MANILA, Philippines - Arena Island in Narra, Palawan renews its commitment to eco tourism as it celebrates its first anniversary this November.
From being a private island, Arena Island opened the doors to its four-hectare paradise last year. Since then, local and foreign tourists alike have visited the island for their rest and recreation, pleasantly combined with nature tripping.
A nesting place for native sea turtles, Arena Island strives not just to help the endangered pawikans, but also be an island with best ecotourism systems in place.
“We want to be the best showcase of ecotourism in the country. Our conservation efforts for the pawikans should only be complemented by eco-sustainable operations of the island.”
The island has strengthened its efforts towards eco-sustainability in May this year by taking part in the Zero Carbon Resorts (ZCR) Project under the EU SWITCH-Asia program and initiated by GrAT-Center for Appropriate Technology and its partners-ASSIST, PCSD, PhilGBC and Plataforma Solar de Almería Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas, Medioambientales y Tecnologicas (PSA CIEMAT), the largest European center for research, development and testing of concentrating solar technologies.
The ZCR project aims to enable tourism SMEs in Palawan and other parts of the Philippines to switch from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy.
“We are also on our way to developing a complete sustainability map for the island. Next year, we want to be able to convert traditional and maybe wasteful practices to more sustainable ways of doing things," said Roland Rodriguez, a native of Cuyo, Palawan and the island’s proprietor and protector.
In celebration of the island’s first year of operations as a private destination, they are offering special packages valid for travel on July 1-November 30, 2013. Interested parties may call (02) 401-97-78 or email arenaisland@gmail.com.