Special Report: Locals move to protect Danajon reef

TAGBILARAN, Bohol, Philippines —Local seaweed farmers and environmental groups here are now up in arms against the provincial government for allowing a Korean company to put up a billion-dollar seaweed farming industry in their seas, specifically in the Danajon Bank, the country’s only double-barrier reef, without prior consultation and assessment on its effects to the province’s marine resources.

In a consultation meeting at JJs Seafood Village here attended by representatives of various non-government organizations and local seaweeds farmers groups, it was agreed that they will start a signature campaign to support the petition to be filed before the Supreme Court against Governor Erico Aumentado and a Korean firm Biolsystems Co. Ltd. (Biols) with its president Gyungsoo Kim.

William Jatulan of the Fisheries Improved of Justice and Peace (Fish Project) said that the petition, which is now being drafted by environmental lawyers headed by Benjamin Cabrido, will invoke the newly-promulgated rules on environmental cases specifically the “Writ of Kalikasan.” The new ruling is contained in the Supreme Court en banc resolution on administrative matter 09-6-9SC promulgated last April 13.

Jatulan said this may be the first case to be filed since the new law was introduced.

The Fish Project is among those environmental groups, which for many years, have focused their efforts on protecting and preserving the Danajon Bank, one of the world’s few double-barrier reefs. And with that Korean “mega project”—with a capital of US$3.5 million—which is projected to cover one million hectares of the Danajon seas for the next few years, Jatulan and the rest of the environmentalists present in that discussion believe that all their efforts would be put to naught, especially that the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by Aumentado and Kim on July 16 last year did not specifically state whether or not it would also include the marine protected areas (MPA).

Paragraph 2 of the MOU says that apart from the three hectares that Bohol will supply to Biols as its “test area” for aquaculture, the province will also provide 500 hectares for seedling plantation and a “minimum of 25,000 hectares up to 100,000 hectares for the aquaculture site proper for 50 years.” Also, the contract said that Bohol will undertake “to work for the extension of the Biols’ exclusive operation of this project for a period of another 25 years, as allowed by existing Philippine laws, rules and regulations on investment.”

And for the next years, the province has agreed “to work with neighboring provinces to consolidate up to a total of one million hectares for the same endeavor.”

In that agreement, the Korean government will use its US$3.5 million investment to plant seaweeds in the Danajon seas, extract bioethanol from them and build a huge factory in Talibon. According to Wikipedia, bioethanol is a form of renewable energy that can be produced from agricultural feedstock like seaweeds.

While the purpose could be pro-environment, Angie Nellas, senior marine biologist of Project Seahorse Foundation Inc., noted that the MOU doesn’t guarantee that with the thousands of hectares to be made into a huge seaweed plantation, the Danajon Bank would still be protected. She finds it “ironic” to see a grand plan aimed at providing renewable energy, and at the same time possibly ruining the environment in the process.

Like the Fish Project, PSFI has been assisting Bohol and its coastal communities in the monitoring and rehabilitation of its Danajon Bank for the last 10 years.

“We are not here to obstruct this project, we’re just trying to see its ecological aspect…its sustainability. But based from the MOU, there’s no clear layout plan or specific areas where they will plant the seaweeds. With such encompassing plan, it is like putting the Danajon Bank into a potential risk,” said Nellas.

According to the PSFI research, the Danajon Bank, one of the world’s six double barrier reefs, was formed during the last 6,000 years. Of the 272-square kilometer reef, 80 percent belongs to the province of Bohol, while the rest is shared among the neighboring provinces of Cebu, Leyte and Southern Leyte. And in Bohol alone, there are already 154 MPAs being established within the Danajon area. If the seaweed farming of Biols would go un-quarantined, then all their efforts of attaining a healthy Danajon Bank, which may one day become a national or a world heritage would be “compromised,” said Nellas.

The planned 25,000-hectare seaweed farming expansion, came to them as a shock, admitted the marine biologist, saying that it was just “very vast.” Seaweed farming may not have a direct biological impact, but because of the lack of proper assessment and ecological studies, the expansion may in a way disturb the sensitive marine habitats, she said.

Also, Nellas said that the Danajon seas’ carrying capacity is also a big issue. She explained that the total potential area for seaweed farm expansion in the Bohol part of Danajon is 7,857 hectares only based on water depth of 15 meters. A reserve area for coral reefs and seagrass beds should be set aside equivalent to 15 percent of total area, as mandated by RA 8550 of the Fisheries Code. The potential farm areas under the jurisdiction of the provinces of Leyte and Cebu are 5,754 has and 3,703 hectares, respectively.

Seaweed Farmers’ Concern

Manuel Fudolin, who is a seaweed farmer himself and president of Doljo-Panglao fishermen’s Association, told The FREEMAN that he may not be directly affected by the project, (Panglao is not part of Danajon Bank) but they thrive as one, considering that they belong to the same farmers’ cooperative, and they will all die eventually.

Based on its agreement with the government, Biols will hire the local farmers to plant the seaweeds for them. There is no specific amount yet as to how much each will be paid per day, but according to the local rates, a farmer earns around P150 per day.

Fudolin however said that is just a “small of amount of earning” compare to what they actually get if they farm their own seaweeds. Seaweeds grow and are ready for harvest in 45 days, but only a maximum of six days will the farm need workers, and it is only during the planting and harvesting stage, which means the rest of the 39 days the farmers are jobless.

It is the Bohol Provincial Seaweeds Farmers Cooperative (BPSFC) that buys their produce, which is priced at around P46 per kilogram (dried seaweed) depending on the type of specie.

Fudolin said seaweed farming requires a small amount of capital and effort on the farmer’s part, hence it is a very lucrative industry in their area. But considering that 90 percent of the coop members are from Danajon Bank, their industry would “surely” be taken over by Biols. This is just however one of the problems the farmers in Panglao are facing, the other is the proposed reclamation of the area’s 600-hectare seawater, which includes the seaweed farms and fishing grounds there.

Nador Bongcac, another seaweed farmer and president of Panglao Seaweeds Farmers Association, also supported the petition against the Korean company. He said almost all the families of Bohol are on seaweed farming or fishing and fishermen will have to suffer once the project goes full-blown and it is likely that the entire area would be off limits to them.

Engr. Romeo Cabading, member of BPSFC. Cabading, who also operates a seaweed farm in Getafe town, said that he received reports of fishermen in his town who were being shooed away by Korean nationals like they were thieves after they caught trying to fish in areas within the Biols’ plantation. Cabading said in the past before the province had allowed Biols to operate, these areas were fishing grounds.

Project Status

Based on the project development plan, from last year to this year, Biols is expected to plant two to 50 hectares of seaweeds within the Danajon seas. And for next year and the year after it, at least 10,000 hectares of the said sea is expected to be full of seaweed plantation.

It is then in the years 2013-2015, around this time 100,000 hectares of Danajon has been under the Biols’ scope already, when the production of bioethanol has started.

In some towns that are within the Danajon Bank, at least 500-square meter has been planted with seaweeds on each of them already.

The construction of Biols’ Algahol Research and Development Center in San Jose, Talibon has also been started.

An employee of the provincial capitol, who refused to be identified, said these projects are now being started without the necessary permits. Except for Loon Mayor Lloyd Peter Lopez, all the coastal mayors of the towns that are within the project area, have signed the MOU, signifying they agree with the project despite the fact that it did not undergo a public hearing. And small farmers were not informed beforehand.

The same source revealed that the original MOU stated that 2,000 students were supposed to benefit from the project, through the Korean’s training program, but for some reason, either the Korean company or the Bohol government had omitted that part, along other salient points that were highlighted in the original draft. In the signed MOU, the employee said it was not even mentioned if Bohol is getting something out of the project. What is clear, the source added, is that the Korean company is using the province’s natural resources, and may even continually enjoy it for free, as the MOU also provides that the area where the laboratory/factory is will be turned into an economic zone, thereby providing tax holidays and custom-duty free for the said foreign company.

For his part, Cabading questioned if Biols and Bohol share the profit that will come later on as it was not also stated in the MOU.

The agreement also says that the Korean company will lease the sea, but as to how much, it was not clarified. Under the Constitution, Cabading said: “Aliens cannot lease land of public domain because that would involve enjoyment of the natural resources of the public domain.”

Meanwhile, several local farmers and environmentalists had signed the farmers’ monthly meeting at Alona Beach Resort, Panglao, signifying their interest to support the petition against the mega project. As of yesterday, a source said 1,700 signatures were already gathered from the local fisherfolk.

They also hoped to see the governor for a dialogue anytime soon to ask for his explanation why they were not informed of the said project that is bound to take away their livelihood and the natural resources. — /WAB (THE FREEMAN)