How You Can Help
El Nido Palawan in the Philippines is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. It was only a matter of time before developers would target Bacuit Bay with its 19 islands of dense primary jungle and spectacular black marble cliffs and in the process threaten green and hawksbill turtle nesting sites - with construction, beach lighting, activity, poor waste management, and so on. A WWF, initiated "debt for nature swap" here, has recently created the largest marine sanctuary in the Philippines, including some 1000 km2. Of the islands, only Minilog and Pangulasian (because of existing tourist development) and Malapacao (because of its fishing community) are classified as multiple use zones; the rest will be protected. The sanctuary is a grand beginning, but as is so often the case there are too few rangers and insufficient financial/technical support.
I, Australian by birth, now a Filipino citizen have lived on Malapacao island for many years, as a self financed volunteer, laboring to protect the sea turtles as well as working - with other residents to reduce illegal fishing in the bay and destructive slash and burn practices in the forests. I realised, without being able to generate a sufficient income I would not be able to continue my protection activities, therefore I began a simple retreat offering a tranquil environment for retirees, convalescents, as well as adventure holidays for environmentally conscious tourists, with the hope that they could be encouraged to be involved. Our preoccupations for the marine turtles is to constantly record from January to May the nesting activity, to protect the nests from both natural and man made threats (egg gathering by local residents), and to facilitate the hatchlings to the sea. Evening lights at the retreat is kept to a bare minimum and efforts are made to educate and involve the local population in grassroots conservation (not consuming eggs etc...)
The decision to allow development on Malapacao, coupled with plans for an international airport with road links to El Nido places our many years of struggle for this lovely bay in jeopardy. I have decided to take a great risk and now have a contract to purchase the four hectare property together with support from a few friends who desire simple vacation/semi retirement cottages that I could manage and rent when not in use to provide a modest return on their investment. With a few more interested parties, the retreat could be slightly enlarged and improved for other uses, such as occasional small-scale nature conservation workshops to generate NGO Interest and financial/technical support so desperately needed by the Sanctuary. The long term goal is to protect critical habitat for the turtles to maintain a base for environmental awareness and to create a model for sustainable, small scale tourism. What we have achieved is considered by many to be special. I ask readers who may be interested in personal involvement to contact me at the address below. This is a wonderful opportunity for people of similar minds to become involved in an investment/holiday plan (or to come as a visitor!) to support the protection of a truly pristine location that will otherwise be lost to large, unfriendly development schemes.
Lee Ann Cruz, Malapacao Island Retreat, Palawan, PHILIPPINES.
Write or fax to:
Lee Ann Cruz C/O RCPI El Nido
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