SUSTAINING COASTAL-MARINE AREAS FOR PALAWAN’S FUTURE

by | Aug 20, 2015

A two-day workshop was held last August 18-19, 2015 by the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) in Partnership with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Philippines, Malampaya Foundation, Inc., and United States Agency for International Development ECOFISH Project (USAID), entitled “Resilient Seas For An Ensured Future: A Stakeholders’ Workshop On Putting Knowledge Into Action For Palawan Coastal/Marine Areas.”

The workshop’s objectives are the following:

  1. To identify and locate the completed, on-going and pipeline researches, projects and programs on Coastal /Marine Areas (CMA) of the Province of Palawan and identify gaps based on the PSDSAP agenda;
  2. Collate CMA initiatives responsive to the needs of establishing a Palawan Marine Protected Area Network (MPAN) for (a)compliance to Aichi Target No. 11 of establishing 10% of the coastal and marine areas to be effectively and equitably managed; and (b) Development of the ECAN Zones Map for Palawan CMA;
  3. Harvest data for the Palawan Knowledge Platform (PKP), as basis for the development of a Palawan CMA situation briefer in compliance to the management direction requirements of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Reserve Network; and
  4. Develop a 5 year CMA Medium Term Plan for Palawan.

The workshop was attended by more than 75 participants from the national government, provincial government, local government units, non-governmental organisations and the academe. They were welcomed by PCSD Staff Director for Planning, Ms. Josephine S. Matulac, followed by the objective-setting by the National President of WWF, Mr. Joel Palma.

A battery of presentations from different sectors were conducted on the first day ranging from completed CMA initiatives in Palawan to ongoing projects initiated by NGOs and academic institutions.

At the end of the workshop, the participants were able to compile CMA initiatives and concentration area map for Palawan and validate the Palawan MPA efforts database. A technical working group was created to finalize (a) Palawan CMA 5- year Medium Term Road Map (2016-2020) based on the identified gaps using PSDSAP as a baseline, (b) a PCSD adoptable Palawan MPA Network Plan (based on the Plan developed in 2013 initiated by WWF, adoptable by the Council), and (c) a Palawan CMA situation briefer to be submitted to UNESCO MaB. The outputs are expected to come out in the middle of October this year.