Republic Act No 7586 or the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 1992 and Republic Act No 11038 or the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System (E-NIPAS) Act of 2018 define protected areas as “portions of land and water set aside by reason of their unique physical and biological significance, managed to enhance biological diversity and protected against destructive human exploitation”. (https://bmb.gov.ph/protected-area-development-and-management/philippine-protected-areas/).
Setting up protected areas is a nature-based solution that helps maintain ecosystem integrity and reduce climate extreme impacts, “this initiative … can contribute to the climate resilience of the Philippines,” which is among the countries considered highly vulnerable to climate change, says Lourdes Tibig, climate science adviser at the nonprofit think tank Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities. (https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-philippines-unprotected-hotspots-new-conservation-window-beckons/).
As of 2022, the Philippines has 248
protected areas, including seven newly legislated ones, covering 7.8 million
hectares (3.2 million acres), or about 15.4% of the country’s land area and
1.4% of its territorial waters. Though scientists have identified 228 key
biodiversity areas in the Philippines, only 91 are currently part of the
country’s network of protected areas. (https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-philippines-unprotected-hotspots-new-conservation-window-beckons/)
The following are the categories of protected areas
are hereby established pursuant to section 3 of Republic Act No 7586:
a.
Strict nature reserve - is an area possessing
some outstanding ecosystem, features and/or species of flora and fauna of
national scientific importance maintained to protect nature and maintain
processes in an undisturbed state in order to have ecologically representative
examples of the natural environment available for scientific study,
environmental monitoring, education, and for the maintenance of genetic
resources in a dynamic and evolutionary state;
b.
Natural park - is a relatively large area not materially altered by
human activity where extractive resource uses are not allowed and maintained to
protect outstanding natural and scenic areas of national or international
significance for scientific, educational and recreational use;
c.
Natural monument - is a relatively small area focused on protection of
small features to protect or preserve nationally significant natural features
on account of their special interest or unique characteristics;
d.
Wildlife sanctuary - comprises an
area which assures the natural conditions necessary to protect nationally
significant species, groups of species, biotic communities or physical features
of the environment where these may require specific human manipulations for
their perpetuation.
e.
Protected landscapes and seascapes -
are areas of national significance which are
characterized by the harmonious interaction of man and land while providing
opportunities for public enjoyment through the recreation and tourism within
the normal lifestyle and economic activity of these areas;
f.
Resource reserve - is an extensive and relatively isolated and
uninhabited area normally with difficult access designated as such to protect
natural resources of the area for future use and prevent or contain development
activities that could affect the resource pending the establishment of
objectives which are based upon appropriate knowledge and planning;
g.
Natural biotic areas - is an area set aside to allow the way of life of
societies living in harmony with the environment to adapt to modern technology
at their pace;
h.
Other categories established by law,
conventions or international agreements which the Philippine Government is a
signatory.
Meanwhile, the following are the prohibited acts within the protected
area pursuant to section 20 of Republic Act No. 7586 as amended:
"(a) Poaching, killing, destroying, disturbing of
any wildlife including in private lands within the protected area;
"(b) Hunting, taking, collecting, or possessing
of any wildlife, or by-products derived therefrom, including in private lands
within the protected area without the necessary permit, authorization or
exemption: Provided, That the PASU as authorization or exemption only for culling,
scientific research , the exemptions provided under Section 27(a) of Republic
Act No. 9147 (Wildlife Resources, Conservation and Protection Act) or harvests
of nonprotected species in multiple-use zones by tenured migrants and IPs;
"(c) Cutting, gathering, removing or collecting
timber within the protected area including provate lands therein, without the
necessary permit, authorization, certification of planted trees or exemption
such acts are done in accordance with the duly recognized practices of the
IPs/ICCs for subsistence puposes;
"(d) Possessing or transporting outside the
protected area any timber, forest products, wildlife, or by-products derived
therefrom which are ascertained to have been taken from the protected area
other that exotic species, the culling of which has been authorized under an
appropriate permit;
"(e) Using any fishing or harvesting gear and
practices or any of their variations that destroys coral reefs, seagrass beds
or other marine life and their associated habitats or terrestrial habitat as
may be determined by the DA or the DENR; Provided, That mere possession of such
gears within the protected areas shall be prima facie evidence of their use;
"(f) Dumping, throwing, using, or causing to be
dumped into or places in the protected area of any toxic chemical, noxious or
poisonous substance or nonbiodegradable material, untreated sewage or animal
waste or products whether in liquid, solid or gas state, including pesticides
and other hazardous substances as defined under Republic Act No. 6969,
otherwise known as the "Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Waste
Control Act of 1990' detrimental to the protected area, or to the plants and
animals or inhabitants therein;
"(g) Operating any motorized conveyance within
the protected area without permit from the PAMB, except when the use of such
motorized conveyance is the only practical means of transportation of IPs/ICCs
in accessing their ancestral domain/land;
"(h) Altering, removing, destroying or defacing
boundary marks or signs;
"(i) Engaging in 'kaingin' or, any manner,
causing forest fires inside the protected area;
"(j) Mutilating, defacing, destroying,
excavating, vandalizing or, in any manner damaging any natural formation,
religious, spiritual, historical sites, artifacts and other objects of natural
beauty, scenic value or objects of interest to IPs/ICCs;
"(k) Damaging and leaving roads and trails in
damaged condition;
"(l) Littering or depositing refuse or debris on
the ground or in bodies of water;
"(m) Possessing or using blasting caps or
explosives anywhere within the protected area;
"(n) Occupying or dwelling in any public land
within the protected area without clearance from the PAMB;
"(o) Constructing, erecting, or maintaining any
kind of structure, fence or enclosure, conducting any business enterprise
within the protected area without prior clearance from the PAMB and permit from
the DENR, or conducting these activities in a manner that is inconsistent with
the management plan duly approved by the PAMB;
"(p) Undertaking mineral exploration or
extraction within the protected area;
"(q) Engaging in commercial or large-scale
qaurrying within the protected area;
"(r) Establishing or introducing exotic species,
including GMOs or invasive alien species within the protected area;
"(s) Conducting bioprospecting within the
protected area without prior PAMB clearance in accordance with existing
guidelines: Provided, That in addition to the penalty provided herein, any
commercial use of any substance derived from nonpermitted bioprospecting within
a protected area will not be allowed and all revenue earned from illegal
commercialization thereof shall be forfeited and deposited as part of the I{AF;
"(t) Prospecting, hunting or otherwise locating
hidden treasure within the protected area;
"(u) Purchasing or selling, mortgaging or leasing
lands or other portions of the protected area which are covered by any tenurial
instrument; and
"(v) Constructing any permanent structure within
the forty (40)-meter easement from the high water mark of any natural body of
water or issuing a permit for such construction pursuant to Article 51 of
Presidential Decree No. 1067: Provided, That construction for common usage
wharves and shoreline protection shall be permitted by the PAMB only after
thorough EIA."
Issues and Challenges
Despite generally favoring the expansion of protected
areas, experts caution about the potential pitfalls (https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-philippines-unprotected-hotspots-new-conservation-window-beckons/).
“[There’s] danger that these PAs will not be managed
well and will just be protected areas on paper because we currently don’t have
enough human resources to manage existing PAs as it is,” Andrada says.
“Management of new PAs can eat up a portion of the national budget that can be
used for other purposes”
(https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-philippines-unprotected-hotspots-new-conservation-window-beckons/).
In its country statement for the 2022 Biodiversity
Conference, the Philippine government said public expenditure for biodiversity
is increasing, but identified a funding gap of at least 14 billion pesos ($250
million) annually, “particularly for protection and restoration” (https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-philippines-unprotected-hotspots-new-conservation-window-beckons/).
“We expect this gap to remain deeply significant, if
not larger than previously determined,” Yulo-Loyzaga said, calling for private
sector investment interventions (https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-philippines-unprotected-hotspots-new-conservation-window-beckons/).
For traditional communities heavily reliant on natural
resources for survival, expansion of national parks may not be well received.
“In our haste to establish new PAs, there is a danger that it may not be done
properly and not take into account other perspectives,” Andrada says, such as
having “less land or water that are available for food production” (https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-philippines-unprotected-hotspots-new-conservation-window-beckons/).
These are among the concerns raised by Bukluran, a
coalition of Indigenous peoples campaigning for government recognition and
respect for their traditional governance over their ancestral domains and
natural resources. The group is lobbying for the passage of the Indigenous
Communities Conserved Territories and Areas (ICCAs) bill (https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-philippines-unprotected-hotspots-new-conservation-window-beckons/).
The proposed law upholds sustainable traditional
resources rights and recognizes ICCAs as a protected area category under
Indigenous ownership, control and governance. Since 2011, 16 Philippine ICCAs
covering a combined 349,423 hectares (863,442 acres) have been registered with
the U.N. Environment Programme’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre, which
maps ICCAs worldwide (https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-philippines-unprotected-hotspots-new-conservation-window-beckons/).
In protecting the Philippines’ last remaining wild
places within territories that are still occupied and stewarded by Indigenous
peoples, one key challenge is reconciling NIPAS with the Indigenous Peoples
Rights Act, ensuring that a rights-based approach is considered, said KM Reyes,
co-founder of the Centre for Sustainability (https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-philippines-unprotected-hotspots-new-conservation-window-beckons/).
“So incorporated in these should definitely be
traditional knowledge and practices,” Reyes tells Mongabay in an instant
message. “[Indigenous communities] need to be a key stakeholder and hopefully
their governance systems are not displaced by any kind of government management
systems thereafter” (https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-philippines-unprotected-hotspots-new-conservation-window-beckons/).
Still not enough
Even the newly adopted Global Biodiversity Framework
is “still inadequate” to reverse biodiversity decline, Tibig says. “Halting
biodiversity loss will need more than just a 30×30 target,” she tells Mongabay
in an email. (https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-philippines-unprotected-hotspots-new-conservation-window-beckons/)
Besides expanding protected areas and other effective
area-based conservation measures, governments must vigorously reduce or avoid
carbon emissions to slow down climate change that has shifted species
distribution, Tibig says. They should also tackle overexploitation and
overconsumption, the compounding factors contributing to biodiversity collapse,
she adds (https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-philippines-unprotected-hotspots-new-conservation-window-beckons/).
Mallari says that beyond broadening the NIPAS
coverage, he hopes to see further improvements in the management effectiveness
of existing protected areas. “All of the protected areas have improved [from
poor to fair from 2013 to 2017 as per our study] but they’re below the passing
score,” he says. “Can the government achieve [its new targets] given that these
[protected areas] were not faring very well?” (https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-philippines-unprotected-hotspots-new-conservation-window-beckons/)
The government needs to resolve key issues, including
politics that dictate the inappropriate design of protected areas, and low
capacity of staff to maximize the use of available cutting-edge conservation
technologies, Mallari says, adding that doing so is possible and the urgency
justifies it (https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-philippines-unprotected-hotspots-new-conservation-window-beckons/).
“The more we look at the vulnerability of biodiversity
to the deleterious effects of climate change, or the many anthropogenic
pressures, the more we see evidence that our vulnerability increases as species
decline,” he says (https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-philippines-unprotected-hotspots-new-conservation-window-beckons/).
References
Fabro, Keith Anthony S. For Philippines’ Unprotected
Hotspots, New Conservation Window Beckons. 9 January 2023 accessed at
https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-philippines-unprotected-hotspots-new-conservation-window-beckons/
Philippine Protected Areas. Biodiversity Management
Bureau. Department of Environment and Natural Resources accessed at https://bmb.gov.ph/protected-area-development-and-management/philippine-protected-areas/ on January 3, 2024.
Republic Act No 7586 or the National Integrated
Protected Areas System Act of 1992
Republic Act No 11038 or the Expanded National
Integrated Protected Areas System (E-NIPAS) Act of 2018
