| September 2002 Volume 4, No. 1 |
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3
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A.
Selinog Island
As of August 2, 2002, members of Selinog Island Dapitan
Fisherfolk Association (SIDFA) had organized themselves in groups of four
to guard their marine sanctuary. The members on duty stay in a guardhouse
located in front of the marine sanctuary. The Department of Agriculture (DA)
Office at Dapitan also provided buoys to mark the boundaries of the sanctuary
to make protection more effective.
Now that the SIDFA members are earning from their salt-making
activities, other residents want to join the organization. The total income
from their salt-making project has reached P18,000.00, of which P15,000.00
is to be deposited in a bank. It will be recalled that this income-generating
activity is an initiative from the organized community, not from SUAKCREM.
Seminars on value enhancement and organizational management
are planned for Selinog to strengthen, promote and achieve a well-managed
fisherfolk association.
The organization, which is harvesting between five and
six sacks of salt every other day, sells the salt at cooperative stores on
the island. It now plans to expand production for the market at Dapitan City.
The Mayor of Dapitan supported the group by buying 5 sacks for display during
the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Zamboanga City. The Mayor also plans to
allocate P100,000.00 for the purchase of a water pump to be used in their
salt making enterprise. Any remaining amount will also be given to the organization
as additional capital.
A seminar workshop was also conducted last December 25-26
2001 by Ms. Leah B. Abines from the Department of Local Government (DILG),
Region 7. The workshop on team-building and leadership for fisherfolk was
also facilitated by the SUAKCREM community organizers. The activity aimed
to increase fisherfolk knowledge on team building and leadership for group
strengthening, to enable them to identify group problems and to realize their
own roles in the solution of these problems. The seminar workshop was participated
in by 37 residents of the Selinog community.
B. Apo Island
On August 24, 2002, SUAKCREM provided a loan assistance of P30,000.00 to the Apo Island Women’s Association (AIWA) as capital for their livelihood projects. The amount was turned over to Mrs. Omila Pascobello in the presence of the officers of the organization. The loan will be used as capital for their t-shirt small business and for pig raising for local consumption. The members expressed their thanks and their hopes to attain their personal and community goals. The loan is payable in one year with no interest.
C. Penamay-an,
Cauayan
Ayessa Omero
Since August 2001, the ARCBC Mammal and Herpetofauna team has
been conducting field work in the remaining forest fragments in the municipalities
of Hinoba-an, Cauayan, and Sipalay, southwestern Negros. The biodiversity
survey was conducted simultaneously with the socio-economic survey. The socio-economic
survey showed that most of the household heads or residents are farmers who
do not practice contour farming. Though the area may be productive in agricultural
harvests, there is the problem of transporting and marketing these products.
The result is that the people do not get the best prices for their products.
There is also the problem of rapid population growth,
with an increasing number of out of school youths. Many of the children only
receive up to the primary level of education.
Conservation problems include expansion of farming area
to the forested area through kaingin, logging, charcoal making, collection
of swift’s nests and possible mining. Loggers from Brgy. San Jose, Siplay
threaten the Penamay-an forest; while some residents of Sitio Linab, Caliling,
Cauayan earn income from gathering wood from the forest for charcoal making.
The swifts are in danger of becoming extinct in Penamay-an because of the
high demand for their nests. A kilo of birds’ nest is sold for P3,000
to P5,000.00. At the same time, the Municipal Council of Cauayan will be endorsing
a plan to mine parts of Penamay-an to the Bureau of Mines and the DENR. The
plan called “Mina ng Bayan”, will include mining for gold and
phosphate. If approved, the Penamay-an forest, which is a watershed, will
be affected, threatening the fresh water source for Sipalay residents.
Working with the team are the local Bantay Bukid Brigade
(BBB) volunteers based in the mountains of Cauayan, as well as BINHI Foundation,
an NGO working in the area. Some members of the BBB, headed by Mr. Jemuel
Dulla, had been deputized by ex-Governor Coscolluela. Recently, a nursery
of indigenous tree wildlings was developed as an income-generating activity.
With the resignation of Vivien Cabanban, there have been changes in the staff at SUAKCREM. Gianani A. Gloria, who has just earned her BA degree in Sociology at the University of the Philippines, Diliman has assumed the position of Project Development Officer II, in the SU-CHED Zonal Research Center. There are five full time positions in the Center, paid for by the SUAKCREM, CHED, and PEW grants.
Activities of Staff Members:
Geraldine O. Lopez,
Financial Manager
- Handles financial accounts
- Makes budget and financial reports
- Gathers research data
Gianani A. Gloria,
Administrative Assistant
- Coordinates activities of SUAKCREM
- Helps prepare and edit reports, publications and other
documents
Jasper P. Maypa,
Computer Specialist
- Maintains computer and network
- Layouts brochures, newsletters, posters, slide presentations,
and webpages
- Takes and edits underwater videos of study sites
- Helps delineate boundaries of marine reserves
Juvie Chavez &
Louie Abines, Community Organizers, Pew Program in Marine Conservation
- Coordinates with community activities related to marine
reserve protection, alternative livelihood
and family health
Brian Stockwell,
Researcher
- Monitors corals and fishes of marine reserves
- Conducts marine reserve monitoring training for local
communities
Ely Alcala,
Researcher
- Project leader for the Negros ARCBC Project
Cynthia Dolino,
Research Assistant
- Herpetological study of southern Negros
Leonardo Averia,
Research Assistant
- Mammal study of southern Negros
Renee Paalan,
Research Assistant
- Forest vegetational study of southern Negros
- Mammal study of southern Negros
Ayessa Omero,
community organizer, Negros ARCBC Project
- Coordinates with community activities related to forest
protection, alternative livelihood and
family health
Rafe Brown,
herpetologist at the University of Texas, USA
- studies systematics of Philippine amphibians
Maren Gaulke,
herpetologist
- works on Panay herpetofauna
- conducts interview survey of monitor lizard around
Valencia, Negros Oriental
George Gorman,
former herpetologist
- now an environmental lawyer working with the Charles
Darwin Foundation working in the
Galapagos
- did research on herpetology at Silliman
- visited Silliman for a few days
Eberhard Curio,
Director of Philippine Endemic Species Conservation Project (PESCP)
- EU representative and collaboratorof the Negros ARCBC
Project handled by Ely Alcala
- Conducted lectures: Feb. 26, 2002: “Regeneration
of Philippine Rainforests: Ideas and
Experiments;’ Sept. 12, 2002 “Animal
Behavioral Studies and its Application to Conservation
Biology.”
- Visited project sites in Cauayan, Negros Occidental
and twin lakes in Negros Oriental
LOCAL
January 3 PCAMRD 14th Founding Anniversary, Los Baños, Laguna
February 2 WWF Marine Fishery Program, Davao
27 – 28 Reefs Thru Time Workshop, UP Diliman, Quezon City
March 7 Signing Ceremony of MOA between PCAMRD and Visayas Zonal Network for Aquatic and Marine Resources R&D, Miag-ao, Iloilo
18 - 19 Consultation Workshop by PAWB, Lahug, Cebu City
April 16 – 19 WCSP meeting, Cebu
23 ICRI national Committee Inter Agency Meeting, Quezon City
May 7 Speaker, “ 21st Century Challenges to ENR Managers “ Dumaguete City
8 – 12 Global Amphibian Biodiversity Assessment by IUCN, Bangkok, Thailand
15 – 19 Crocodile Recovery Team Meeting, Cabagan Isabela
20 – 24 Conference Synthesizer, PLAN International, Cabagan, Isabela
June 7 GIYA Values Symposium by PNOC, Valencia, Negros Oriental
17 – 20 ARCBC Research Conference, Quezon City
July 21 Lecturer, workshop on Marine Reserves, Dapitan City
26 – 27 National Conference of DENR, Quezon City
August 22-24 Seminar-workshop on Coastal Resource Management, Malimono, Surigao
September 3 ARCBC Year End Review of Projects, Quezon City
INTERNATIONAL
February 14 – 19 American Association for the Advancement of Science
Annual Meeting and
Science Innovation Exposition,
Boston, MA, USA
June 11 –16 Presiding
Officer as official representative of the Philippines to the ICRI Planning
Meeting, Cancun, Mexico
September 19 - 23 East Asian Seas Program, Xiamen, China
September 30 - October 4 Global Amphibian Assessment by IUCN, Bangkok, Thailand
October 19-24 PEW Fellows Annual Meeting, Bonaire, Netherlands
November 25-28 Co-Chair,
2nd Int’l. Tropical Marine Ecosystems Management Symposium, Manila
Alcala, A. C. and Russ,
G.R. 2002. Status of Philippine Coral Reef Fisheries, Asian Fisheries
Science 15: 177-192.
Maypa, A. P., Russ, G.R.,
Alcala, A.C. and Calumpong, H.P. 2002. Long term trends in yield and
catch rates of the coral
reef fishery on Apo Island, central Philippines. Marine Freshwater
Research 53: 207-213.*
Brown, R., Diesmos, A.,
Alcala, A.C. 2001. The status of Philippine herpetology. Silliman Journal
42
(1): 18-87.
Note: * This paper won
an award as the best paper for marine fisheries in 2002 as judged by the
E.O. Tan Award Committee at the Philippine
Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and
Development, Los Banos, Laguna.
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