ECAN Resource Management Plan of the Municipality of Roxas, Palawan Page | i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Composed of a mainland and scattered groups of islands and islets, Palawan is endowed with an immense diversity of flora and fauna while having various scenic landscapes which attract both local and foreign tourists. The pressure of growing population, immigration, and tourism along with the inevitable effects of climate change threatens the whole province. In order to protect the Palawan biosphere, Republic Act No. 7611 or the Strategic Environmental Plan for Palawan Act was legislated on June 19, 1992 which serves as the legal basis for its sustainable development. It prescribed a framework called the Strategic Environmental Plan (SEP) which will guide the government in the formulation and implementation of plans, programs, and projects geared towards the conservation of the natural resources of the Palawan island. In the form of zoning, the SEP’s main strategy is the establishment of Environmentally Critical Areas Network (ECAN). The ECAN Zoning Strategy permits and restricts activities, especially in ecologically fundamental areas. ECAN zones are categorized into core, buffer, and the multiple-use zone that cut across all terrestrial, coastal/marine, and tribal ancestral lands of Palawan. The main implementing agency of the SEP law is the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) which has the administrative and legislative power. Its functions are assisted by a regular professional support staff, the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development Staff (PCSDS). Ecanization is the process of delineating and marking the boundaries of the different zones in land and sea, identifying prescribed activities and resource use for each zone, and enforcement of regulatory measures to prevent destructive practices. Ecanization occurs at the local or the municipal level which is done through a participatory process. The ECAN Resource Management Plan (ERMP) is the primary output of ecanization and is a stand- alone planning document prepared by the LGU and ECAN Board with the assistance of the PCSDS. The ERMP will be integrated to the Comprehensive Land and Water Use Plan (CLWUP) of the municipality which is a mechanism to mainstream the SEP Law at the local level. Roxas is a first-class urban municipality in the northeastern coast of Palawan and is known as the gateway to the north. It has a total land area of 122,550 hectares spread across its 31 barangays. Half of the municipality has an elevation range of 0-100 meters above sea level which is utilized for agriculture, built-up land, and human settlements while one-third of Roxas has a hilly to mountainous terrain. There are six major mineral deposits including silica and gold which is why small scale mining activities continue to persist. According to its land classification map, half of Roxas is unclassified public forest which may include CBFM areas, ISF areas, and tribal ancestral lands and domains. A quarter of the municipality is alienable and disposable which may be used for expansion of agricultural and built-up area. In terms of ECAN zones, 19% of Roxas is core zone. There are 47,886 hectares of buffer zone that serves as protection to core zones and 50,749 hectares of multiple use zones which permits a wide range of human activities. There are only two LGU-proclaimed watershed management areas in the municipality, located in the barangays of Umalad and Sandoval. The LGU is targeting the management of smaller watersheds to expand protection. The forest land use map of Roxas concludes that there are 21,082 hectares of tribal ancestral ECAN Resource Management Plan of the Municipality of Roxas, Palawan Page | ii lands for the Bataks and Tagbanuas and 7,896 hectares for Community Based Forest Management (CBFM) areas. Fourteen Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are spread across 14 barangays which is a form of protection of marine resources. Computation for ecological footprint suggests that there is a need to allocate additional areas for cropland, built-up area, and mangrove for carbon dioxide uptake due to increasing population. In 2010, Roxas has a population of 61,058. It has a projected population of 69,420 in 2015 and 78,926 in 2020 with an annual growth rate of 2.60%. In 2010, its computed crude birth rate (CBR) and crude death rate (CDR) show that in every 1000 people, 20 babies are born and 5 people die. Barangay Magara is the most populous while Barangay IV is the least. Roxas has a population density of 480 people/km2 with Barangay I as the densest and Barangay Antonino as the least. The municipality has an expansive population pyramid which means that the population is growing in an increasing pace. In 2014, 89% of the population has normal weights with the remaining population being underweight and overweight. There is an overall literacy rate of 97.87%. However, the teacher-student ratios need to meet the standards of the national level. Seventy-seven percent (77%) of the solid waste of Roxas is biodegradable while the rest is non-biodegradable with plastic being 16% of it. Half of the population use incineration to dispose of their garbage while only 9% have their garbage collected. Sixty-six percent (66%) of the population is below the poverty threshold, most of them are found in barangays Magara, Tumarbong, Abaroan, and Tinitian. Additionally, 53% is below the food threshold. There is a 1:3,156 police-population ratio which is below the standard of 1:1000. Nevertheless, Roxas has a crime solution efficiency of 93%. Roxas had an income of ₱184,651,278.99 in the year 2013. Barangay IV had the highest income while Barangay V had the lowest. Twenty thousand one hundred two (20,102) people are employed in Roxas of which 75% is male and 25% is female. The municipality has 13,884 hectares of agricultural lands with major productions from coconut, cashew, and rice. Roxas produces poultry the most while making profit the greatest off of swine meat. Four hundred fifty thousand (450,000) hectares of municipal water produced 9,429,810 kilograms of fish in the year 2013. Sixty-two percent (62%) of the households are connected to PALECO, the main power supplier for the province of Palawan. As of 2012, there are 1,623 active connections to the Roxas Water District. Roxas has also been discovered as a tourist destination, with 9,000 tourists (2013) visiting12 major tourist attractions. Threats in the Municipality of Roxas were prioritized by stakeholders during the Participatory ECAN Resource Management Planning Workshop held on May 4–5, 2015. It was participated by Hon. Mayor Ma. Angela Sabando, as well as municipal officials such as the MENRO, Municipal Agriculturist, MPDO, DRRM officer, ABC Head, PNP representatives, and almost all of the barangay captains. Threats prioritized during the workshop were categorized into three: (i) Environmental and Institutional, (ii) Geo- Environmental Risks, and (iii) Social and Economic. Under the category Environmental and Institutional, the identified threats were in relation to waste management, water quality, and environmental management and law enforcement under which the practice of slash and burn and gold panning were pointed out. ECAN Resource Management Plan of the Municipality of Roxas, Palawan Page | iii For the category geo-Environmental Risks, climate change adaptation was pointed as imperative. The third category contains problems of public security such as poverty alleviation, women and children empowerment, support to education, provision of support facilities to agriculture, provision of infrastructure facilities for development, and making the municipality conducive to investment. The Integrated Threats Analysis is discussed extensively in the fourth section of this paper which contains the identified actions and solutions to the prioritized threats. The formulation of the ERMP of Roxas by the practicumers has called for the following recommendations: To the PCSD: • Conduct the Participatory ECAN Resource Management Planning Workshop at the barangay level. • Monitor, evaluate, and ensure the implementation of the ECAN Resource Management Plan. • Endorse the ECAN Zoning Strategy for national level. To the ecanization process: • Include all barangay captains in the list of suggested key informants. • Conduct ECAN Resource Management Planning Workshop on a Monday to ensure that more participants. To the Local Government Unit: • Sustain current environmental protection initiatives. • Strict implementation of plans. • Strengthen Information Education Campaign (IECs) on policies, especially those that are environmental. • Sustain and enhance the management of Marine Protected Areas in order to meet the food demand in nearby municipalities especially Puerto Princesa and El Nido. • Wisely utilize idle lands for cropland and allocate areas for organic agriculture. • Conduct of studies prior to development or construction of infrastructures especially reclamations and sea walls. • Create Municipal Economic Enterprise Development Office (MEEDO) for economic sustainability. • Focus on agricultural production over tourism when developing the economy. ECAN Resource Management Plan of the Municipality of Roxas, Palawan Page | iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Our practicum team would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude for the guidance and inputs of several people who, in one way or another, contributed to the development and success of this research. • To the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development Staff (PCSDS) for extending their technical support and assistance in the whole conduct of our study. We would like to express our gratitude particularly to the following individuals: -To the PCSD Executive Director, Engr. Nelson Devanadera, for the warm welcome and for providing the team with all the necessary assistance in mobilization during our on-site activities. Thank you sir for the visits, free dinners, and rest and recreation activities during our stay in Puerto Princesa. Above all, we would like to thank you for sharing with us your inspiring and fresh insights and for pushing us to do better and to go beyond our limits; -To Sir Mark dela Cruz for assisting and providing us with the necessary information for our study.