Pride in sanctuaries

Over the past weeks, diving folk in Dumaguete became excited over the prospects of frolicking with whale sharks in the waters off Oslob near the southern tip of Cebu island. Many other enthusiasts, from Cebu City as well as foreign tourists, have inundated the Net with photo albums featuring the butandings, quickly turning Oslob into an alluring destination much like Donsol in Sorsogon. A feature story with photos even made it to London’s Daily Mail, raising international interest in the extraordinary attraction.

Our friend Lory Tan of the World Wildlife Fund has questioned some features of the activity, however. It seems that Oslob’s fishermen have taken to feeding the butandings with krill or alamang scraped off their fishnets, to ensure that the gentle giants will stay in the area and serve as photo fodder for tourists.

Scientists have long warned against feeding wildlife, Lory points out. Butandings are pelagic and should be left free to move on to other natural feeding areas. The host fishermen and some divers also lay human hands on the creatures, posing dangers of infection.

Other observers argue back that one can’t stop local fishermen from developing “rapport” with the friendly visitors, especially since they see monetary benefits in their newfound activity. But coastal management experts have already discussed the matter with Oslob’s officials, hoping to convince everyone to follow what is being done in Donsol: No feeding, no touching, among other restrictions. 

I’ve seen a sign posted in the Net showing how a dive tour agency stationed in Oslob instructs everyone on the accepted practice with regards swimming with whale sharks. Maybe in the near future a happy compromise can be arrived at, while still preserving the attraction that continues to regale marine wonder enthusiasts.

Just a couple of towns farther south from Oslob, exemplary community effort evidently shows the way to proper coastal management. The Coastal Conservation and Education Foundation (CCEF) based in Cebu City has been sponsoring a laudable undertaking in Boljoon, a town that now prides itself in the maintenance of parallel sanctuaries. Communities in Arbor and Granada, the barangays that face Boljoon’s marine sanctuaries, have been enlightened on the importance and viability of using their coastal resources (coral reefs, seagrass meadows, mangrove forests) as sources of livelihood and income, and to work towards protecting and conserving such habitats.

Heading the CCEF project is its administrative officer Sheryll Tesch, an Ateneo graduate in Development Studies and now a Rare Conservation Fellow working towards a Master’s degree in Communication for Conservation at University of Texas in El Paso.

While in Ateneo, Sheryll gained the Dean’s Award for the Arts in Creative Writing: Fiction, and has had her stories published in Heights, Likhaan, Pen and Ink, Philippines Free Press, and Philippine Daily Inquirer. Her job doesn’t exactly require it, but she’s also currently working on a children’s book together with her precocious 11-year-old daughter Mikey — a story featuring Cora Plaskera, the well-designed mascot that symbolizes Boljoon’s Pride Campaign involving sanctuaries.

“Plaskera” is Cebuano (at least in Boljoon) for reef, which is otherwise known as “bahura” in most parts of our country. “Cora” obviously comes from “coral” — three of which particular species, the staghorn coral (Acropora), massive coral (Porites), and fire coral (Millepora) are featured in the mascot’s attractive costume, as her hair, skirt, and the golden branches around her, respectively. 

Last November, Cora Plaskera made her appearance during the Boljo Festival or town fiesta, joining the grand parade spearheaded by no less than Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia. The townsfolk were regaled, deservedly so; they had proven to be the most cooperative among a dozen coastal communities all over our archipelago that host internationally funded coastal management programs.

Inherently, Boljoon does maintain pride of place. Its pre-eminent sanctuary remains its 400-year-old Patrocinio de Maria church, which stood as a bulwark of protection against pirates in the olden days. Ironically, its walls are a testament to the coastal riches in the area, since they’re basically of coral reef stone.

The Boljoon Pride Campaign’s slogan and logo highlight the word “Sangtuwaryo” — referring to the church as sanctuary, and the town’s marine protected areas also as sanctuaries. Sheryll relates that almost unanimously did the community express how both representations of “sanctuary” — church and marine — stand for home, heritage, and pride.

An aside: I recall a particularly distinguished “fellow” who was my batchmate in the Dumaguete Writers Workshop in the summer of 1968: Dr. Rene Estella Amper, a fine poet who eventually became Mayor of Boljoon. Buddy Jimmy Abad and I still entertain notions of collecting the poems he left behind before his early demise. Maybe when she reads this piece, his widow can get in touch with us for a possible posthumous publication. Rene Amper certainly serves as another point of pride for Boljoonons.   

Presently, international and local orgs serve up a happy convergence in advancing a program of behavior change in Boljoon to achieve conservation results, e.g. increased fisheries and healthier reefs.

The three main organizations involved are the CCEF, headed by its president Dr. Alan T. White, author of Philippine Coral Reefs; Rare Conservation (based in Arlington, Virginia, USA); and Boljoon’s local government unit or LGU.

Rare Conservation has over 50 partners worldwide, with which it designs conservation programs that benefit both people and nature. Rare trains local partners and supports them during all stages of what’s known as a “Pride campaign” — inspiring people to take pride in the species and habitats that make their communities unique, while also giving them alternatives to environmentally destructive behavior.

Founded in 1998, the CCEF is a recognized leader in practical methods of participatory, community and local government-based coastal resource management. Working “on the ground” — primarily through LGUs — with coastal folk who directly benefit from a healthy marine ecosystem, CCEF develops and disseminates tools, techniques and research while working towards its vision of “Sustainable Coasts. Involved Communities.”

In Boljoon, the MPA Mancom or Marine Protected Area Management Committee works with the Rare Conservation Fellow, in this case Ms. Tesch, in implementing the work plan.

Communities are motivated to manage the marine sanctuaries themselves, to recognize that the sanctuaries are THEIRS and not the LGUs’, thus engendering a strong feeling of community ownership. Basically, in the vernacular, they move from saying: “Kani ilaha” to “Ato man ni.”

The behavior change created by the Boljoon Pride Campaign is expected to reduce intrusions in the sanctuaries, as well as to increased reports of such intrusions and violations. That is why Cora Plakera holds a cellphone in one hand. It’s part of the social marketing strategy that focuses on organizing events and activities and creating materials (the way commercial marketing succeeds in selling products) to achieve the change.

For their part, locals who compose the Marine Sanctuary ManCom, together with the town’s Heritage Council, are instrumental in planning all activities for the Pride campaign, including inter-barangay volleyball tournaments, community swimming, and the design and distribution of materials: t-shirts, biker sleeves, ManCom and fish warden uniforms, stickers, water bottles, mugs, foldable fans, buttons.

By the by, the Heritage Council has also led in the restoration and enhancement of the church and convent courtyard, while envisioning to have the complex named as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Established in 2002, the Arbor Marine Sanctuary (of 9 hectares) and the Granada Marine Sanctuary (of 9.4 hectares) are but a small portion of Boljoon’s 8,000-hectare municipal waters. These are the two MPAs managed by the ManCom composed of fishermen, LGU officials, peoples’ org representatives and various other stakeholders, as guided by the municipal Technical Working Group. A recent activity has been the renovation of the marine sanctuary guardhouses.

The sanctuaries are patrolled 24/7 by the town’s Bantay Dagat team, also known as the Sea Wardens Association of Boljoon or SWAB. Biological monitoring of the coral reefs and fishes has been conducted since 2002, showing an increasing trend in both coral and fish health and abundance over the years. 

Sheryll, who has worked on coastal conservation for over a decade now, relates that the mechanisms had been in place with CCEF’s previous efforts in the area, but didn’t seem to be working at 100% until they partnered with Rare and introduced the unique social marketing to involve the community.

“The management committee is now really engaged and involved. When I started, only a few members would show up and they were really discouraged. Now I barely even have to facilitate the meetings anymore. The same is true for the fish wardens. They really feel like they are a part of the sanctuary. These are all highly trained individuals. They know what they are doing. They just weren’t motivated before because they weren’t recognized and they couldn’t see the rewards of their work.

“One way we started to engage the community was to sponsor weekend snorkeling trips. Rare’s funds helped buy the snorkeling equipment, and we put our campaign logo on them to reinforce the marketing messages. Now the best ideas for our program often come from the MPA ManCom members, and especially the fishers, who hadn’t spoken up before.”

Indeed, pride has been instilled among all stakeholders in the old town known for its beautiful sea cliffs and promontory walks. Even the priest has suggested that he use the campaign messages in his homilies — this after he had blessed the sanctuaries and a school of jacks surrounded his boat while sea turtles swam around, prompting him to declare that it was a miracle, and that the conservation program was working. The integration of the religious sanctuary and the marine sanctuary certainly helped it along.

For now, Sheryll has one more wish, which is to invite and persuade Kuya Kim Atienza to come visit. Per surveys she conducted in the town, he was identified as the most credible celebrity to stand as ambassador for the Boljoon Pride Campaign.