Eco-market initiated in Bantayan

To provide the residents in Bantayan Island an understanding of the importance of the environment for them to also be able to protect it, a first--of-its-kind eco-market has been started by an environmental group.

The eco-market is another proposed restorative eco-tourism project of The Law of Nature (Batas Kalikasan) Foundation which recently launched its first glass bottom boat prototype.

According to environmentalist lawyer and president of the foundation Antonio Oposa, Jr, the project is also aimed at making Filipinos and not only residents in Bantayan to realize how rich the country is in terms of vegetation.

 “There is a need to use economic forces to trigger sociological change and so we have thought of doing this kind of market set-up because people must understand how literally rich our country is. We have to teach them that it is not difficult to plant,” Oposa stressed.

The project also offers a way of shifting people’s mindset to more sustainable methods such as vegetable gardening and sustainable fishing.  

“Through establishing the “eco-market” fishes sold to consumers can now be regulated.  Undersized fishes and those caught illegally will not be allowed. By denying market to these commodities, fishermen will be compelled to abide by the Law,” he added.

 But more than just a place for the sale of goods, the project also has special features, which demonstrates sustainable practices such as a garden wherein vegetables and spices will be grown organically and will not use artificial fertilizers and pesticides. 

“Those who would like to buy will just pick the vegetables themselves in the garden and pay for them in the stalls and also bring back the value of honesty,” said Oposa.

Once it is finished, the eco-market will also have a pond that will serve as a natural water recycling system where waste water will be purified and allowed to return to the aquifer so that fresh water will be drawn from a well in the middle of the eco-market.  The roof system will also be designed to be able to collect rainwater into a cistern.

Oposa stressed that plastic bag and other “environmental hazards” like cars and other pollutants will not be allowed. But rather it will provide stalls for women, the wives of fisherfolks, to weave handicrafts such as baskets which will be used as containers for goods to be purchased.

The eco-market will also have a unique Filipino-designed human powered transport system called as “karusel” that will provide people exercise and give more residents jobs as well.

“With this business model, residents in Bantayan’s locality are provided with an alternative livelihood opportunity that reduces the pressure for fisherfolk to catch more fish thus reducing the stress on our aquatic environment,” said Oposa.

When fully-implemented, the project is seen as a model for many coastal communities around the Philippines as its success will have changing impact in the mindset of the people by living through the principles of sustainable development. —Rhia de Pablo

 The project will also result to the creation of a cooperative composed of local women and wives of the fisherfolks who will undergo a special environmental training at the School of the SEAs (sea and earth advocates), the country’s first environmental experiential training center established by the foundation in Bantayan.

The Law of Nature Foundation is a non-profit organization composed of a network of volunteer citizens who are working for the conservation, protection and restoration of the Earth, especially the Visayan Seas.