TropicalCoast 4th new indd

18

July 2008

Working Together for the Verde Island Passage

 

Consider this: a nongovernmental organization with a track record of 20 

years promoting global biodiversity and a private company operating 

three power plants.  What could be the tie that binds them?  Marine 

conservation. 

The NGO was Conservation International (CI), which has identifi ed 

land and sea areas in the Philippines as biodiversity hotspots. The 

private company was the First Gen Corporation (First Gen) of the Lopez 

of Companies, which had acquired the only legislative franchise in 

the Philippines to own, construct, install and operate a natural gas 

transmission and distribution pipeline in the island of Luzon. Both 

CI and First Gen envision to make conservation a part of the lives of 

communities and as a way to protect the environment. 

One of the biodiversity hotspots in the Philippines is the Verde Island 

Passage, which  traverses between the provinces of Batangas, Mindoro 

Occidental  and Mindoro Oriental. This hotspot is considered to be the 

center of  marine biodiversity in the world. It is rich in marine life, yet it is 

also a busy  thoroughfare of commercial and industrial vessels, fi shing 

boats and  tourist ships, which pose a threat to a very high density of 

diverse species. 

The conservation of Verde Passage is one of CI-Philippines’ biggest 

projects. As part of its corporate social responsibility, First Gen, which 

operates two natural gas power plants in Batangas, wanted to be 

proactive in marine conservation but lacked the scientifi c capacity and 

experience. 

 

Forging the Partnership

In February 1999, First Gen and CI-Philippines established the First 

Philippine Conservation, Inc. (FPCI) with a mission to undertake 

environmental conservation in the country. First Gen provides the main 

source of funds for FPCI, which can also receive monetary or similar 

donations from other companies/organizations. CI-Philippines provides 

technical support and guidance to FPCI, specifi cally on biodiversity 

conservation of  the Verde Passage. 

Through FPCI, funds were made available for the conservation of the 

Verde Passage. Some PhP50 million (US$1 million) were allocated for 

the project for a span of fi ve years to implement  a Coastal Resources 

Management (CRM) Programme, the main strategy of conservation 

for Verde Passage.  CI-Philippines ensured the project’s supervision and  

technical guidance. FPCI made a long-term commitment and agreed to 

extend its work beyond the Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape Project. 

Beyond the Formalities at Board Meetings

Before Mr. Federico Lopez took the helm of FPCI, he was chief operating 

offi

  cer of First Gen.  He was also a student of scuba diving,  a hobby 

that gave him a closer look at the gems of the sea. With the regular 

dives, he developed a keen interest in marine life and soon became 

a diving buddy of Mr. Romeo Trono, the country representative of CI-

Philippines. 

Lopez’s business vision began to take the color of the blue seas while 

Trono’s advocacy of conserving the deeps of the Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape 

with business enterprises continued to become a passion.  

Making a Mark 

An ecosystem-based protection programme of the Verde Passage 

covering  the four provinces of Batangas, Mindoro Oriental, Mindoro 

Occidental, and Marinduque is the biggest project of FPCI. 

The exhaustive work of the programme encompassed activities 

ranging from raising awareness of the people in the areas, introducing 

environmental management to local government units, completing 

scientifi c studies crucial to identifying priority areas for marine 

preservation like oceanographic and larval dispersal studies and surveys 

on marine habitat and threatened species. Through these eff orts, CI 

estimates that the marine protected area coverage in the Verde Passage 

could be realistically increased in the short-term by 15 percent or a 

coverage of up to 693 ha.

The signing of Executive Order No. 578 was one signifi cant 

accomplishment of FPCI together with CI-Philippines, First Gen, the 

local communities and the government. The Executive Order (EO) was  

a national policy on biological diversity for national implementation. 

Signed on 8 November 2006 by President Gloria M. Arroyo, the EO 

specifi cally targeted the conservation of the SSS with a focus on the 

Verde Island Passage. The EO paved the way for the creation of an ad 

hoc task force to prepare the Verde Island Passage Framework Plan, 

which aims to improve biodiversity management of more than 1.14 

million ha of the coastal and marine areas of Verde Passage.

Eff orts paid off .  A Memorandum of Agreement set up a marine 

protected area network among eight municipalities and one city in 

Batangas province.  The network will facilitate the sharing of experiences, 

knowledge and skills; facilitate confl ict resolution and complement law 

enforcement; and coordinate operations against illegal and destructive 

fi shing methods. 

The gains of the partnership have been extended to other areas. FPCI 

supports the “hotspots” approach of CI-Philippines in conserving the 

remaining old-growth forests and the highest number of threatened 

species in the Sierra Madre mountain range and in Palawan.  FPCI also 

engaged in a project with the Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund 

(CEPF) to help save hectares of threatened habitats and species in 

Mindanao.

Creating Ripples

First Gen began developing a regular programme for its employees to 

take paid leaves of absences for doing coastal resource management 

(CRM) work for Verde Passage. Beyond being a donor, First Gen pro-

actively encouraged its employees to take part in conservation eff orts.  

The programme was welcomed by the employees, who have regarded 

themselves as stakeholders in conserving Verde Passage.

The FPCI experience clearly exhibits that public-private partnerships 

can succeed. It is moving to engage other business entities and NGOs 

to be united in conserving the seas, oceans, forests, and species. It is 

engaging governments to put in and implement conservation policies, 

and setting up business models with corporations willing to be key 

players in protecting the environment. 

---