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.