Thursday, June 19, 2008 Oledan: Lapses By Radzini Oledan
THERE are initiatives, but there are lessons to be unlearned.
The rampant destruction of marine resources and the endless poverty among fisherfolks are partly caused by the fact that they are unable to manage the sea.
Fisherfolks currently have the right to access waters and catch fish, but are not sufficiently allowed to manage the sea and its contents. They simply lack the capacity to protect the rich natural resource, which has supported their lives.
It does not also help that there is lack of appreciation in coastal management, which leads to a situation where marine resources are seen as a given and its depletion as a natural occurrence.
Sixty percent of the population nationwide is in the coastal areas. Many of them are living below the poverty line and there is high incidence of malnutrition among its children.
Management rights over natural resources means involving community members in setting clear policies on how to make use of the resource.
The city waters cover an area of 19,827 hectares or about 10 percent of the Davao Gulf, which is a major fishing and priority bio-diversity conservation area. It is also a common ground where fisherfolks compete with commercial fishers.
Despite the reliance on coastal and marine resources, the socio-economic and ecological values of the coastal areas have not been sufficiently addressed and taken into account.
Twenty-six out of the 182 barangays of Davao are in coastal areas. This translates to 43 percent or an estimated 104,204 households out of the total 240,057 households that are directly dependent on the resources of the sea for their survival.
The fisheries sector is an important source of livelihood and income for a significant portion of the population. Responding to the challenges confronting this sector entails not only management plans and intervention but more importantly, enabling fisherfolk to take the lead in coastal resource management.
The consensus to arrive on priority use areas and prospective development of coastal and marine resources in the city will only happen when political leaders are also able to appreciate the value of the coastal resource, and set aside whatever economic interest they have in the area for the common good.
This is the essence of public service.
The Philippine Environmental Governance Project 2 (EcoGov2) has looked into the successful coastal resource management areas in Cebu, Bohol and Negros Oriental Provinces in the hope to understand and experience the values and practices in Marine Protection Area (MPA) management through direct interaction with the local government and the host communities.
There are stories of hope and also of resistance against selfish and vested interests not only of commercial fishers but also of government agencies and politicians.
At the end of the day, local leaders and communities have shown that something can be done through the drafting of local policies, such as establishing the Marine Protection Areas and Fisheries Code.
In most CRM areas, the process of drafting the ordinance took two years at the most. In Davao City, it took 11 years to finally have the ordinance approved.
