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Party Central Cleans Up Its Act
We started our full-blown tour with a speed¬boat trip around Boracay Island, where we saw evident traces of the island's over¬use alongside proud structures boasting the resort's stature as a preferred summer destination. After a gluttonous lunch at Aria in D'Mall—where we sampled In¬salata di Cocomero, Rucola e Pinoli (organic arugula with fresh watermelon, feta cheese and pine nuts in a balsamic vinai¬grette dressing); Pizza al Metro Giant Trio Pizza; and Fettuc¬cine Nere in Crema di Mare (homemade black fettuccine with a creamy seafood sauce; among many other delectable complements to the truly Italian meal (and had more than enough food and leftovers to feed an entire family!)—we met Alex Magno from the office of Malay Mayor John Yap, and Mike Labatiao, Chairman of Environment from Boracay Foundation, Inc. Anchors, away! Mike, a PADI Master Instructor, dove deep into his thoughts on Boracay's corals. "When I first arrived here in 1994, I was wowed". However, times have changed and Mike then shared the state of the island's corals and the main culprits for their destruction—among them, climate change and other man-made factors such as boat anchors. The solution? "We molded sinkers, almost one thousand five hun¬dred concrete sinkers which would act as anchors for boats… You simply approach that buoy, pick up the line, and tie it to your boat. You're secured. No need to drop an anchor," Mike pointed out. Sink molding has been a project of the Boracay Foundation and the Malay local government for around a year now. Aside from that, their partnership also engages in the creation of biorocks and reef bowls, which uses "very minimal current to speed up the growth of the calcium" that's needed to facilitate the growth of more corals. Together with the Diving Association, this growing consortium has been running the biorocks project for around seven years now. According to Mike, who has been a div¬ing instructor for almost 30 years, says "Give it five years, coral will be restored as long as there's no [human] intervention." Creative solutions Back on dry land, we were taken to the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in barangay Balabag, where waste is not only dis¬posed of, but also recycled. The main office sells beads, necklaces and other products made from old calendars, magazines, and ciga¬rette packs (a gold rosary is made from a Marlboro cigarette pack), charcoal briquettes made from bamboo poles and niyog (coconut) shells, and many others that help in reducing waste disposal. The MRF is one sustainable solution to the problem of solid waste management for not just barangay Balabag, but also for the en¬tire island of Boracay, as most of Boracay resorts are concentratedhere. The MRF was named the second most outstanding facility of its kind in the entire country and the best MRF in Western Visayas (Region 6). Seaweed, carton, and newspaper in capable hands are turned into artwork, another form of recycling. These are put on display and for sale at the Hang Loose Tattoo Parlor along Bulabog Road in Sitio Bulabog, the area where we went for the speedboats. Dionisio Salme, the incoming president of the Boracay Beach Management Program (BBMP) and a Board Director of the Boracay Foundation, was there to shed light on more environmental issues. The BBMP was launched in September 2010 and runs an anti-lit¬tering campaign, an anti-smoking campaign, water and wastewater management, solid waste management, and coastal management. "It was actually a very welcome program, which seems to be suc¬cessful although there was some resistance because some people do like to smoke in the beach," Dionisio points out. "But then they realized that it was really very important and almost everyone has been complying. And they're happy with what they see. Peo¬ple were always complaining about the beach having many ciga¬rettes and litter; now they say that the cleaner beach is better. The new administration, the local government, and private sector cooperate with the beach management program. And we still en¬joy the support of the stakeholders in the private sector." Beach erosion is another issue of the island, and it has been ad¬dressed by disallowing concrete structures "outside from twenty to twenty-five meters from the beach—although there are still structures there that have been there a long time." The local gov¬ernment has also had to disallow the building of sand castles on the beach, as well as the use of Boracay sand in souvenirs, to keep the island's stand intact. "There are stories that sand is being brought inland for decora¬tion. This is now being guarded by the LG and is no longer al¬lowed. The important thing is that it's not removed. Sand being carried away by the waters are eventually brought back. This is a natural flow. It should be left alone, taken away naturally by the waves so that it is returned naturally. Actually the Petron Foundation, Boracay Foundation, and the LG through BBMP get experts who have study and scientific measures to prevent beach erosions. So we're waiting for technical persons and scientists be¬ing sent here for studies and steps that should be done to preserve the beach here in the island of Boracay and the LG is very sup¬portive on that."
Dionisio adds that another solution is to limit human activities such as aqua sports to protect the ocean's resources so that coral reefs, sea grass, and seaweeds and other life could grow. Coral reefs offer one of the best natural defenses against beach erosion by decelerating the speed of waves, while sea grass and seaweeds play a vital role in making fine sand.
As for waste water management, a world-class Sewage Treat¬ment Plant (STP) was inaugurated by the Boracay Island Water Company (BIWC) last month. It is designed to safely treat used water and wastewater before it is released to the Bolabog beach through a discharge line 800 meters away from the shoreline. It has been operating within a year, reversing Boracay's previously non-compliant effluent(sewage that has been treated in a septic tank or sewage treatment plant.) The upgraded STP increased its capacity to 250%; previously capable of treating 2,600 cubic me¬ters of wastewater per day, its present capacity is now 6,500 cubicmeters of wastewater per day. But this number will be increased to 11,000 cubic meters of wastewater per day by 2018 in anticipa¬tion of the growing number of tourists and local migration. The success of BBMP's anti-littering and anti-smoking campaigns has been very encouraging as the LG plans to expand these cam¬paigns inland. A majority of well-travelled tourists now say that White Beach's cleanliness is comparable with any other beach worldwide. As for the solid waste management program, new staff will be hired as well as the addition of new equipment at the MRFin Balabag. With new facilities and equipment, cooperation from the private sector and the LG, these will definitely ensure the sus¬tainability of Boracay to be one of the Philippines' best beaches for many years to come. |
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