It was a delight to know that the provincial government of Negros Occidental, through its Provincial Environment Management Office, has recognized the positive outcomes of declaring Local Conservation Areas in the different cities and municipalities of the province.
The awarding was part of the commemoration of the province’s Wildlife Month in November. Governor Bong Lacson and Provincial Environment Management Officer Julie Ann Bedrio led the awarding ceremony to sites that have shown conservation outcomes.
Since all nominated sites comprised mostly areas within the coastal and marine ecosystems, this year’s awarding used the Marine Protected Area Management Effective Assessment Tool in determining the winners, Maria Elena San Jose, PEMO head of the technical support services division, disclosed. The evaluation included effectiveness of the sites in terms of governance, protection, and maintenance, among others.
The 1st place for the best-managed LCA went to Barangay Ermita Marine Protected Area covering the Camotes Reef in San Carlos City, while the 2nd and 3rd placers were the Binalbagan Coastal Wetlands Conservation Area and Campomanes-Ballo Marine Reserve and Sanctuary in Sipalay, respectively.
In addition, awards were also bestowed for the best LCA initiatives. The awardees for this category were the Hulao-Hulao, Caliling, Cauayan Coastal Conservation Area (1st place), EB Magalona Blue Crab Sanctuary, Mangrove Reserve and Bird Sanctuary Conservation Area (2nd place), and Pontevedra Coastal Wetlands Conservation Area (3rd place).
These sites have all been declared through local ordinances by their respective cities and municipalities. They are also locally managed and funded conservation sites, which are actually the essence of the LCA concept. The PEMO provided financial and technical assistance in the establishment and management of these sites. San Jose, who led the preparations for this year’s awarding, said the PEMO is looking forward to working with local governments in declaring more LCAs covering the terrestrial ecosystems starting next year.
I authored the LCA when I was leading the implementation of a conservation project in the Polillo Group of Islands in Quezon province more than a decade ago. I explored the kind of modality that should be introduced since one major target of the project was the establishment of new conservation sites. Being a former protected area superintendent, my earlier idea was to declare a protected area in this group of islands facing the Pacific Ocean,because it was assessed to have unique habitats with a good number of endemic species. However, I found out that these sites were already sporadic and fragmented, and it was a challenge of consolidating these areas into one protected area. I was also awarethat establishing a protected area requires considerable effort, resources, and time.
It came to my mind that as an alternative, why not declare those sites through local ordinances of municipalities comprising the Polillo Archipelago using the Local Government Code as the main policy framework. It was then when I started to use the LCA as a generic name and description for a biodiversity important site, which is locally declared and managed with the concerned LGU as the lead implementing institution.
The first ever network of LCAs in the Philippines had been established in five municipalities in the Polillo Group of Islands covering more than 10,000 hectares, from 2016-2018. Later on, the Biodiversity Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, with funding support from the United Nations Development Program-Global Environment Facility, up-scaled the implementation of the LCA in other parts of the country through its New Conservation Areas in the Philippines Project.
In 2014, the BMB adopted the LCA as one of the biodiversity conservation strategies in a national conference. It was also in the same year when my paper about the LCA was accepted for presentation in the World Parks Congress in Australia, but I was not able to attend the event due to some personal circumstances. The global parks congress is only held every 10 years and it is considered as one of the most prestigious gatherings of conservationists from around the world. The Foundation for the Philippine Environment published the LCA manuscript I prepared.
Other finalists for the best-managed LCAs were the Sangke Marine Reserve and Sanctuary and Daug Marine Reserve and Sanctuary in Hinoba-an, Campalabo-San Isidro-Tinagisan Reef Complex in Calatrava, and Julien’s Wreck Marine Reserve and Sanctuary in Sipalay. The Danjugan Marine Reserve and Sanctuary in Cauayan and Pulupandan Bird Sanctuary were also awarded with plaques of appreciation.
It is interesting to note that the LCA development in Negros Occidental is gaining momentum. The achievement of these sites in delivering conservation measures deserve, indeed, recognition and worth emulating, and the efforts of the provincial government, through the PEMO, also merit commendation.