A first in the country: DENR mulls setting Abatan River eco-museum

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines — Stakeholders are mulling to set up an eco-museum in Abatan River for the province with the auspices of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

This came up during the capacity building for the stakeholders held at Bohol Tropics Resort here despite threats, such as siltation, over exploitation, destructive fishing, shanties and water effluents, facing the Abatan watershed area, resource person Angela Gardner said.

Abatan River and watershed area-covering the towns of Cortes, Maribojoc, Antequera, Balilihan and Catigbian-is one of the most important watersheds in the province because of its rich biodiversity and source of livelihood of the communities around it.

It was learned that there are some 400 eco-museums in entire world and none in the country yet, PENRO Nestor Canda was told during the event. Eco-museum is without walls located in rural areas. It should give emphasis in linkage with history, landscape, natural resources and agricultural practices.

It is envisioned that eco-museum will generate benefits for the community. These are income generation for locality and local government units concerned; species protection; and to entice tourists to experience eco-cultural heritage of the area.

Criteria of setting up an eco-museum are the following: Based on needs of local and cultural heritage resource aimed at protecting, nurturing and interpreting them; organization of grassroots initiatives and locally managed; and contributes to building and strengthening local identity and mobilizing local communities.

Information and documentation center is among the elements of an eco-museum.

"Abatan is not only a tourism asset but also an important livelihood resources to at least five municipalities, where visitors can experience how locals use the river as a source of livelihood," said DENR officials.

The DENR showed the abundance of the Abatan river basin, having 273 plant species; 39 percent of world's mangroves species; and 67 species of wild animals.

Declaration of an eco-museum can be done by virtue of the acts of the Department of Tourism and DENR with the help and coordination of the provincial government, with the Abatan River Development Management body running it thru PRCESS Bohol. (FREEMAN)