PCSDS ensures integration of ECAN into Busuanga’s CLUP

by | Feb 6, 2017

The Local Government Unit (LGU) of Busuanga is in the process of updating their Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) with the assistance of graduate students from the University of the Philippines School of Urban and Regional Planning (UP SURP).

This is in consonance with the Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code that mandates the LGUs to create the said plan which will serve as its guide for the management of the land, water, and other natural resources within its jurisdiction.

The Palawan Council for Sustainable Development Staff (PCSDS), meanwhile, is keeping tabs on Busuanga’s CLUP updating to ensure the integration of Environmentally Critical Areas Network (ECAN), PCSDS Planning Staff Cherry Jalover said.

The Calauit Safari Park (formerly known as Calauit Game Preserve and Wildlife Sanctuary as declared by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 1578) is located on the secluded Calauit Island in the northwest tip of Busuanga, a town in Northern Palawan. It is the Philippines’ major conservation showcase for wildlife habitat holding the single distinction as the first successful wildlife translocation experiment in Asia. (FILE PHOTO)
The Calauit Safari Park (formerly known as Calauit Game Preserve and Wildlife Sanctuary as declared by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 1578) is located on the secluded Calauit Island in the northwest tip of Busuanga, a town in Northern Palawan. It is the Philippines’ major conservation showcase for wildlife habitat holding the single distinction as the first successful wildlife translocation experiment in Asia. (FILE PHOTO)

Jalover added that the CLUP should be aligned with the PCSD’s ECAN, a system providing grades of protection and development control over the whole of Palawan. ECAN is the main strategy of the R.A. 7611 or the Strategic Environmental Plan (SEP) for Palawan Act.

Jalover was invited to participate in the workshop presentation of the Busuanga CLUP, along with the town’s key officials led by Mayor Elizabeth Cervantes, at the UP SURP in Diliman, Quezon City on January 17.

Her participation is part of PCSD’s effort to mainstream the ECAN System into the local development plans. In 2016, Puerto Princesa City, Coron, and Busuanga had been selected for the said integration. Participatory ECAN Management Planning workshops were conducted for each area, followed by the formulation of ECAN Zones Management Plans.

The explicit integration of ECAN in local development plans ensures that core zones are protected, buffer zones are wisely used, and multiple use zones are sustainably developed.

The Busuanga CLUP is targeted to be finalized and submitted to the Provincial Land Use Committee (PLUC) by February to get timely approval from the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) by March 2017.