Sunday, March 2, 2014
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Philippine Biodiversity - Balabac Group of Islands, Palawan
As featured in the worldwidelife.org [1], the islands of Palawan, Balabac, Ursula, and the Calamain Group, are wonders to behold.
Palawan represents a bridge between the Sunda Shelf and Philippine bioregions and contains faunal elements from both, as well as it own unique elements. This ecoregion, though more intact than any other region in the Philippines, is under great pressure from logging interests.
The Balabac Strait Marine Biodiversity Conservation Corridor, described, by conservation.org [2], is located in the southwestern part of the province of Palawan. It is bounded on the north by Buliluyan Island and Balabac North Channel, on the south by Balabac Strait and Borneo, on the east by Sulu Sea, and on the west by the South China Sea.
The Balabac group of islands is composed of 31 islands and islets, with 20 villages and a growing coastal population. It has a total land area of about 58,166 hectares, with some 489,875 hectares of municipal waters that are protected under local legislation.
The Balabac Strait Marine Biodiversity Conservation Corridor serves as a major migratory passageway for tuna, sea turtles, and marine mammals. It is a known haven for 27 true and 34 associated mangrove species found in Balabac. Yet, this is a place where biodiversity faces destruction and exploitation on a daily basis, thus making it a priority marine conservation area.
Marine flora and fauna of global significance and a large diversity of habitats can be found in Balabac Strait. It is home to the Balabac mousedeer (Tragulus napunigricans), estuarine crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus), some 10 species of endemic birds, 30 coral genera, and 440 reef fish species.
Fish and invertebrate larvae, as well as migratory species like tuna, sea turtles, sharks, whales and dolphins move within Balabac Strait’s waters. The area is also one of the important habitats of green and hawksbill turtles in the Philippines, as well as in the Indian Ocean and South East Asia region.
Ten species of cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) have been recorded to occur within the Balabac corridor, including the subspecies of the spinner dolphin, the dwarf spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris roseiventris), a new record for the country. The sighting of Bryde’s whales also indicates that Balabac strait is an important corridor for this species.
WILDLIFE
Endemic/Near-Endemic/Vulnerable/Endangered/
Near-endangered/Critically Endangered Species
THREATS
During the past decades, the Balabac Strait corridor experienced the wanton destruction of its coral reefs, mangroves and other forest and marine resources. The richness of the area makes it a prime target for foreign fishing vessels involved in illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing, which includes massive direct takes of endangered sea turtles. Illegal fishing and poaching pose grave threats to this valuable marine environment. Limited enforcement capability of local government units and the lack of conservation awareness among the local coastal communities make Balabac Strait an area of very high marine conservation priority.
Live captures of sea turtles are confirmed to occur in the Balabac islands, including those done by Chinese poachers. According to information from the Philippine Commission on Illegal Entrants (PCIE), a total of 884 foreign intrusions were documented in Palawan from 1995-2006, 66% of which were Chinese nationals, while the rest were Malaysians, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Taiwanese. A lot of poaching incidents occur in Balabac Strait, since the area is a passageway that acts as entry point to Sulu Sea from South China Sea.
I have not yet been to Balabac Island, neither have I been to any part of Palawan. But seeing the pictures of its beautiful scenery, learning about number and diversity of species endemic to the area, and hearing about the quiet traditional cultures of small societies flourishing, suggest that it may make quite an interesting place for an adventure. Of course, not leaving out the nagging urgency to learn more about the place and contribute a great effort to keep its justly deserved conservation.
Sources:
[1] https://worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/im0143
[2] http://www.conservation.org/global/philippines/where/sulu-sulawesi/pages/balabac_strait.aspx
Near-endangered/Critically Endangered Species
...
THREATS
During the past decades, the Balabac Strait corridor experienced the wanton destruction of its coral reefs, mangroves and other forest and marine resources. The richness of the area makes it a prime target for foreign fishing vessels involved in illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing, which includes massive direct takes of endangered sea turtles. Illegal fishing and poaching pose grave threats to this valuable marine environment. Limited enforcement capability of local government units and the lack of conservation awareness among the local coastal communities make Balabac Strait an area of very high marine conservation priority.
Live captures of sea turtles are confirmed to occur in the Balabac islands, including those done by Chinese poachers. According to information from the Philippine Commission on Illegal Entrants (PCIE), a total of 884 foreign intrusions were documented in Palawan from 1995-2006, 66% of which were Chinese nationals, while the rest were Malaysians, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Taiwanese. A lot of poaching incidents occur in Balabac Strait, since the area is a passageway that acts as entry point to Sulu Sea from South China Sea.
I have not yet been to Balabac Island, neither have I been to any part of Palawan. But seeing the pictures of its beautiful scenery, learning about number and diversity of species endemic to the area, and hearing about the quiet traditional cultures of small societies flourishing, suggest that it may make quite an interesting place for an adventure. Of course, not leaving out the nagging urgency to learn more about the place and contribute a great effort to keep its justly deserved conservation.
Sources:
[1] https://worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/im0143
[2] http://www.conservation.org/global/philippines/where/sulu-sulawesi/pages/balabac_strait.aspx
http://www.endangeredspeciesinternational.org/balabac_gallery.html
http://www.iucnredlist.org/
http://wwf.panda.org/who_we_are/wwf_offices/philippines/wwf_philippines_our_solutions/index.cfm?uProjectID=PH0950
http://www.iucnredlist.org/
http://wwf.panda.org/who_we_are/wwf_offices/philippines/wwf_philippines_our_solutions/index.cfm?uProjectID=PH0950
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Sunday, December 8, 2013
The 11th Hour Post-Viewing
Note: Sorry if the swf file can't be seen.
Please download a pdf instead. Thanks.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Sunday, November 10, 2013
The most precise and the easiest definition of sustainability, according to the Brundtland Commission of the United Nations, is the "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Many of us may have a general understanding of what sustainability conceptually, but it will not matter that we know about the idea if we do not apply it in terms of our habits and lifestyles. It is very easy for us to point a finger on our government agenda and private corporations, but given that the activities of governments and organisations serve individuals, there must be something that we as individuals can do and influence. And fortunately there are many simple ways.
The areas that require from us a conscious practice in sustainability are our energy consumption, water consumption and waste management. Current consumption and production levels are 25 percent higher than the earth’s sustainable carrying capacity, according to the Ecological Footprint Sustainability Measure, an independent measure based on United Nations statistics. If everyone in the world were to continue to live like an average person in the high-income countries, we would need 2.6 additional planets to support us all.
The energy required to support our lifestyle can generally be classified as heating/cooling, electricity for lighting and appliances, transportation, and energy embodied in products. There may not much you can do about how the energy is produced but there are things that can be done to reduce energy consumption. With each classification, the energy hierarchy may be applied. (1) Avoid the use of energy when unnecessary, (2) Use energy more efficiently, (3) Use renewable energy supply. Turning off the lights when not needed may sound negligible but it is a good start. Other habits such as turning off your computer and other electronics off at night and unplugging everything during idle hours, are excellent practices to reduce energy consumption. Using natural light during the day, paying attention to energy efficiency when buying household appliances, or even replacing our lights with more efficient and energy saving ones are a big step, not only in reducing energy consumption, but lessening waste as well. LED lights are the new thing. Cities are saving money on their power bills by replacing their incandescent or fluorescent light bulbs to light-emitting diode (LED) lights. Lights are used everywhere such as in traffic signals, crosswalk signs, and even holiday displays. But we can start at home and just replace our own room lights. LED lights have an extremely long life span and use much less energy than other bulbs. A portion of the energy we use is also dedicated to our transportation. We need to consider avoiding travel as much as possible and use efficient and renewable forms of transport. Maybe you can consider using a bike to school or to ran your errands near your household. I've been riding the bike to school for about 4 years now and its safe to say that it comes very handy at times. Also, making use of public transportation can cut the additional energy consumption. On a larger scale, students participate in their school's carbon management plan. Universities should have a target plan to reduce carbon emissions to a certain degree/percentage.
Among the same fingers in one hand of saving energy, is also reducing water consumption. A hierarchy of steps to save water: avoid the use of water, use water more efficiently, renewable sourcing of water. Simply taking shorter showers or turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth, washing full loads of laundry instead of many separate piles, or collecting rainwater with pails or barrels ideally for watering plants are good ways to reduce water consumption.
Another area we can practice sustainable development is with our waste management. The general hierarchy to follow: segregate or sort your waste, avoid generating waste, re-use and recycle waste, waste-to-energy practices. Sort your waste for recycling and composting. sort your waste and dispose it properly. It does not cost you anything to sort your waste according to different materials and doing so helps the transition to sustainability more than you may think. Review the zero waste guidelines to see how to sort your plastics, metal, glass, paper and cardboard into the appropriate bins. When shopping, think twice before buying anything. Use a reusable shopping bag to reduce plastic and paper waste. Wait until you get to campus and check for shared appliances or electronics before purchasing new and unnecessary items. An End-of-Term Reuse Project is being adopted by several universities around the globe. Each year the end of term reuse project aims to collect as many items left behind by students leaving university accommodation. All the items collected are distributed to their local charities. Another easy way to cut your waste is by donating things that may be useful to other people such as books, clothing, old gadgets and toys, kitchen goods and miscellaneous room items to charity or by selling things you do not need anymore such as a TV that still works for example. Some people are willing to pay for all sorts of things even those that seem completely useless.
The Earth gives us everything we need for surviving and thriving, but humanity and all of earths other inhabitants art under threat of extinction if each of us do not start taking very concrete steps in caring for the environment. One of the favorite philosophies that can be applicable to sustainability in general is the Butterfly effect. It is said that the flap of a butterfly’s wings could cause a tornado in China or in a nother place. The butterfly effect, commonly known as the Chaos theory in physics, is based on the idea, that a butterfly’s wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere, may ultimately alter the path of a tornado or delay, accelerate, or even prevent the occurrence of a tornado in a certain location. The flapping wing represents a small change in the initial condition of the system, which causes a chain of events leading to a large-scale alteration of events. The butterfly may not literally or directly cause a tornado, but it can influence certain conditions in a catastrophic manner. The same is true with our individual actions in society. Our small actions and habits play an important part in our living planet.
Sources:
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/csd15/media/backgrounder_brundtland.pdf
http://blogs.gre.ac.uk/greengreenwich/
http://www.erdas.co.uk/how-can-an-individual-contribute-to-sustainability.html
http://blogs.gre.ac.uk/greengreenwich/
http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2011/oct/13/sustainability-in-higher-education
http://www.imeche.org/knowledge/industries/energy-environment-and-sustainability/news/Sustainable-Lifestyles
http://www.stanford.edu/dept/rde/cgi-bin/drupal/housing/sites/default/files/SLG.pdf
The areas that require from us a conscious practice in sustainability are our energy consumption, water consumption and waste management. Current consumption and production levels are 25 percent higher than the earth’s sustainable carrying capacity, according to the Ecological Footprint Sustainability Measure, an independent measure based on United Nations statistics. If everyone in the world were to continue to live like an average person in the high-income countries, we would need 2.6 additional planets to support us all.
The energy required to support our lifestyle can generally be classified as heating/cooling, electricity for lighting and appliances, transportation, and energy embodied in products. There may not much you can do about how the energy is produced but there are things that can be done to reduce energy consumption. With each classification, the energy hierarchy may be applied. (1) Avoid the use of energy when unnecessary, (2) Use energy more efficiently, (3) Use renewable energy supply. Turning off the lights when not needed may sound negligible but it is a good start. Other habits such as turning off your computer and other electronics off at night and unplugging everything during idle hours, are excellent practices to reduce energy consumption. Using natural light during the day, paying attention to energy efficiency when buying household appliances, or even replacing our lights with more efficient and energy saving ones are a big step, not only in reducing energy consumption, but lessening waste as well. LED lights are the new thing. Cities are saving money on their power bills by replacing their incandescent or fluorescent light bulbs to light-emitting diode (LED) lights. Lights are used everywhere such as in traffic signals, crosswalk signs, and even holiday displays. But we can start at home and just replace our own room lights. LED lights have an extremely long life span and use much less energy than other bulbs. A portion of the energy we use is also dedicated to our transportation. We need to consider avoiding travel as much as possible and use efficient and renewable forms of transport. Maybe you can consider using a bike to school or to ran your errands near your household. I've been riding the bike to school for about 4 years now and its safe to say that it comes very handy at times. Also, making use of public transportation can cut the additional energy consumption. On a larger scale, students participate in their school's carbon management plan. Universities should have a target plan to reduce carbon emissions to a certain degree/percentage.
Among the same fingers in one hand of saving energy, is also reducing water consumption. A hierarchy of steps to save water: avoid the use of water, use water more efficiently, renewable sourcing of water. Simply taking shorter showers or turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth, washing full loads of laundry instead of many separate piles, or collecting rainwater with pails or barrels ideally for watering plants are good ways to reduce water consumption.
Another area we can practice sustainable development is with our waste management. The general hierarchy to follow: segregate or sort your waste, avoid generating waste, re-use and recycle waste, waste-to-energy practices. Sort your waste for recycling and composting. sort your waste and dispose it properly. It does not cost you anything to sort your waste according to different materials and doing so helps the transition to sustainability more than you may think. Review the zero waste guidelines to see how to sort your plastics, metal, glass, paper and cardboard into the appropriate bins. When shopping, think twice before buying anything. Use a reusable shopping bag to reduce plastic and paper waste. Wait until you get to campus and check for shared appliances or electronics before purchasing new and unnecessary items. An End-of-Term Reuse Project is being adopted by several universities around the globe. Each year the end of term reuse project aims to collect as many items left behind by students leaving university accommodation. All the items collected are distributed to their local charities. Another easy way to cut your waste is by donating things that may be useful to other people such as books, clothing, old gadgets and toys, kitchen goods and miscellaneous room items to charity or by selling things you do not need anymore such as a TV that still works for example. Some people are willing to pay for all sorts of things even those that seem completely useless.
The Earth gives us everything we need for surviving and thriving, but humanity and all of earths other inhabitants art under threat of extinction if each of us do not start taking very concrete steps in caring for the environment. One of the favorite philosophies that can be applicable to sustainability in general is the Butterfly effect. It is said that the flap of a butterfly’s wings could cause a tornado in China or in a nother place. The butterfly effect, commonly known as the Chaos theory in physics, is based on the idea, that a butterfly’s wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere, may ultimately alter the path of a tornado or delay, accelerate, or even prevent the occurrence of a tornado in a certain location. The flapping wing represents a small change in the initial condition of the system, which causes a chain of events leading to a large-scale alteration of events. The butterfly may not literally or directly cause a tornado, but it can influence certain conditions in a catastrophic manner. The same is true with our individual actions in society. Our small actions and habits play an important part in our living planet.
Sources:
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/csd15/media/backgrounder_brundtland.pdf
http://blogs.gre.ac.uk/greengreenwich/
http://www.erdas.co.uk/how-can-an-individual-contribute-to-sustainability.html
http://blogs.gre.ac.uk/greengreenwich/
http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2011/oct/13/sustainability-in-higher-education
http://www.imeche.org/knowledge/industries/energy-environment-and-sustainability/news/Sustainable-Lifestyles
http://www.stanford.edu/dept/rde/cgi-bin/drupal/housing/sites/default/files/SLG.pdf
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