Western Samar steps up efforts on coastal resource management

By PBSP-Visayas
November 12, 2012

CEBU CITY  –  In order to sustain the province's efforts on the protection and conservation of its coastal waters, various stakeholders of Western Samar join hands in formulating an integrated plan on coastal resource management which will include development of the province through eco-friendly means.

The provincial agriculturist office teamed up with Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), Samar State University-College of Fisheries and Marine Sciences, Gugma Han Maqueda Bay Iguin Ondong han Organisasyon Samarnon (GIOS), Regional Fisheries Training Center, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Provincial Police Office and the municipal Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management Councils (FARMCs) for the said planning.

The plan will include comprehensive and integrated programs anchored on sustainable development and will include the towns of Motiong, Jiabong, Daram and Tarangnan and the city of Catbalogan as the pilot areas.

The agreement happened during a fisheries forum which recently took place at the New Maqueda Bay Hotel in Catbalogan City, which presented the various CRM plans of the five local government units for adoption.

"It is high time for Samar to adopt an integrated plan; we are no longer productive," Catbalogan City Tourism Officer Raulito Reyes stated.

Fishing remains to be the main livelihood of Samar but illegal fishing practices, which destroy coral reefs and other fish breeding areas, continue to deplete marine resources.

"Let's formulate the plan and let our provincial government endorse this to the Regional Development Council for adoption," Provincial Agriculturist Anita Taran stated.

Taran added that the initiative is one of the province's steps in beefing up integrated approaches to the management of its coastal and marine resources.

"Momentum is on our side. Kung ano ang gagawin natin ito ngayon, susunod ang lahat (ng areas ng Samar)," Reyes added.

Aside from the creation of an integrated CRM plan, the team will also provide support to the municipal and barangay FARMCs on the implementation of fishery laws and look for more schemes to get funding support for the implementation of the plan.

FARMCs are mandated by the government to oversee coastal resource regeneration as well as look into the improvement of the fisheries sector in the local level.

"Ang nakanindot, atong municipalities capacitated na," Samar Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Dominador Cabanganan said.

The fisheries forum capped the two-year program on collaborative coastal resource management (CRM) implemented by PBSP and funded by the European Union.

Called the Linking Initiatives for Collaborative Coastal Resource Management and Governance (LINC-CRMG), the project assisted the province in achieving effective and sustainable coastal resource management and contributing to poverty reduction through the rehabilitation of the Visayas coastal zones, enhancement of alternative livelihood to further prevent use of coastal resources, and enforcement of fishery laws.

One of its major strategies is building the capacities of local government units, especially the FARMCs, on the implementation of measures towards the conservation of coastal resources.

LINC-CRMG also provided support towards the province's food security and livelihood generation for coastal communities by funding more than P1.2 million on livelihood projects in Samar to ease up the pressure on the coastal zones for two years.