The Bohol CRM Showcase Tour: Making CRM a Choice

As part of its exit strategy and to facilitate future sharing of lessons in coastal management, the Coastal Resource Management Project (CRMP) developed “CRM Showcases” that feature in a study tour or interpretive program successful coastal resource management practices by local government units and other groups working with coastal communities. Last November, CRMP launched its third showcase (after Masbate and Davao), the Bohol Province CRM Showcase Tour. This article describes the tour.

By Liberty Pinili Aliño

ohol has long been known as the place where one finds the Chocolate Hills, a cluster of identical and perfectly formed mounds of earth, and the tarsier, the smallest monkey.

Today, Bohol and the islands within its jurisdiction are gaining a new reputation as the place that holds some of the proven successes and most valuable lessons in coastal resource management (CRM) in the Philippines.

These lessons are yours to learn if you join the Bohol CRM Showcase Tour, which will not only show you Bohol’s captivating sights but also introduce you to the Boholanos, who are the bone and sinew of every successful endeavor in the province.

The Bohol circuit features the Bohol Environmental Management Office (BEMO), the towns of Getafe, Inabanga, Buenavista, Guindulman, Dimiao, and Baclayon. Along the way, tour participants will see and experience both those places that have made Bohol a favorite tourist destination and other sites relatively unknown but just as fascinating.

Upon arrival in Tagbilaran City, tour participants will be briefed on the Provincial Government’s CRM programs, particularly activities undertaken by BEMO. The Provincial Government has declared war against illegal fishing and created Coastal Law Enforcement Councils (CLECs) in each of the three congressional districts in the province.

On Day One of the tour, the group visits the town of Inabanga, which epitomizes effective local governance and strict enforcement of coastal laws. Next stop is Cambuhat, Buenavista where a village has learned to manage a river’s resources and preserve their culture, and to end the day, the breathtaking Banacon Island mangrove forest, the largest man-made aquatic forest in the country. Banacon’s mangrove forest was started by only one man but today, each household on the tiny island in northern Bohol maintains a block of mangroves.

On Day Two, the tour group visits the town of Guindulman where a community, hardened by storms and earthquakes, realizes the necessity of protecting the sea’s resources, their perennial source of food and income. The tour features the marine sanctuary in Barangay Basdio where fish are reported to make swirl while they feed early in the morning. Another point of interest in the sanctuary are the burial caves on the face of limestone cliffs overlooking the sea. Second stop is the town of Dimiao, where the local government initiated coastal resource conservation, waste management and reforestation. Townfolk are also proud of their Roman Catholic Church and the mysterious Ermita ruins, remnants of the Spanish occupation.

To cap the tour, experience dolphin and whale-watching off Pamilacan island where some residents used to hunt whale sharks as a means of livelihood.

In between CRM lessons, tour participants will visit Bohol’s better known attractions: the tarsier, the Chocolate Hills, some old Roman Catholic churches, and the Loboc river, church and museum. Also included in the tour is a visit to the salabat (ginger tea) processing plant run by the women of Barangay Candabong in the town of Loboc.

For those who thirst for more knowledge, the tour can be extended for another day for a visit to the mangrove forest of Barangay Panadtaran in Candijay. Panadtaran folk can teach you about nipa weaving, mud crab culture, and their sources of income from the mangrove forest, while you sip their nipa wine.

DAY 1

Inabanga: Strong political will against illegal fishers
Inabanga is the hometown of Francisco Dagohoy, father of the Dagohoy Rebellion in 1744. From Dagohoy, Inabangnons inherited a strong spirit and the relentlessness to fight for what is right, the same traits that serve as the driving force behind the local government’s continuous campaign against illegal fishing and its successful coastal and upland resource rehabilitation project.

In October 1997, with assistance from the Coastal Resource Management Project (CRMP), the local government started planning the proper management of the town’s coastal and marine resources. An intensive information and education campaign on CRM, conducted by the local government officials, propelled the campaign forward.

The efforts of the local officials paid off when coastal communities committed to help the police fight illegal fishing. Forty-five fishers and members of the village patrol were organized to form the Inabanga Fish Wardens’ Association.

Mayor Josephine Socorro Jumamoy secured funding assistance from the Community Based Resource Management Project (CBRMP), a World Bank-funded undertaking of the Department of Finance, for the Inabanga Resource Rehabilitation and Development Project (IRRDP). IRRDP includes natural resource management, upland rehabilitation and development, coastal rehabilitation, support livelihood and small-scale infrastructure, such as farm-to-market roads and water supply.

Under its CRM program, the local government established marine sanctuaries in two island-barangays, seagrass sanctuaries and reforested over 300 hectares of mangroves.

In 2002, Inabanga received a Level 1 CRM certification in recognition of its commitment towards achieving sustainable development through poverty alleviation, protectection of and management of natural resources.

Awarding of Level 1 CRM Certification to Inabanga

(A  local government with Level 1 CRM certification is one that has: made CRM as a basic service, conducted planning and field interventions from one to three years, drafted a multi-year CRM plan, formed and activated an municipal fisheries and aquatic resource management council, conducted baseline assessment, made annual CRM allocation and planned shoreline management.)

Villagers live on the basics: fisherfolk fish in the Bohol Strait, farmers toil in their small farms while some village women weave mats using raffia fiber and make flour from the buri palm tree.

In 1998, the USAID-funded CRMP of the DENR, under its enterprise development component, saw the need to augment the meager income of villagers and help the community manage the area’s coastal resources.

Oyster farm, Cambuhat, Buenavista

With funding and personnel assistance from the Buenavista Municipal Government, CRMP taught residents how to culture oysters and develop the river and the village into an ecotourism site.

While some villagers may not be able to utter the phrase “river resource management” offhand, they have integrated sustainable practices into their daily routine since 1999.

Residents growing oysters have learned how to keep the water in the river clean to protect their oyster farms. Even other residents, who do not maintain oyster farms, now refrain from throwing wastes that pollute the river.

A group of women established and now operates the Cambuhat River and Village Tour, which includes a paddleboat ride showing the river ecosystem and the oyster farms, and a demonstration of raffia weaving.

The tour won the Conservation International Excellence in Ecotourism Award in April 2000, besting 67 entries from different parts of the world.

That was in 1959. In the early 1980s, Banacon was placed on the map for being the largest mangrove plantation in the Philippines, if not the whole of Asia, established by the community without government assistance.

Banacon Mangrove Park, Getafe

Today, the mangrove forest covers over 400 hectares, at some points connecting the island of Banacon and nearby Jaguliao.

Island residents have long realized the importance of mangroves. Mangroves have enabled them to supply Cebu City with fish, blue crabs and shells daily. Residents also profit from selling adult mangroves for firewood and timber, and propagules.

To ensure sustainable resources, each family in the island maintain a block or two of mangroves. Using their traditional management method, families, plant new seedlings to replace adult mangroves that they cut for firewood and construction purposes.

As one experiences the mangrove forest that grew from a little initiative that has brought significant benefits for the ecosystem and the people, the cruise within the mangrove park turns from merely fascinating to inspiring.

DAY 2

Basdio marine sanctuary: Fruit of necessity
About 85 kilometers southeast of Tagbilaran City is the town of Guindulman, the oldest municipality in Bohol. Guindulman folk know the meaning of hardship: their farms and homes have been whipped by several typhoons.

In Barangay Basdio (a contraction of “bas diyo, Boholano phrase meaning “little sand”), where soil cover is so thin crops hardly grow, residents consider the sea as a stable source of food and income. But fisherfolk have also realized that their fishery resources are not an infinite source of food. About a decade ago, their catch began to decrease as a result of destructive fishing practices involving the use of dynamite and fine mesh nets.

With this realization, some fishers decided to give up 18.4 hectares of their fishing ground to establish a marine sanctuary. Initially, other fishers opposed the move but today, even those who most loudly criticized the sanctuary take part in protecting the area.

From the guardhouse on the cliff overlooking the marine sanctuary, one can see the rich aquatic life that fisherfolk are protecting: live and colorful corals, fish breaking the surface of the crystal clear water. Communities that harbor the notion that they have nothing, no resources to speak of, can take heart from the people of Basdio.

Dimiao: A dream come true
In 1996, alarmed by rampant illegal fishing activities and indiscriminate throwing of wastes, the local government of Dimiao launched project DREAM, short for Development of Resources, Education, Awareness and Management.

Project DREAM sought to involve residents in natural resources management. At the start, the municipal government held environmental awareness seminars, and facilitated the integration of environmental education into the curriculum of elementary and high school students.

The local government then established a marine reserve and fish sanctuary, implemented mangrove rehabilitation, an agro-forestry demo farm and an improved garbage collection system. Later it organized several activities to involve residents, including coastal clean-up drives, creation of fishermen’s organizations, women’s groups, Bantay Dagat, the Municipal Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council and the Municipal Agriculture and Fisheries Council, among others.

Enforcement of coastal laws was also strengthened while the municipal legislative council enacted ordinances to support the objectives of the program.

With the support of different stakeholders, the local government realized its dream after four years: living conditions of coastal households improved, catch of the fisherfolk tripled, beach sand quarrying activities decreased and pigpens along shores and rivers were eliminated.

Over 3,000 mangrove trees have been planted in the town’s coastline and about 141 hectares of land have been reforested as a result of Project DREAM.

Through strong political will and education, the local government and the townfolk of Dimiao jointly addressed the problem of environmental degradation before it became malignant.               

When government banned the practice in 1998, many fisherfolk in Pamilacan lost a lucrative source of income. Exporters of shark meat offered fishers P10,000 to P20,000 for each creature. The amount was even raised to P120,000 when the ban was imposed.

The World Wildlife Fund brought assistance to the island and urged former whale hunters to venture into dolphin and whale-watching tours instead. Around 9 species of whales and dolphins have reportedly been sighted in the sea near Pamilacan. There are too, the whale sharks and manta rays.

With the assistance of non-governmental organizations and concerned government agencies, the Provincial Government of Bohol held an awareness campaign among fisherfolk and helped develop the dolphin and whale-watching tour.

Fisherfolk began to realize the importance of the rich underwater life in the area and the economic benefits they can get from protecting these resources. Pamilacan has become one of the favorite destinations of local and foreign divers and snorkelers visiting Bohol.

Coastal management was first introduced in Candijay in 1993 during the implementation o foreign-assisted projects such as Rain-fed Resources Development Project of the USAID and the Central Visayas Regional Project 1 of the World Bank. These early CRM efforts were reinforced in 1998 when Candijay became an expansion site of the CRMP and BEMO.

The CRM projects raised public awareness in the town, particularly in Barangay Panadtaran where 40 percent of residents are dependent on mangroves for livelihood and daily sustenance.

In 1996, 140 individuals formed the Panadtaran Mangrove Association (PAMAS), which has remained until today to be the most active people’s organization in Candijay.

PAMAS secured a Community Based Forest Management Agreement (CBFMA) from the DENR for 596 hectares. Members were determined to plant the entire area with mangroves. But their resolve was severely tested when some 36,000 mangrove propagules they planted in a 43-hectare abandoned fishpond were cut by the foreshore lease agreement holder.

Wary but still determined, PAMAS members continued to replant and protect mangroves in the area. With assistance from DENR-CRMP, they ventured into mud crab and oyster culture. Some members also went into shrimp culture.

In 2001, CRMP helped Panadtaran folk develop the mangrove area into an ecotourism project. Through the assistance of the German Development Service, Bohol Tourism Office and the FCB Foundation, Inc., boardwalks were built around the mangrove forest and signs are being installed identifying the different mangrove species in the area.

A walk into the Panadtaran mangrove forest is both exciting and educating. While balancing on that bamboo boardwalk, PAMAS members can tell you how shrimps, mud crabs and oysters are grown. They can even teach you how to extract wine from the nipa palm.

Bohol is the first province in the country to enact an environmental code and to organize a province-wide coastal law enforcement program. Clearly, Boholanos have made the decision crucial to the survival of generations -- they have chosen resource management above disregard and apathy.

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