of Puerto Princesa City with the support of BFAR-FRMP in Region 4B led by its director Virgilio A. Alforque. The event aims to instill the importance of conservation, protection and rehabilitation of mangrove forest to ensure sustainable fisheries production and deA paradise threatenen.

The event includes the planting of 4,000 mangrove seedlings covering four hectares in Barangay San Jose, Puerto Princesa City. A year ago, 6,000 seedlings were planted covering six hectares. The event was participated in by 3000 people from various government and non-government organizations, sectors and school children from the City and Province.

A similar event called "Pista - Kagueban" or Feast of the Forest is being held annually every June in the City’s upland forest areas to promote environment protection and rehabilitation.

City’s Nurseries

As a commitment of the city to ICRM and sustainable development and to FRMP, the local government unit maintains two main mangrove and forest trees nurseries and seven other satellite nurseries. The two main nurseries are the Barangay San Jose Mangrove Nursery and the Magarwak Nursery in Barangay Sta. Lourdes.

The city government shoulders the management and overhead cost of the nurseries, including its operational expenses. This is programmed in the city development plan and budget. FRMP supports the nurseries through provisions for infrastructure development, plastic bags and seedlings.

These nurseries are not only for the trees; these have also become learning venues for students and environmentalists. These areas have also been used as living laboratories of other local government units and national government agencies, and schools and students offering environmental and marine sciences, fisheries and biology and other related courses. Among the schools and institutions patronizing these nurseries are AMA Computer School, Palawan State University (PSU), State Polytechnic College of Palawan (SPCP), and the Girls Scout and Boys Scout of the Philippines.

The nurseries have also been instrumental in the promotion of environment- friendly consciousness. They have also distributed tens of thousands of seedlings for reforestation projects of local and national government agencies in the province, including non-governmental organizations and people’s organizations.

The mangrove and upland reforestation of the city government have already reaped positive gains. Trees control soil erosion and siltation. Mangroves serve as breeding, nursery, and feeding grounds of marine fishes. They also serve as buffer from strong winds. But the direct and most felt impact of mangrove and upland reforestation has been that the Irawan Watershed, which is the source of the city’s potable water, has never ran out of supply for the past 10 years, including those deep wells near the reforestation areas. In mangrove areas, fisherfolk have reported an increase in their catch of shell fishes and other crustaceans like shrimps and crabs. The mangrove has also provided regular and seasonal employment and livelihood to surrounding communities. Concretely, the local government unit is buying propagules and seeds from gatherers for their seedlings at P1 per piece.

To be continued