The heat is on!

THE WEATHER these days are darn too hot! Then after I water the plants for a series of days, it rains. Hallelujah! I always feel elated that my efforts to water the plants are rewarded by a refreshing rainfall each time.

But with this extreme heat, the impact of climate change has become real to everyone! Ten years back, most of us Filipinos were skeptical, nah, did not even believe that “climate change” was really going to happen! But now, it has become the regular lingo of everyone. Thus, what the experts had been saying all along is freaking real, but we just easily dismissed it until the unusual flooding, extreme heat, excessive rains, and what have you, came along. Woe to us for not heeding the advice of experts. All we can do now is soften the impact of climate change by readying for any eventuality.

Who would have thought that it will happen in our lifetime, huh! No one would have ever imagined it occurring except the experts who were invisible in the past because their collective voices were dismissed.

In Bohol, it’s time to organize a “Climate Change Summit” and invite all stakeholders to ensure that everyone is kept abreast with what’s happening in the next five years to twenty years. Invite the experts to speak bluntly so we can all prepare.

I remember in 2015 in General Santos City, a foundation in partnership with the General Santos City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. held a workshop-seminar on Climate Change. It was informative, educational, engaging, and mind-blowing. Yes, mind-blowing because we had a worst-case scenario workshop! Let’s do that in Bohol!

In relation to the environment, I can’t help but quote some parts of the highly informative article, “When a National Scientist says ‘no’ to reclamation” written by Alya B. Honasan and published by lifestyle.inquirer.net on July 21, 2021.

Honasan interviewed Dr. Angel Chua Alcala, a national scientist, pioneering marine biologist and conservationist, and father of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in the country. MPA was his original concept and was fortunately instituted when he was environment secretary under FVR in 1992-1995.

Alcala articulated that “People forget their commitment to the protection of biodiversity.” He said that in the 1990s, he was a part of a small crew doing underwater videos on the Apo Island in Dauin, some thirty kilometers from Dumaguete City, the capital of Negros Oriental. The fisherfolk were doing well because of an ingenious way of managing this renowned fish sanctuary: a small portion was protected as a no-take zone, where fishing was not allowed. If you think the locals were deprived, you are mistaken because the set-up allowed the protected area to overflow with fish that spread all over the rest of the fishing grounds, Alcala explained.

“A marine protected area conserves fish and improves fisheries in an area at the same time,” says Alcala. That’s the important aspect! Balance is always the key. “Any place with an MPA will have increased productivity. Apo Island is about 140 hectares. The protected area is a little more than 10 ha, but the effect is to help the MPA produce some 15-20 tons of fish per year”, said Alcala. He calls this the spillover effect – and that’s only the adult fish. Living organisms on the reef lay eggs, which are carried by currents to the entire island of Negros, and there the species thrive, grow, and support the fisherfolk of Negros Island, he further said.

And talking about MPA, during my interview with Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) President Dominic Butalid in Woman Talk with Belinda Sales on August 26, 2023, he discussed about BCCI’s four-year partnership with AFOS Foundation for Entrepreneurial Development Cooperation (AFOS Stiftung für Unternehmerische Ent) and identified Phase 1 projects in President Carlos P. Garcia town and Tagbilaran City and Phase 2 projects in Alburquerque and Ubay towns, respectively. In sum, the collaboration of BCCI and AFOS provides active support through capability-building, livelihood initiatives, among others, to eleven fishing communities in the province of Bohol. That’s commendable!

In Tagbilaran City, the partnership has identified Barangay Ubujan as an MPA. This interests me! The Ubujan MPA is a particularly good project because this has been proven repeatedly as emphasized by Dr. Alcala. We hope to hear updates about the Ubujan MPA project from BCCI.

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The writer hosts Woman Talk with Belinda Sales at 91.1 Balita FM Tagbilaran City every Saturday, 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. She can be reached at belindabelsales@gmail.com. Twitter @ShilohRuthie./PN