Mural on MPA becomes a community centerpiece

The murals are finally real before the Uson paved area at its convergence point. It saw three major community activities last week: one was the Commemoration of the Passion of Christ in dramatized form complete with characters and singing of the bible account of how Jesus died on the Cross. The second was a documentary of ABS-CBN, their entry to the Catholic Mass Media Awards this season under the theme, Love for Nature. The TV broadcast team will show how the community perceive their marine resources and what they do to help protect them. At the video shoot yesterday, Mayor Tobias Betito and three fishers were shown articulating the benefits of the MPA with the mural on the background. Third, was the general assembly of all Uson residents on April 1, 2012.

Community paints Uson friendly visual reminders on how best to protect the MPA

It's happening tomorrow, the community-wide mural painting for Uson.

Please see artist's interpretation the core messages.

what do you think?

( Why I have) Some reasons to believe hotlines work

  Police Chief Dixon Berango( whose photo appears below) of Bacacay Philippine National Police disclosed a list of apprehensions, cases filed and documented violations that were based on SMS sent to the hotline.

 In an interview with Chief Berango, three out of the six cases were about illegal fishing, one on mangrove trees cut to convert a mangrove patch into docking area, and the three other cases were about sightings of abandoned lumber and conveying charcoal. The illegal fishing cases all happened in the month of January (20, 25,and 31) 2012. Arrests, confiscation and filing of cases ensued. SMS messages sent to the hotline prompted them to respond to the incidents. In most of the operations, they were supported by the Fishery Law Enforcement team.

Encore! encore!

 This is what the chidlren showed in their faces each time we finish the dramatized skit, Woes of Costa.

Vulnerability Assessment Training workshop to protect fisheries and marine biodiversity in the Philippines' municipal MPAs rolls out in Luzon

 In a nutshell, vulnerability asessment has three aspects that were covered: climate exposure, climate sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. To determine vulnerability index on a barangay scale, matrices were distributed, each item was rated based on top-of the head recall of how the criterion appears. For instance, if a coastal barangay has mangoves then what is its current state? The greater the number of species, the less vulnerable the site. Ratings are given in some instances a rating of 1.0 is the highest in a scale of five, while in some instances, five is the highest, depending on the criterion. Then averaging and finally a general average is achieved. As a participant, one has to really pay attention as to how each criterion is rated. Also,you need to disregard any associated factor to a criterion since other aspects are provided for also like human population which is part of the socio-economic component.

Fishers and law enforcement volunteers say yes and tries hand at reef monitoring

The fishers grow more silent as more and more concepts were unravelled: the rudiments of governance and enforcememt. Then they were reintroduced to the advantage of knowing reef monitoring. The major take aways were: they were interested to do reef monitoring so that in the absence of a marine scientists they themselves could tell visitors in their site what organisms are present in the MPA and whether or not they are alive or dead, and how the reef health relate to fish species. The volunteers were likewise interested in knowing what they are protecting on a 24/7 basis. Finally, they want to be knowledgeable of the species including seagrasses and coral reefs so that they would be able to explain to the young why they ought to participate in their protection efforts.

Losing Rare CM Melania Dirain to murder. Life is a price a heroine pays for nature conservation.

 Feb. 9 while Pablo Rojas and I are in the midst of action planning for 2012 in Uson, little did we knew we lost someone important to Rare.

Melania Dirain, 46, DENR forest specialist in Cagayan and the first Rare Campaign Manager in the Philippines was murdered. here is the link:(http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/142171/cagayan-denr-exec-killed-in-attack-in-her-office)

Rare Pride Campaign to be included in DENR Book on Climate Change Adaptation

 Dr. Cora Claudio, editor and adviser of DENR Book on Climate change adaptation, acknowledged Rare Pride Campaign to be included among top 100 best practices on climate change adaptatin in the Philippines. The book is now in its final stage and the CF was asked to revise and submit more campaign photos as regards the social marketing campaign conducted in Uson.

The entry is limited to four pages and will only highlight the Best practices of Rare Pride Campaign.

School visit slated in March 5-7, 2012

The ten-member team of Dalaw Turo (“visit to teach”) of DENR met today for the upcoming school visit in Rare campaign site. The team in composed of Richelyn Guiriba of the Forestry Management Service (FMS), Arlene Ranara of Ecosystems Research and Development Service, Yolda Abante, Park Superintendent of Mount Isarog National Park DENR CENRO Naga, Ruby Mendones, RPAO, Emily Naz of Lands Management Service, Rudolph Lita of Environmental Management Bureau, Edilberto Matusalem, Park Superintendent of Mayon Volcano Natural Park, Myrna Baylon of Protected Areas, Wildlife, Coastal Zone Management Service, Concepcion Mendoza of FMS, and Marites Opena of PAWCZMS.Absent was Luis Valdez of Mines and Geosciences Bureau. The program of activities finalized were as follows: Pre-evaluation survey, Introduction of DT Team to the school children, Environmental clapping,

mat making contest highlights residents' ingenuity, increases IC

 A month prior to the launch, the residents of Uson, Buang, and Pongco Bonga were asked to join a mat making contest depicting life in the sanctuary. There was no limit to the number of mat makers but the rule was that they must use only the karagomoi plant in designing the mat. Families and groups of women participated. Some worked on the mat for a week while some greater than a week since they have to dye the strands separately. They also experimented with designs: fish, landmark of Uson, texts, and symbolism.

At the launch, some 14 mats were displayed for judging. There were pre-selected entries at the launch but to increase greater awareness on the MPA, the mats were also posted at facebook for public scrutiny and judging.

Awarding of winners is scheduled on December 10, 2011 during the enforcers' 4th monthly meeting and 2012 action planning.