El Nido: Preserving nature, enriching culture

MANILA, Philippines - Visitors to Palawan, the country’s “last frontier”, can expect an even better travel experience as stakeholders in El Nido’s tourism industry take concrete steps to preserve its natural environment and enrich its ethnic culture.

Located in the northernmost part of Palawan mainland, it has been consistently named as one of the world’s best island and beach getaways by international travel magazines and websites.

“Powder-fine beaches and gin-clear waters complement the stunning view of karst limestone formations, empty lagoons, marble cliffs, prehistoric caves and waterfalls,” CNN Travel writes in its website which lists El Nido in the World’s 100 Best Beaches.

The town boasts of 2,645 hectares of mangrove forests, 114 bird species, 447 coral species, 888 fish species, vast tracts of tropical rainforest, and five endemic mammal species, including the dugong (seacow), the world’s rarest marine mammal.

It was declared a Managed Resource Protected Area by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in 1998, and currently has 13 community-managed Marine Protected Areas.

Because of this global accolade and appearance in the Hollywood hit “Bourne Legacy”, tourist arrivals hit 65,000 in 2013, the biggest in its municipal history.

According to Mayor Edna Gacot-Lim, to minimize the impact of tourism to El Nido’s fragile eco-systems, the municipal government and the private sector have partnered for environmental projects for a sustainable tourism industry.

She said that the most notable of these programs is the implementation of the Eco-Tourism Development Fee (ETDF) for visitors in 2008, which requires visitors to pay a P 200 environment fee for access to all tourist sites for 10 days.

Fees go to environmental protection, education and training, resource rehabilitation, solid waste management, and infrastructure development.

A major project funded by the ETDF is the Reef Watch Program of the El Nido Municipal Tourism Office which collects garbage from the islands, maintains mooring buoys, educates guests and tour guides on responsible eco-tourism, and addresses other threats to the reef eco-systems.

Reef Watch also monitors environmental enforcement in Bacuit Bay on a 24/7 basis with the arrival of its patrol boat early this year.

A vital private sector initiative is the installation of mooring buoys around the islands to prevent boat’s anchor damage to corals. Some 70 mooring buoys were installed by Seacology and El Nido Foundation this year, with the local government augmenting the number next year.

Another important undertaking is the Green Fins, a United Nations Environment Program-funded project which accredits dive shops which practice responsible marine-based activities.

El Nido is a pilot area for the accreditation of snorkelling tour operators before it is implemented in other parts of the country.

Lim said that the El Nido municipal council intends to  enact key legislation to preserve the environment and make the local tourism industry sustainable.

These include the passage of a comprehensive ordinance on eco-tourism, implementation of carrying capacity for tourists, the prohibition on the use of plastic in the market and stores, installation of water treatment facilities, and updating the Comprehensive Land and Water Use Plan.

She noted that the town’s exit/entry ordinance is  already in place which requires boats to seek clearance from the Tourism Office and Coast Guard at selected entry points. This law has helped significantly increase collection of ETDF this year.

The mayor also enthused that cultural destinations are being developed, while new beaches and islands in the eastern coast are being explored to supplement existing ones.

In Sibaltan, the town’s heritage village and settlement of the indigenous Cuyonon tribe, proudly stands Balay Cuyonon, an ethnographic museum and replica of a traditional house. Made up of light materials in the bahay kubo mold, it is composed of the main living room and an adjunct kitchen.

Ongoing is the construction of the Pangko Museum, a replica of the Cuyonon traditional boat which showcases the tribe’s maritime culture. The pangko reflects the Cuyonons’ seafaring way of life which brought them to various parts of mainland Palawan from their island town home of Cuyo several hours away.

 Funded by the United States Department of State through its Ancient Shores, Changing Tides Project, the museum would be completed in October.

 Another project set to commence is the Sibaltan Archaeological Museum funded by the municipal government which would become the repository of artifacts unearthed in this coastal community.

Archaeological finds are currently housed in the barangay hall which doubles as a community museum.

Meanwhile, in neighboring New Ibajay is Makangit cave where spelunkers wade inside a chest-deep subterranean river and explore the adjoining chambers.

Nearby is Ille Cave, a prehistoric site of early settlers in northern Palawan tucked inside a limestone mountain.