Li fe and L ive l ihood

Summer Fel lowship 2009

Cagayanc i l lo, Pa lawan

This Summer Fellowship matches undergraduate

and graduate students with fields of study rele-

vant to marine conservation and the attainment

of triple bottom line objectives (socio-

institutional, economic, biological) in coastal and

small island communities.

Summer Fellows will have practical learning ex-

posure together with local communities in their

natural environment in the Sulu Sea. Mentors

for each field of study will guide the learning

process and the documentation of results and

experiences which can be useful in other similar

areas.

The fields of study offered every year shall be

identified on the basis of specific needs to sus-

tainably manage the resources of the Cagayan-

cillo Islands and protect the Tubbataha Reefs

Natural Park, the living laboratories for this Sum-

mer Fellowship.

The Sulu Sea is a semi-enclosed deep water basin located between Malaysia and the Philippines. It is isolated from surrounding oceans by chains of islands. Narrow pas-sages at depths no less than 500m connect it with the Celebes or Sulawesi Sea to the South, South China Sea to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east. It has an average depth of 4,400m, the deepest being 5,000m along the eastern side. Straddling the mid-section of Sulu Sea is the Cagayan Ridge, a series of reefs and small islands beginning from the Sultana Shoal, north of the municipality of Cagayancillo, down to Jessie Beazley Reef, the Tubbataha Reefs, Basterra Reef and the San Miguel Island group of the municipality of Mapun to the south. These offshore reefs and island ecosystems provide home and refuge to numerous ma-rine life that continuously seed the fishery

resources of the Sulu Sea. This, however, makes the area more vulnerable to increasing pressure from the growing human population threatening the natural life support sys-tems that make the area productive.

The

Sulu

Sea

Cagayancillo

Tubbataha and

Jessie Beazley Reefs

San Miguel Islands

Puerto Princesa

Basterra Reefs

Tubbataha Reefs

The largest true coral atoll reef system in the Phil-

ippines, the only purely marine World Heritage Site

in Southeast Asia, inscribed in the list of Wetlands

of International Importance also known as the

Ramsar List, one of the most popular diving desti-

nation in the world…..

The Tubbataha Reefs and the Jessie

Beazley Reef form the Tubbataha

Reefs Natural Park (TRNP) covering

an area of 96,828 hectares. It is one

of the few remaining near intact ma-

rine ecosystem in the world provid-

ing refuge to multitude of marine

wildlife including seabirds.

The TRNP is about 150 kilometers

southeast of Puerto Princesa City and about 130 kilometers

southwest of Cagayancillo, the nearest community. The Park is

uninhabited except for the marine park rangers who provide year

-round presence for its protection.

The TRNP is under a no-take policy allowing no human activities

except for tourism, research and management.

The Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park is managed by a multi-sectoral policy-making body of 19

members, the Tubbataha Protected Area Management Board (TPAMB). It implements the

Park management plan through the Tubbataha Management Office (TMO) headed by a Park

Manager.

The TMO supervises day-to-day activities such as research, information and education cam-

paign, policy development, tourism management, and law enforcement including the opera-

tion and maintenance of the Ranger Station which houses a composite team of 7 marine

park rangers on rotation duty. Sustainable resource management is extended to the com-

munities in Cagayancillo, the municipality under which the Park belongs.

The Cagayancillo Islands

Cagayancillo is a cluster of

vast reefs and small islands

jutting out at the northern-

most tip of the Cagayan

Ridge. The coralline islands

have limited area for agri-

culture making the resi-

dents highly dependent on

marine resources.

Most reefs show evidence

of unscrupulous use of

these resources but there

are reefs showing recovery

and kindling hope that

something can be done to

restore life.

31 islands & islets • 16,000 sq.km. land area • 12 barangays •

6,000 population • 5th class municipality • 300 km northeast of

Puerto Princesa City • 100 km southwest of Anini-y, Antique

The people of Cagayancillo are called

Kagayanen, with cultural roots from

the southern Philippines.

Up to the present, the Kagayanen

constitutes the majority of the island

population at 97%. They are gener-

ally conservative and peace-loving

people.

Their native language is related to

the Manobo’s of Mindanao but very

similar to Visayan. Most residents can

speak Hiligaynon, Cebuano, and Tag-

alog.

The residents of Cagayancillo have

high level of awareness on conser-

vation. Since 2002, the Municipal

Government implements a Coastal

Resouce Management Program

which includes marine protected ar-

eas– 4 marine reserves and a bird

sanctuary in the island of Cawili.

The Municipal Mayor and the Chair-

person of the Municipal Council’s

Committee on Environment are

members of the Tubbataha PAMB.

2009 Fields of Study CRM/MPA

Management

Effectiveness

Evaluation

Ecosystem

Based Fisheries

Management

Management effectiveness evaluation is a deliberate effort to

integrate monitoring and evaluation into the overall Coastal Re-

source/ Marine Protected Area management process to assess

whether the actions taken have produced the desired results

and enable managers to learn from their own and others’ suc-

cess or failure.

In this field of study local fishers are regarded as fishery manag-

ers who should understand the interrelationship between the

ecological, socio-economic and political environments in which

fish and fisheries exist. This will be a departure from the tradi-

tional species or gear type approach to fisheries development

by giving emphasis to the state of the marine environment

which supports a vibrant fishery managed by a productive com-

munity.

Organic

Farming and

Livestock

Raising

In isolated island communities where farming is constrained by

scarce resources i.e. fertile soil, water, farm inputs and market,

organic farming combined with livestock raising is seen as a vi-

able opportunity to provide local food supply and reduce de-

pendence to imports which deplete the limited cash available to

the households.

Application Procedure Every year 10 fellows shall be selected from applicants. Third year to fourth year

college students and those taking masteral studies are qualified to apply.

In addition to the application form, each applicant must submit (1) a brief essay of

not more than one page describing the applicant’s background on education, re-

search, and work experience if applicable; (2) a brief statement describing the appli-

cant's reason for taking interest in the fellowship and how the applicant will be able

to apply the learning; (3) two or three letters of recommendation from a faculty

member or academic office who is familiar with the applicant’s work; and (4) a copy

of the applicant’s latest transcript.

Financial assistance for each applicant selected shall be provided during his/her stay

in the field. This shall cover expenses on food, accommodation and travel on site

(Puerto Princesa City, Tubbataha and Cagayancillo). Transportation and other inci-

dental expenses en-route to the fellowship sites and back to the place of origin shall

be borne by the fellow.

Application and credentials should be received not later than 16 January 2009 by

email. Notice of acceptance shall be sent out on or before 18 February 2009.

For additional information and to secure application form, please email Jean Beth

Jontila, jbjontila@wwf.org.ph or call telephone number (63) 048 4342100.

Summer Fellowship 2008 Students from three universities

- the Palawan State University,

Western Philippine University and

the University of the Philippines

Visayas- participated in the Sum-

mer Fellowship 2008. Nine stu-

dent fellows completed the three

fields of study together with 100

community fellows from Cagayan-

cillo.

The learning process involved re-

search, demonstration, planning

and initial evaluation. The meth-

ods employed were lecture, focus

group discussion, community as-

sembly, field work or practical ap-

plication of lessons learned.

Student Fellows are encouraged

to keep in touch. A webpage is in

the making to post announce-

ment, information, publication

and pictures about the Summer

Fellowship.

What happened last summer…

The main outputs of the fellow-

ship were as follows: a)organized

ecotourism association with set

of officers and adopted by-laws; b)

organized seaweed farmers asso-

ciation with set of officers and

adopted by-laws; c)assessment of

functions and clear definition of

the terms of reference for the

staff and officers of Pangabuhian

Foundation in implementing mi-

crofinance; d)redesigning of the fi-

nancial products– loans and sav-

ings- of Pangabuhian Foundation

based on quantitative market re-

search and remedial management

strategies; e)ecotourism frame-

work plan for Cagayancillo.