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Home>Governor Joel T. Reyes Speech on Climate Change
Defining the Role of Palawan Biosphere Reserve in Mitigating and Adapting to the effects of Climate Change
Governor Joel T. Reyes
17th SEP Celebration Anniversary
(Continuation from Front Page)
may endanger our marine life and benthic communities, and
the changing weather patterns may impinge on our food
production and the resurgence of new strains of diseases like
the flu virus H1N1 with the resultant adverse impact on the
economy and the society as a whole. . These are just some of
the threats that we can visualise clearly in our minds. Amidst all
the debates on climate change taking centre stage, Palawan
remains to be one of the most vulnerable areas, being an island
province and considered as the last frontier of the Philippines in
environmental protection and conservation.
Conversely, there is another matter perhaps not everybody is in
the know. Nationally and globally, our province is recognized to
be home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Puerto
Princesa Subterranean River National Park which is the
Philippine’s Official entry in the New 7 Wonders of Nature and
the Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park, the lone marine park
in the country.
World Heritage Sites are specific sites that aim to conserve
places of specific importance to the common heritage of
humankind. As it is, world heritage sites like protected areas,
are prone to isolation. To reduce landscape fragmentation of
this kind and to enhance further protection of important sites
and landscapes, the entire province of Palawan has been
declared Man and the Biosphere Reserve since March 27, 1990
under UNESCO’s Programme on Man and the Biosphere (MAB).
This declaration gave Palawan the international recognition as
an area that promotes and demonstrates the vital symbiotic
relationship between humans and its biosphere.
The important and distinct characteristic of the Palawan
Biosphere Reserve among other declared biosphere reserves in
the world is that, its goals and strategies for actions are deeply
embedded into the Strategic Environmental Plan for Palawan
Act or the SEP. The SEP Act provided the basis for the
Philippine Government to apply the concept and therefore the
needed governmental support.
Managing Palawan Biosphere Reserve is not without challenge.
Palawan is a popular tourist destination with its almost pristine
environment and interesting culture. Although beneficial for the
economy, the upsurge in the number of tourists has caused
pressure in the ecosystems especially in the coastal zone.
The population growth of Palawan is the highest in the
Philippines at 3.64% mainly caused by in-migration. A greater
number of people will be demanding for more resources and
will ask more land to farm in the future. The rapid population
growth does not only add pressure to the environment, but it
also impacts on social infrastructures that the provincial
government has invested upon.
Despite the increase in environmental law enforcers,
uncontrolled hunting/or poaching of wildlife, illegal logging
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and illegal fishing continue due to poverty, lack of awareness
and participation at the community level.
Our mangrove forests have become vulnerable to debarking
activities by merchants coming from other places.
The growth of mining applications and activities in Palawan
could have been a big boost to the economy of the province.
However, economic benefits have yet to join the mainstream
economy of the province. Companies must still learn to meet
specified criteria so that mining activities should have minimal
impacts on the forests of Palawan. For these, I declared a
moratorium on small scale mining on November 18, 2008 that
covers the entire province of Palawan.
We are starting to feel the impact of intensive chemical
fertilisation in our agricultural lands that aids in the nutrification
of our water bodies and slowly acidifying our fields. Without
caution, we no longer enjoy our delicious tahong and other
bivalves during summer seasons due to red algal bloom and the
produce in the fields have somewhat diminished.
The increasing use of fossil fuel to run electricity in the entire
province at an increasing cost is a complete irony that the
Malampaya gas and Galoc oil are being extracted offshore of
Palawan and yet the cost of electricity in this province is the
highest in Southeast Asia. This condition does not only violate
the principle in the system of Payment for Ecosystem Services, it
also destroys the confidence of would-be investors in this
province.
With the issue of climate change staring us in the eye, being an
island province, we realised that the effect of climate change
will be more profound in Palawan.
As the Governor of the province and as the current Chairman of
PCSD, these things have remained heavy in my heart; because
these issues continue to threaten the level of diversity of our
biotic communities and their integrity. It could jeopardize as
well, whatever gains we have achieved in managing Palawan
Biosphere Reserve.
In February of last year, I was fortunate enough to attend the 3rd
World Conference on Biosphere Reserves in Madrid, Spain
organized by the UNESCO.
During the conference, I realised that the issues I have carried
in my heart are not isolated to Palawan. I have learned that
other UNESCO Member States are also beset with the increasing
loss of biodiversity within the biosphere reserve through
anthropogenic causes and through the effects of climate change.
Efforts on research and monitoring are focused on the trade-offs
and achieving balance between human responsibility to
maintain nature and conserve biodiversity on the one hand, and
on the other hand, the need to use natural resources for
enhancing social and economic well-being of people.
A key output of the conference is the Madrid Action Plan for
Biosphere Reserve for 2008 to 2013. Highlighted in the action
plan is the need to address sustainable development issues of
poverty and inequality in the context of
(1) Accelerated loss of
biological and cultural diversity with unexpected consequences
that impact the ability of ecosystems to continue to provide
services critical for human wellbeing;
(2) Rapid urbanization;
and
(3) Climate Change, the single most important issue of our
time. Furthermore, the action plan put forward the challenge to
Biosphere Reserves to be key learning sites for sustainable
development giving emphasis to the role of the stakeholder
communities as active participants, the academe and the
scientific community to provide information, and the political
leaders through good governance in an environment of
cooperation and partnership.
This afternoon we are holding this forum in recognition of the
importance of the Climate Change issue and the urgent call for
all of us here in Palawan to act as part of the global community.
We have invited our distinguished speakers Dr. Rosa T. Perez,
formerly from Pag Asa, Mr. Lory Tan from the business and
NGO, Atty. Gerthie Anda from the NGO sector, and Mr. Romy
Dorado from the government, to lead us in our discussion on
climate change, the challenges we face and the possible actions
we can contribute.
Biosphere reserves can spur efforts to mitigate and adapt to
climate change. For our part, the PCSD believes, and I think
everyone would agree, that we have been implementing key
initiatives in our province related to combating climate change
even before the issue of climate change was formally
recognized worldwide. The implementation of the ECAN zoning,
for one, has its significant contribution to the reduction of
carbon dioxide emissions, a key green house gas that
contributes to climate change, though the establishment and
maintenance of protection forests designated as core zones. The
strengthening of the resiliency of our ecosystems though
biodiversity conservation is being done through the
establishment of protected areas in the terrestrial and marine
ecosystems and the implementation of the wildlife act.
However, the advent of the climate change issue call for more
focused and clear actions:
• I would like to see a provincial body organised that will
initiate discussions, organise researches and plan
adaptation and mitigation measures relative to climate
change;
• I am directing the PCSDS to formulate a provincial ECAN
map that shall be endorsed by the Provincial Board. It
should shore up a cohesive land use planning for the
sustainable development of Palawan.
• We should protect and maintain our forest cover of 46%
and establish forests for municipalities where there is nonexistent.
We should target to establish at least 25% of each of our
coral reef, seagrass beds, estuarine and beach areas as
strictly protected “no-take” replenishment zone OR core
zone to ensure long term sustainable supply of fisheries.
• Our mangrove forests, Palawan’s first line of defence
against the effect of climate change, should be strictly
protected with the more decisive implementation of
Presidential Proclamation 2152 especially by the local
government units.
• Researches and monitoring of climate and hydrology, of
sea level rise and the composition of flora and fauna in
important ecosystem should be more given emphasis and
information should be used in proactive planning. A
research on alternative use of energy in the province
should also be given importance.
• Decaying wastes are also major source of harmful gases
that contribute to climate change, as Chairman of the
Provincial Solid Waste Management, I am directing the
PCSDS together with the DENR, to review the status of the
implementation of the Provincial Solid Wastes
Management Plan.
• To minimise the use of chemical fertilisers in our
agricultural lands, I am directing the Provincial
Agriculture and the Municipal Government Units to
formulate a sustainable agricultural program for the
province of Palawan that emphasises on organic farming.
• The program for the education of communities vulnerable
to the effects of climate change should be created and
implemented at the soonest time possible.
However, our previous work centred largely on mitigating
climate change that shows we need to do more on the urgent
task of implementing adaptation measures.
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