First of two parts
With limited financial and human resources, the protection and conservation of the rich biological diversity remain a major challenge in the Philippines.
Although not an entirely new concept, many Filipinos, including policy-makers remain oblivious to the word “biodiversity” and its economic importance to ensure sustainable growth and development.
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) defines biodiversity as “the variability among living organisms from all sources, including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part.”
Biodiversity includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.
The Philippines’s system of accounting, however, negates to consider the biodiversity values in the computation of the annual goods produced and services provided by various sectors.
Strong national policy
The Philippines, being a signatory to the CBD, is committed to protecting and conserving the country’s rich biodiversity.
The country has a number of policies, including national laws, aimed at preventing environmental destruction and degradation, particularly key biodiversity areas, to protect its unique and endangered plant and animal species, against various threats.
The 1987 Philippine Constitution, for one, recognizes the right of every Filipino to a balanced and healthful ecology.
Among the national laws are Republic Act 7586, or the National Integrated Protected Areas System (Nipas) Act; RA 9147, or the Wildlife Resources Protection and Conservation Act; RA 9072, or the National Cave and Cave Resources Mangement and Protection Act; Presidential Decree 705, or the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines; and RA 8550 and RA 10654, also known as the Philippine Fisheries Code and Amended Fisheries Code, respectively.
Financing, action gaps
Despite the many environment-related laws, the budget for the protection and conservation of biodiversity remains wanting.
The huge financing gap, estimated to be around 80 percent, was identified by a study of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BioFin) Project.
In 2016 the UNDP-backed project revealed that P334 billion is needed for the next 13 years.
The amount will cover projected expenses for actions on forest, coastal and marine areas, inland wetlands, caves and cave systems, protected areas, invasive alien species, agrobiodiversity, access and benefit-sharing and urban biodiversity, which are investments identified as a must to ensure funding for the implementation of the Philippine Biosafety Strategy Action Plan (PBSAP).
Under the PBSAP, the annual funding requirement is pegged at P24 billion until 2028. However, the current annual budget allocation by the government is only P5 billion, or a yearly budget gap of P19 billion.
LGUs to the rescue
Local government units (LGUs) play an important role in filling the gaps in national biodiversity-policy financing and action.
In a telephone interview on June 12, Environment Undersecretary Jonas R. Leones said outside the protected areas and national parks, there are a huge number of key biodiversity areas (KBAs) that need protection against various threats, especially against drivers of biodiversity loss.
There are a total of 228 KBAs in the country, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’s (DENR) Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB).
Protecting the country’s KBAs, he said, calls for the help and support of all stakeholders, particularly LGUs.
“The DENR alone cannot protect all these KBAs,” said Leones, the spokesman of Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu.
What is an LCA?
Josefina de Leon, chief of the DENR-BMB’s Wildlife Resources Division, said local conservation areas (LCAs) are locations outside Nipas sites but within KBAs, including those with ecotourism potential.
“They are managed by local government units which are responsible for the protection of areas and the conservation of resources, while promoting biodiversity-friendly enterprises like ecotourism,” she told the BusinessMirror in response to a query through Messenger on June 17.
She said LCAs can boost the protection and conservation not only of the ecosystem or habitat but can also help endangered species of plant and animals to eventually recover and thrive.
“Such approach will ensure the sustainable use of resources, the perpetuation of species and improvement of the economic status of the local communities concerned,” she said.
From this definition, LCAs can be considered as the first line of defense against biodiversity loss, she said.
Reducing biodiversity loss
Best Alternatives Campaign Director Gregg Yan said that whether spearheaded by LGUs or indigenous groups, the gradual expansion and enhancement of the country’s protected area systems could dramatically reduce biodiversity loss while bolstering local pride and stewardship.
“Site-centric management has numerous advantages because community members are front-liners. Trickle-down effects are also direct. We’re not just talking about ecotourism here. We’re talking about direct benefits in the form of resources like food, water and medicine,” Yan said.
Yan cited Conserving Nature as Lifeways, a 2012 book authored by anthropologist Dr. Raoul Cola.
“Some cultures have mastered the sustainable use of their environment. In his book on the Tagbanua tribe of Malampaya Sound, my good friend Dr. Raoul Cola revealed how the tribesfolk combined hunting, fishing, foraging, gleaning and farming to optimize productivity, while protecting the regenerative capacity of their local environment, year-on-year. So ,too, can we bolster local conservation governance while learning from local practices,” Yan explained.
New conservation areas
From 2010 to 2015 the DENR implemented a project that recognizes new conservation areas, such as those managed by indigenous peoples (IPs), local communities and LGUs.
Dubbed as New Conservation Areas in the Philippines Project (NewCAPP), it was viewed as an opportunity to establish solid foundations for accelerated expansion of the terrestrial system in the Philippines.
The project is an opportunity to establish solid foundations for accelerated expansion of the terrestrial system in the Philippines, supported by strong management capacities and sustainable financing.
It seeks to identify conservation areas managed by IPs, local communities and LGUs in selected provinces in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos Region, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Caraga and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Local initiative
Leones said the DENR supports the establishment of LCAs in recognition of the important role played by LGUs and in recognition of their local mandates and authority over territories within their political jurisdiction.
Section 3 of Republic Act 7160, or the Local Government Code of 1991, states the shared responsibility of the LGUs and the national government in the management and maintenance of ecological balance within their territorial jurisdiction, subject to the provision of the law and other national policies.
LCAs can be established through local legislation—by ordinance.
An LCA may be established, he said, when the LGU came to realize the importance of conserving the area, also because of their religious, cultural, historical, economic or tourism potentials, besides the ecosystem services they provide or the biodiversity values they possess.
Many LCAs have started as a locally managed seascape, landscape, marine or fish sanctuary, game reserve or natural park but “leveled up” over time to become initial components of the Nipas, thus, becoming a protected area or national park that is managed by the DENR through the Protected Area Management Boards.
Nipas ‘initial components’
According to Leones, protected areas and national parks that are not yet covered by laws are considered as initial components of the Nipas Act.
There are 240 protected areas and national parks but only 13 are currently covered by laws enacted by Congress. The rest were established by virtue of presidential proclamations or executive orders. Most of these so-called protected areas were once locally managed conservation areas funded by the LGUs, he said.
“That is why Sen. Loren B. Legarda is pushing for the enactment of the Expanded-Nipas Act to increase the number of protected areas and national parks that are covered by law,” he said.
To be concluded
Image credits: Gregg Yan/National Geographic Channel