After my report on Summer Lessons in this column, I attended two more conferences, one in Cebu City and the other in Subic. The Cebu event was the 20th celebration of the founding of the Foundation for the Philippine Environment, established in 1992.
The head of the FP Visayas office, Myrissa L. Tabao, a Sillimanian, kindly invited me to attend the conference. I was elected member of its Board in 1992, but I had to resign because of my appointment as Secretary of the Department of Environment & Natural Resources. Dr. Hilconida Calumpong took my place in the Board.
The Subic conference was organized by Dr. Mina T. Gabor, secretary of the Department of Tourism, and Cabinet colleague during the F.V. Ramos presidency. She is now president of the International School of Sustainable Tourism in Subic.
I write about these two events because the media in this country seldom cover such conferences on development. It is hoped that by doing so, people interested in knowing developments in the conservation and management of biodiversity can be informed.
In 1992, FPE received a substantial endowment fund, the proceeds of which have funded conservation projects conducted mainly by NGOs and POs, with the assistance of biodiversity experts, scientists and specialists in governance and fund management.
This year’s anniversary celebration highlighted the contributions to biodiversity conservation of many conservation-minded people and community-based organizations.
One such interesting report was made by William Granert on the establishment of biodiversity reserves in the school grounds of several high schools in Cebu and Bohol. Mr. Granert organized high school students and some of their teachers in improving the physical and biological components of their school campuses.
But what was significant was the very effective learning by students and their teachers of the services of biodiversity to humankind. The evaluation of the project conducted by Mr. Granert and his assistants showed that student learning exceeded expectations, and that there were indications that the lessons learned are being applied by the students involved. It was obvious that learning by doing was an effective method in putting across important lessons in biodiversity conservation.
One of these lessons is typical of people’s behavior in this country, namely, the important role of top administrators of government agencies: Mr. Granert found that the approval, through a written order, of regional officers of the Department of Education was necessary before school principals would agree to the involvement of students and teachers in his project.
Should not high school principals be allowed to make the final decision in this case?
It is of interest to know whether there are similar projects on biodiversity conservation in this country. But I think many high school teachers merely give lectures to their students without practical application of what they teach –a not so effective approach.
The Subic conference dealt with the importance of biodiversity in ecotourism projects. Two papers dealt with Philippine biodiversity. From the questions raised after the lectures, I can conclude that until now many of those in the tourism industry still need to understand and appreciate the biodiversity of the Philippines. This is important for sustainable tourism.
One of the invited speakers at the conference was Mr. Edric Ong, a Malaysian concerned with cultural tourism. He presented an excellent lecture on Malaysian weavers of colorful clothing that is well known throughout the world. From the samples of the work of these weavers, I saw the beauty of their products that reflected Malaysian culture. It is no wonder that their products command high prices.
The Department of Tourism should include protection of the tourism spots and the biodiversity embedded in them. The previous Secretary of Tourism was interested in marine mammals and helped fund a survey of marine mammals in the Tañon Strait. Recently, the whale shark off southern Cebu made the newspaper headlines, and I hope that the department will see to it that this species is protected from human abuse.
