PINES PR: Calbiga

CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE EXPOSITIONS AND MISSIONS
Golden Shell Pavilion, Roxas Boulevard cor. Sen. Gil J. Puyat Avenue
1300 Pasay City, Philippines
Telephone: (632) 831-2201 to 09
Fax: (632) 832-3965 / 834-0177
E-mail: [email protected]
URL: www.citem.com.ph; www..dti.gov.ph
Calbiga, Samar to offer eco-tourism options at Philippine eco-fair
"Samar Island is not God's gift, but His
bequest. Not just to feed us, but for us to feed.
Not with our waste, but with our care."
So goes the preamble to the Samar Island
Council on Climate Change, a document that
reflects the Samareños' drive to serve as
stewards to the abundant expanse of
resources that make up the Eastern Visayan
province of Samar.
As the third largest island in the Philippines,
Samar is one of the top 200 eco-regions of the
world declared by the World Wildlife Fund
(WWF), a leading global organization for
wildlife conservation, and is such full of
unexplored vistas of sea and terrain. Because
it is mountainous, majority of Samar's
population and agricultural lands are found
along the coast and downstream of river
systems - putting it at risk of rising sea levels
attributable to climate change.
The Langun-Gobingob Caves of Calbiga,, one of
the world 's largest karst formations
This vulnerability, as well as knowing that
future progress inextricably lies on how they
handle their environment now, have led the
residents of Samar's fourth-class municipality
of Calbiga to take up the call to action in
preserving Calbiga's many natural wonders.
"In the next ten years, [we envision] Calbiga [to] have become a more livable and prosperous
community," said Calbiga Mayor Melchor Nacario, "where people live decent lives within an
ecologically balanced, protected and safe environment -- being a center for trade and
commerce, and a well-known eco-tourism destination."
A passionate environmentalist, Mayor Nacario is one of the leading advocates of a Samar
island-wide, ecosystem-based approach to the requirements of sustainable development.
It was under his leadership that in 2003 Calbiga was named one of the most livable
communities in the world when it joined the annual Nations in Bloom, a prestigious
international competition endorsed by the United Nations Environment Programme, which
addresses the management of the environment and the enhancement of the quality of life.
Now, Calbiga continues to confront the climate change problem with mitigation policies,
adaptation initiatives, and other proactive countermeasures.
These include maintaining the Samar Island Natural Park (SINP) with its 333,000 hectares of
lowland tropical forests that serve as a sink for carbon sequestration (whereby carbon in the
CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE EXPOSITIONS AND MISSIONS
Golden Shell Pavilion, Roxas Boulevard cor. Sen. Gil J. Puyat Avenue
1300 Pasay City, Philippines
Telephone: (632) 831-2201 to 09
Fax: (632) 832-3965 / 834-0177
E-mail: [email protected]
URL: www.citem.com.ph; www..dti.gov.ph
atmosphere is removed and deposited in a reservoir e.g., forests); the reforestation of its
watersheds; mangrove rehabilitation; river desiltation and erosion control; sustained advocacy
against mining, illegal fishing and logging; and finally leveraging on its myriad of natural
attractions as potential eco-destinations.
The latter part it sets to accomplish by joining the government-led first Philippine International
Eco-Show (PINES) debuting this August, an international trade event focused on driving up
demand for the country's environmental goods and services, not least of which includes the
promotion of eco-tourism particularly for well-endowed localities.
"[Through PINES], we hope to
improve our understanding of
climate
change-biodiversity
linkages," said Mayor Nacario.
"The environment is our number
one priority, and eco-tourism is
our conservation and economic
strategy."
(Clockwise) Exploring the Langun-Gobingob caves; Dancing
bats hovering by the cave's entrance; Blind gobinee fish;
Lulugayan Falls
Among
Calbiga's
ecodestinations are: the LangunGobingob Caves in Barangay
Panayuran, a twelve-chambered
cave system touted to be the
second largest in Asia, boasting
of magnificent rock formations
and underground water courses
that serve as habitat of blind
crabs and the extremely rare
blind gobinee fish (Caecogobius
cryptophthalmus); the Lulugayan
Falls in Barangay Literon,
dubbed by tourists as a miniNiagara for its hundreds of
cascading waterfalls; Calbiga
River, which serves as transport
byway and water source for 17
barangays;
and
Calbiga's
mangrove forests, the richest
spawning grounds for fish and
crustaceans in the Eastern
Visayas.
Putting these destinations on the map for visitors, Mayor Nacario believes, could pave the way
for greater measures to be enacted towards greening the Samar landscape and broadening
the base for environmental advocacy and activism.
"By putting the spotlight on our country's eco-tourism destinations, we attract investment into
our LGUs that will hopefully enable them to be more environmentally responsible and more
driven to protect these gems of nature," said Thelma Dumpit-Murillo, Project Director of
PINES and Deputy Executive Director of the Center for International Trade Expositions and
CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE EXPOSITIONS AND MISSIONS
Golden Shell Pavilion, Roxas Boulevard cor. Sen. Gil J. Puyat Avenue
1300 Pasay City, Philippines
Telephone: (632) 831-2201 to 09
Fax: (632) 832-3965 / 834-0177
E-mail: [email protected]
URL: www.citem.com.ph; www..dti.gov.ph
Missions (CITEM), an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as well
as organizing body for the show.
"PINES hopes to show that protecting the environment is also a way of protecting our heritage,
which gives us even more pride in what we can offer the world," she added.
Set on August 26-28 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City, the first Philippine
International Eco Show is staged in cooperation with the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP), the Philippine Green Building Council (PhilGBC), the Philippine Business
for the Environment (PBE), and the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP). It is also
supported by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the American
Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham), the Haribon Foundation for the
Conservation of Natural Resources, Inc., and the Solid Waste Management Association of the
Philippines (SWAPP).
To learn more about eco-tourism destinations to be featured at the 1st Philippine International
Eco-Show, visit www.pines.com.ph.
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