Evaluating approaches for scaling-up community-based marine-protected areas into socially equitable and ecologically representative networks

Marine-protected areas (MPAs) are vital to marine conservation, but their coverage and distribution is insufficient to address declines in global biodiversity and fisheries. In response, many countries have committed through the Aichi Target 11 of the Convention on Biological Diversity to conserve 10% of the marine environment through ecologically representative and equitably managed MPAs by 2020. The rush to fulfill this commitment has raised concerns on how increasing MPA coverage will affect other elements of Target 11, including representation and equity. We examined a Philippines case study to assess and compare 3 MPA planning approaches for biodiversity representation and equitable distribution of costs to small-scale fishers. In the opportunistic approach, MPAs were identified and supported by coastal communities. The donor-assisted approach used local knowledge to select MPAs through a national-scale and donor-assisted conservation project. The systematic conservation planning approach identified MPA locations with the spatial prioritization software Marxan with Zones to achieve biodiversity objectives with minimal costs to fishers. We collected spatial data on biodiversity and fisheries features and performed a gap analysis to evaluate MPAs derived from different approaches. We assessed representation based on the proportion of biodiversity features conserved in MPAs and distribution equity by the distribution of opportunity costs (fishing areas lost in MPAs) among fisher stakeholder groups. The opportunistic approach did not ineffectively represent biodiversity and resulted in inequitable costs to fishers. The donor-assisted approach affected fishers disproportionately but provided near-optimal regional representation. Only the systematic approach achieved all representation targets with minimal and equitable costs to fishers. Our results demonstrate the utility of systematic conservation planning to address key elements of Target 11 and highlight opportunities (e.g., integration of local and scientific knowledge can address representation and equity concerns) and pitfalls (e.g., insufficient stakeholder considerations can exacerbate social inequalities) for planning MPAs in similar contexts.     

Formulating and implementing climate change laws and policies in the Philippines,Mexico (Chiapas), and South Africa: a local government perspective

Faced with the prospects of a changing climate, a small but increasing number of countries are developing legal and regulatory frameworks that explicitly address climate change. Moreover at least some of these laws and policies carve out substantial roles for local governments. The present paper surveys three countries from different regions in the Global South that have developed or are developing such laws and policies: the Philippines (Asia-Pacific), Mexico and more specifically its State of Chiapas (Latin America), and South Africa (Africa). It examines those experiences through two different lenses. The paper first reviews the steps by which those laws or policies were developed. For this review, criteria for effective consultative processes are proposed. The study then examines the three climate change laws or policies per se. To this end, a framework including four modes of multi-level urban climate governance (governing by regulation, governing through enabling, governing by provision, governing with representation and consultation) is utilised. The paper ends with synthetic conclusions as to which experiences represent promising practices, and what other lessons are relevant for countries embarking on such processes.     

Forestry administration and policies in the Philippines

This article begins by summarizing the importance of the forestry sector in the Philippine economy It provides an overview of the multiplicity of Philippine governmental institutions involved in forestry in 1982 Then it discusses forestry laws in the country and concludes by examining fifteen critical forest policy issues: sustained yield management; area-specific logging bans; increased use of wood wastes; revision of forest charges; unprocessed log export ban; rationalization of the forest industry, acceleration of reforestation; protection of watersheds; recognition of the social dimensions of slash- and-burn agriculture; fuelwood supply; public land classification for forestry and agriculture, development of plantations for dendrothermal electricity; multiple-use management; preservation of mangrove areas, and improvements in administration and implementation.Research for this paper was supported by the East-West Center Environment and Policy Institute. The author would like to acknowledge the assistance of the Natural Resources Management Center of the Philippine Ministry of Natural Resources.     

Starting point or solution? Community-based marine protected areas in the Philippines

In 1985, in response to declining coral reef conditions, local residents and officials established small, no-take marine sanctuaries on Balicasag and Pamilacan Islands through a community-based process. The implementation of marine protected areas (MPAs) on Balicasag and Pamilacan Islands has been a partial success. As a direct result of protection, living hard coral cover has increased by 119% in Balicasag's sanctuary and by 67% in the non-sanctuary during the period 1984 to 1999, but Balicasag's reef is increasingly affected by breakage from anchors from dive boats and Crown-of-thorns starfish infestations. During the same period, living hard coral cover decreased by 20% in Pamilacan's sanctuary and by 45% in the non-sanctuary from 1984 to 1999. The decrease in living hard coral cover in Pamilacan's sanctuary is most likely a result of the 1998 bleaching event, Crown-of-thorn starfish and possible storm damage. Although there was an initial increase in the economically important target fish abundance in the Balicasag sanctuary and non-sanctuary and in the Pamilacan sanctuary during the first two years of implementation in the mid-1980s, there has since been a significant decline. Mean target fish abundance for the Balicasag non-sanctuary at 230 (+/- 65) individuals per 500 m2 is not significantly different from control sites without MPAs on nearby Panglao and Cabilao Islands at 164 (+/- 67) individuals per 500 m2. In general, fish abundance and diversity inside and outside the sanctuaries peaked in 1986, a year after the establishment of the sanctuaries when enforcement was strictest. Therefore, despite considerable success in enforcing regulations associated with these small MPAs at Balicasag and Pamilacan Islands, a trend of declining fish abundance and species richness among economically valuable species immediately outside the no-take areas highlights the limitations of small and isolated MPAs. This study contributes to the growing sentiment that it is not realistic for scattered, small no-take areas to maintain fish abundance and diversity on surrounding reefs when intensive fishing effort immediately adjacent to no-take areas removes most fish that exit these areas. This finding emphasizes the importance of nesting individual MPAs within broader management regimes that lead to overall fishing effort reduction and networking of MPAs. Among other recommendations, the authors advocate for continued support for community-based MPAs, a network of MPAs, reduced fishing effort in areas surrounding the MPAs and other management measures to improve the quality of the coral reef habitats.     

Animal Consciousness and Ethics in Asia and the Pacific

The interactions between humans, animals and the environment have shaped human values and ethics, not only the genes that we are made of. The animal rights movement challenges human beings to reconsider interactions between humans and other animals, and maybe connected to the environmental movement that begs us to recognize the fact that there are symbiotic relationships between humans and all other organisms. The first part of this paper looks at types of bioethics, the implications of autonomy and the value of being alive. Then the level of consciousness of these relationships are explored in survey results from Asia and the Pacific, especially in the 1993 International Bioethics Survey conducted in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, The Philippines, Russia, Singapore and Thailand. Very few mentioned animal consciousness in the survey, but there were more biocentric comments in Australia and Japan; and more comments with the idea of harmony including humans in Thailand. Comparisons between questions and surveys will also be made, in an attempt to describe what people imagine animal consciousness to be, and whether this relates to human ethics of the relationships. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Constructing vulnerability: the historical, natural and social generation of flooding in metropolitan Manila

Flooding is not a recent hazard in the Philippines but one that has occurred throughout the recorded history of the archipelago. On the one hand, it is related to a wider global ecological crisis to do with climatic change and rising sea levels but on the other hand, it is also the effect of more localised human activities. A whole range of socio-economic factors such as land use practices, living standards and policy responses are increasingly influencing the frequency of natural hazards such as floods and the corresponding occurrence of disasters. In particular, the reason why flooding has come to pose such a pervasive risk to the residents of metropolitan Manila has its basis in a complex mix of inter-relating factors that emphasise how the nature of vulnerability is constructed through the lack of mutuality between environment and human activity over time. This paper examines three aspects of this flooding: first, the importance of an historical approach in understanding how hazards are generated; second, the degree of interplay between environment and society in creating risk; and third, the manner in which vulnerability is a complex construction.     

RESIDENTIAL WATER DEMAND IN METRO MANILA1

ABSTRACT: An econometric demand function is estimated for residential water use in Metropolitan Manila. Regression results using annual time series data from 1970 to 1981 show that residential water consumption responds to changes in economic variables. Residential demand showed an income (household) elasticity of 0.542 and a combined price elasticity of -0.287. Implications for planning and management are discussed.     

People, power and timber: The politics of community-based forest management

The potential of devolved conservation to empower people, reduce poverty and protect forest resources has yet to be realized in much of the developing world. This is particularly evident in the Philippines where the central state paradoxically recentralizes political power through devolution at the policy, program and project level in forest management. We investigate how centralized state power emanates through devolved networks to affect the success of local timber utilization involving community-based forest management (CBFM) on Mindanao Island, the southern Philippines. By examining broader shifts from centralized to devolved forest management, results suggest that centralized political power continues to control and adversely affect local uses of timber through CBFM. We discuss how in the process of state authorities recentralizing devolved rights and responsibility over timber management, community-based logging operations were threatened but sustained by members relying on community-based structures and their own capabilities. The conclusion asserts that broader state processes of devolving power over timber management remains constrained by political motives and interests and so largely fails to fulfill the objectives of community-based forest management.     

Institutional, policy and farmer responses to drought: El Niño events and rice in the Philippines

Droughts are common recurring natural hazards in Asia, and El Niño events are particularly severe in the Philippines. This paper explores responses by farm households, irrigation system managers, and macro policymakers in the Philippines to El Niño. In response to the large 1997–98 El Niño, farmers in one major irrigation system significantly diversified their economic activities, hut the drought was so acute that many of these activities were not successful. Communication between meteorologists and irrigation system managers is strong, and irrigation system managers are aware of El Niño events in advance. Communication between irrigation system managers and farmer irrigation associations is also strong, and together they have developed response options that attempt to augment supplies of and more efficiently allocate scarce water. Water pricing is not used, however, and lack of cooperation among farmers results in sub-optimal outcomes. Macro-level policy responses in terms of rice imports and buffer stock management to protect poor consumers have improved substantially over time.     

Journalistic Norms,Cultural Values,and Coverage of Climate Change in the Philippines

Developing nations have tended to have been overlooked in studies of climate reporting. This study is based upon a content analysis of three daily newspapers in the Philippines to examine climate change coverage compared to reporting by Western wire services. In addition, the study draws on individualist–collectivist theory to theorize about differences in reporting between the Philippine and Western wire sources. Despite the historic influence of the American news system on Philippine journalism, the study finds that Western journalistic norms do not describe Philippine climate reporting well and that Filipino-penned articles are more likely to include the value of collectivism rather than individualism. This suggests that national cultural differences may be reflected in climate reporting.