OVER SEAS -- The Online Magazine for Sustainable Seas

Negros Oriental

CRMP’s coverage in Negros Oriental is extensive: seven coastal municipalities and two cities, including the provincial capital, Dumaguete City, and Bais City, the industrial center about 45 km north of Dumaguete. The province is recognized as a pioneer in coastal resource management, largely as a result of work done by researchers of Silliman University, which is noted for its Marine Laboratory at Silliman Farm Beach. Here, a short distance offshore, one finds the country’s first artificial (tire) reef, installed in 1977 and now sheltering diverse marine life. There are more than 20 marine sanctuaries along the coasts of Negros Oriental, including the Apo Island Marine Sanctuary, widely regarded as a model of community-based coastal resource management. Strong local government support and multi-sectoral cooperation play a crucial role in Negros Oriental’s success in sustaining the coastal management programs initiated by the World Bank-assisted Central Visayas Regional Project (1984-1992), Silliman University and other groups.

Trainees On PCRA: Good Job!
The participatory coastal resource assessment (PCRA) training program received positive feedback from municipal trainors in CRMP’s learning area in Negros Oriental. In workshops organized last April 22 and 24 to solicit comments and suggestions from participants, the municipal trainors said the PCRA was effective in that "it allowed us to participate in the assessment of our own conditions thus giving us a greater sense of responsibility for its outcome." They also raised a number of issues related to the implementation of coastal resource management in their respective communities, Learning Area Coordinator (LAC) William Ablong reported. Among these were the barangay development councils’ apparent lack of support and commitment for CRM and the slack in the implementation of CRM-related projects because of the campaign for next month’s national and local elections.

"After the elections, we are going to start capability-building and then participatory development planning workshops," said Ablong. "Right now, we are concentrating on the development of the Learning Area’s municipal-level coastal environment profiles."

Opening Next Schoolyear:
Marine Ecology for Grade School
The provincial government of Negros Oriental, assisted by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports and CRMP, steps up preparations for the introduction next schoolyear of marine ecology subjects for Grades 5 and 6 in selected schools in the province. Lesson plans have already been developed for this purpose. "Now we need to orient the teachers on what the program is about and what it demands of them," said LAC Ablong. Seventy science teachers have been invited to an orientation workshop to be held on May 17

CRMP also organized this month (April 29) a workshop on the Fisheries Code, which was signed into law last February. Fifteen local government representatives and leaders of fishers’ groups attended the meeting, which generated suggestions on the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Code. CRMP has been invited to participate in the formulation of the IRR.

Also this month, CRMP participated in a public hearing on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) draft proclamation declaring portions of the Tañon Strait from the Badian-Santander stretch in Cebu and the Ayungon-Dauin stretch in Negros Oriental a protected seascape. Under the proposal, commercial fishing concerns will be prohibited from operating in the area, while small fishermen will be required to register with the local government unit and to wear identification cards while fishing there. LAC Ablong said the multisectoral group that attended the hearing suggested that DENR seek the endorsement of the municipal councils in the affected areas. "The proclamation would be more effective if the councils are consulted first and made part of the decision-making process," he added. With reports from G.A. Nilles in Sun.Star Daily, 04.15.98 §