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The surprising change in character of some fishermen and farmers of Nagbalayong, Morong, Bataan from unlawful hunters of sea turtle to marine conservationists is our main attraction. The marine conservationists are the careful preserver and protector of marine lives or sea animals. This change happened after the members of Bantay Kalikasan, an environmental protection group made up of engaged government agencies directed by the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR) and non-government organizations such as the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM), held an assembly in the coastal community of Morong in 1999. The agenda of Bantay Kalikasan was the frightening ruin of Morong’s forest resources, but by an unexpected turn of fortune, it was spoken about briefly at an assembly that the one of the greater in importance derivation of income in the barangay was collecting pawikan eggs, which was at that time given for P5 each.Pawikans are sea turtle that perform a significant function in the whole marine ecosystem, but are regarded as being an endangered species. Two of the five recognized species of sea turtles in the Philippines, the Olive Ridley and the Hawksbill, are identified along the shores of Bataan. The continuous ruin of the pawikans, beginning from the collecting of their eggs for human use to the capturing of the fully grown turtles for ornamental and different purposes, joined together with their exceedingly low survival rate of one percent had pressed these migratory animals into the edge of extinction. Later in time than that Bantay Kalikasan assembly in Morong in 1999, the group began to contribute conscious exertion of power to assist keep from loss the endangered species. The mutually agreed serious attempts directed to the development of Bantay Pawikan Inc., a people’s organization in Nagbalayong formed mainly of local fishermen and farmers who used to hunt unlawfully pawikan eggs along the coasts of Morong. The United Nations Development Program set free a sum of money or the community’s conservation work. As a result, a pawikan center was brought into existence in Nagbalayong in 2001. Japan also contributed a delivery van, motorboat, warehouse and a lambaklad, a fishing equipment to the community so that the daily catch from the lambaklad is distributed among the 20 participating members of Bantay Pawikan as their regular origin of income. (Found via PIA by Gilda Llames) |
