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CeLeBoSoLe tackles poverty,
population, environment
The
interconnection between population and environment and its
impact on food security and poverty are the main issues tackled
by the four governors and mayors from the 16 municipalities
and 3 cities of the provinces of Cebu, Leyte, Bohol and Southern
Leyte (CeLeBoSoLe) during the CeLeBoSoLe Growth Quadrangle
Convention on Poverty, Population and Environment on April
18, 2008 at the Bohol Tropics Resort.
The
convention is sponsored by the Province of Bohol through the
leadership of Governor Erico B. Aumentado in partnership with
PATH Foundation Philippines and its local NGO partner, PROCESS-Bohol.
During
the meeting, the CELEBOSOLE Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)
was signed by the LGU executives and heads of the concerned
government agencies. The MOA is patterned after a previous
agreement which was signed in October 2002 focusing on coastal
resource management of the Danajon Bank. It also aims to revitalize
the CeLeBoSoLe Council and its Technical Working Groups (TWG).
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The
Council is an inter-regional, multi-province and multi-agency
management body composed of the governors of the provinces
of Cebu, Leyte, Bohol, and Southern Leyte. Other members
include regional heads of the Department of Environment
and Natural Resources (DENR), Bureau of Fisheries and
Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Department of Interior and
Local Government (DILG), National Economic and Development
Authority (NEDA), Philippine National Police, Office
of the President for Central and Eastern Visayas, and
the Mayors of the 19 municipalities and cities whose
boundaries overlap the Danajon ecosystem. In addition,
the Danajon EcoFIRM Project for CELEBOSOLE will be formally
adopted.
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The
project aims to rehabilitate, conserve, protect and manage
the Danajon Growth Quadrangle, and integrates population management.
Nearly
one million people live in the vicinity of the Danajon Bank
that depend upon its fisheries for sustenance and livelihood.
The bay contains the sole documented double barrier reef in
the Philippines and South Asia, comprising over 1% of the
total coral reef area in the Philippines. Increasing demand
for food-fish coupled with illegal commercial fishing and
weak enforcement of environmental codes have contributed to
the rapid decline of the Bank's fisheries over the years.
The Danajon ranks among the most densely populated ecosystems
in the Philippines with an estimated average density of about
450 persons/km2 compared to the national average density of
253. Local populations living in the Danajon are expanding
at an average rate of 3.1% per annum compared to the Philippines'
overall growth rate of 2.3%. Over 60% of people living in
these communities live below the poverty line.
This
particular initiative led by Governor Aumentado is pioneering
as it links sectors such as population and environment utilizing
the Integrated Population and Coastal Resource Management
or IPOPCORM approach which was recently declared by USAID
as a gold standard model for population, health and environment
integration. The lessons learned and experiences in the past
six years in 33 coastal municipalities in the Philippines
is currently being scaled up ecosystem-wide via the Alternative
Advocacy Project (AAP) designed and implemented by PATH Foundation
Philippines, Inc. (PFPI) with support from The David and Lucile
Packard Foundation.
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