The Danajon Bank, which is located off the northwest coast of Bohol Island, is the sole double barrier reef in the Philippines and 1 of only 3 such sites in the Indo-Pacific region. It consists of three large reefs spread across 273 square kilometers believed to have been formed over the last 6,000 years. The Bank’s situation inside an ‘inland’ sea, the Camotes Sea, contributes to the high diversity of coral species. The Bank is a large breeding area for many species of finfish, shellfish and invertebrates. If managed well, the Danajon’s productivity could be worth US$ 8 million per year. In recent years, however, the Danajon Bank has been subjected to extremely high fishing pressure largely through illegal as well as destructive fishing methods. Fisheries outside of the shallow reef areas are also heavily exploited by a combination of small-scale locally based fishers and commercial fishing boats that fish illegally inside municipal waters¹. For these reasons, the Danajon ranks among the country’s extremely high priority areas for conservation of marine biodiversity².

Four provinces have jurisdiction over the Danajon’s resources e.g., Bohol, Cebu, Leyte and Southern Leyte. About 1 million people reside in the 15 municipalities and two cities that border the Danajon, where population density averages 445 persons per square kilometer compared to 286 for coastal Philippines and 313 for the whole country. There are 72 thousand households in the area with an average household size of 5 members per household. Ubay is one of the municipalities in Bohol located in the vicinity of the Danajon Bank. Ubay’s population, which totaled 65, 900 in 2007, is expanding at an annual rate of 1.34% [NSO, 2007] and contains a large proportion of young people that renders high momentum to the population. Fishing communities in the Danajon Bank rank among the poorest in the province while malnutrition affects about 30 percent of children under age five. They also have very limited livelihood options and inadequate access to basic services such as water and electricity. For many generations the people living in the vicinity of the Danajon depended upon its marine and coastal resources for food, recreation and livelihood. The combined effects of declining ecosystem productivity, dwindling fish catch rates and increasing demand for aquatic resources from a growing population all contribute to the emerging crisis in food fish security which is exacerbating poverty, malnutrition and conflicts among resource users in the Danajon Bank.

In 2005 PATH Foundation Philippines, Inc.’s (PFPI) implemented the Integrated Population and Coastal Resource Management (IPOPCORM) Project in Ubay to redress the interrelated population, health and environment dynamics in communities surrounding the Danajon. IPOPCORM’s overall strategy follows directly from the integrated coastal management (ICM) framework for fish food security developed by the Philippine government which calls for decreasing population pressure on the resource base in coastal communities as element of reducing fishing effort to sustainable levels³. IPOPCORM works to strengthen capacity at the local level in government, NGOs and peoples’ organizations towards self reliance, stewardship of environmental resources and better management of reproductive health. IPOPCORM builds the capacity of local institutions and communities to implement a package of services in a coordinated fashion that conserve marine biodiversity, expand family planning access and improve human health and wellbeing. It also encourages local policy makers to integrate RH management into CRM agendas for improved food security. Although funding for the IPOPCORM Project in Ubay ended in 2007, the local government and communities have sustained the interventions and the area now serves as a “learning site” where executives from government and nongovernment organizations (both domestic and international) are brought to learn first-hand about the IPOPCORM approach.

One of the key factors for the success of the IPOPCORM project in Ubay was the support and cooperation of the local government unit headed by its Municipal Mayor, Dr. Eutiquio Bernales, a Leadership Development for Mobilizing Reproductive Health (LDM) fellow and one of the participants to the Institute of International Education-Leadership Development for Mobilizing Reproductive Health (IIE-LDM)-sponsored study tour for policymakers on integrated Population�Environment and Development in Thailand. Mayor Bernales’ all out support for IPOPCORM was one of the catalysts for its success. The LGU of Ubay through his leadership has been hosting various study tours with local and foreign participants. Ubay is now being showcased as a “learning site” for new and emerging leaders of PHE. Over 200 public and private executives from the Philippines and other countries in Asia and Africa visited Ubay and were encouraged by the initiatives led by Mayor Bernales and his team.

The leadership of Mayor Bernales had multiplier effects in his locality and beyond. Not only did Mayor Bernales influence emerging PHE leaders from outside his municipality. He also had a team of PHE champions: Ms Mercedes “Mercy” Butawan, the midwife at the Rural Health Unit- 1 who has been with the RHU serving the people of the municipality of Ubay for more than ten years and promoting integrated PHE, and Mr. Alpios “Jojo” Delima, Ubay’s Coastal Resoruce Management Officer who is now an advocate for PHE in his work and to others. Now, they do not talk only about health and CRM but also the importance of family planning in properly managing the coastal resources. Their leadership provided support for integrated approaches to PHE and increased reproductive health options and services in local communities not only in the municipality of Ubay but also in neighboring towns.

PHE champions like Mayor Bernales, Mercedes Butawan and Alpios Delima are a few of the leaders who were keys in making IPOPCORM one of the most successful PHE initiatives in the Philippines. Apart from these three PHE champions, there are other PHE leaders in the community such as the Peer Educators and Community-Based Distributors who in their own small ways continuously build constituency for integrated PHE approach by voluntarily and unselfishly sharing their time in providing PHE information and services to members of their respective communities. They are PHE leaders and their stories will hopefully inspire others to become champions of sustainable development in their areas. In one of the most recent south to south study tours organized by the USAID-financed Building Actors and Leaders for Advancing Community Excellence in Development (BALANCED) Project, after the visit to Ubay, one of the participants said, “The leadership and cooperation of the local government is the secret of the success of the IPOPCORM project. There is no success without the support of the local government and the acceptance of the community.” One of the international delegates stated, “One lesson I take home is the cooperation of the government, technocrats, NGOs and the people. The real dedication of the government and not only doing lip service but contributing financially to the program are hallmarks of the program that we can’t do without.” Another international delegate described, “The approach shown is a new experience, a new way of life. Most programs are similar to my experience but impressed by the leadership shown from the municipality to the barangay (village) level.”

¹Talibon Fisheries and Coastal Resource Management Interpretive Center (FCRMIC).
²Ong, P.S., L.E. Afuang, and R.G. Rosell-Ambal (eds.). 2002. Philippine Biodiversity Conservation Priorities: A Second Iteration of the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau, Conservation International Philippines, Biodiversity Conservation Program-University of the Philippines Center for Integrative and Development Studies, and Foundation for the Philippine Environment, Quezon City, Philippines.
³DENR-CRMP and DA-FRMP. 1999. Coastal Resource Management for Food Security. Bookmark, Inc., Makati City, Philippines.