Contact Us  |  Search  
 
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine
Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research
Development, Security, and Cooperation
Policy and Global Affairs
Home About Us For Grant Recipients Funded Projects Email Updates

Partnerships for enhanced engagement in research (PEER) SCIENCE
Cycle 1 (2011 Deadline)

Pathways for indigenous knowledge engagement on marine biodiversity conservation 

PI: Marivic G. Pajaro with co-PI Paul Watts, Haribon Foundation for the Conservation of Natural Resources, Inc.
U.S. Partner:  Douglas Medin, Northwestern University
Project Dates: June 1, 2012 - July 15, 2015

Project Overview 

The Philippines is both a global priority area for the conservation of marine biodiversity and highly dependent on marine resources, with more than one million people directly dependent upon the fisheries sector. This project is based on the belief that local people, using indigenous knowledge, are capable of solving many environmental challenges, particularly if supported by their jurisdictions. In the Philippines, moving to include a bottom-up approach for coastal resource management has become widely accepted as governments decentralize. Even so, local people remain marginalized on issues surrounding natural resource conservation and management. Larger-scale concepts such as biodiversity may be somewhat beyond local knowledge systems and require targeted learning strategies. This project addressed the related need for a cross-cultural understanding of environment and biodiversity in fisherfolk cultures, building upon fisherfolk social knowledge systems, historic and contemporary cultural profiles, and consideration of economic and political institutions and practices for linked communities.

The PIs undertook a survey that covered four of the six marine bioregions, i.e.. the North Philippine Sea, South Philippine Sea, the Visayan Sea, and West Philippine Sea. A total of 5,500 people responded, including 1,500 from 60 communities that are part of the alliance of community-based marine protected areas and 4,000 from 16 communities in coastal provinces across the North Philippine Sea. The team realized their primary objective of reaching multiple bioregions through intensive work in the Northern Philippine Sea as well as the distribution and review of an initial fisherfolk toolkit.

Common cultural traits or perspectives emerged for fisherfolk in general, as well as across the coastline of the Northern Philippine Sea. The results from the survey will help in developing further educational programming, both formal and informal. The team also identified and worked on educational activities and partnerships to transfer best practices identified from merging fisherfolk knowledge, international marine science and Philippine coastal resource management.
 
Phillipines Partnership Photo 1 

Phillipines Partnership Photo 2

Workshops with local fisherfolk are an ongoing activity.
The Aurora Province orientation meeting was held with representatives
from each of the eight Municipal Health Offices.


























 

Final Summary of Project Activities

As a result of this research and analysis, the team focused on developing ways to apply the findings across a wide range of educational sectors and worked closely in targeted best practices areas to transfer what they learned. They partnered with University of the Philippines School of Health Sciences and the Aurora Province Health Department to obtain data for a project on Maternal and Early Childhood Protein Nutrition, which were then analyzed by team members. 

High school students were mentored and exposed to outdoor biodiversity experiences, participated in several leadership development workshops, visited a Marine Protected Area (MPA) for snorkeling, and helped plan and deliver a community-based Earth Day celebration. Now organized as the Baler Youth Environment Ambassadors, they continue to spearhead ecological solid waste management programs in their campuses and have helped communities start their own compost pit. Undergraduate students in nursing and fisheries programs were provided with hands-on experience in conducting research, with the field research becoming part of their course work. They also gained knowledge on the concept of the cultural consensus model (CCM) and skills in data collection through interviews, the 5-point Likert Scale, and simple qualitative analysis. Fishers, primarily members of the PAMANA KA SA Pilipinas national alliance also gained knowledge on the CCM concept and its implications for different stakeholders. Selected leaders were tapped as enumerators in several PAMANA sites after undergoing orientations and practice in data collection.

Members of Kalipunan ng Mangingisda sa Dagat ng Baler (KALMADABA), an alliance of Fishers, including female members, from different villages in the municipality of Baler participated in resource assessment of the intertidal reef flat, notably the mangrove and seagrass ecosystems, and gained skills in conducting interviews. Simple analysis of the data and presentation skills were also provided which allowed them to give feedback on the results credibly to important government officials, The aim of this mentoring program was for KALMADABA to take the lead in proposing a protected area for the deteriorating conditions of their intertidal reef flat, and the team provided them with seed funds and financial management training to continue the project.

The team sought to partner with four provinces to formalize the Aurora Marine Protected Area network and consider adding new offshore MPAs. All told, the PEER team organized or were involved in more than 25 workshops, trainings and conferences.

Publications and Other Materials

M.E. Raquino, M. Pajaro, and P. Watts. 2015. Integrating marine biodiversity through Philippine local development plans. Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal 26(2): 159-171. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/MEQ-09-2013-0097

P.D. Watts and M.G. Pajaro. 2014. Collaborative Philippine-Canadian action cycles for strategic international coastal Ecohealth. Canadian Journal of Action Research 15(1): 3-21.