AT LARGE: Defending oceans and environments

First posted 01:01am (Mla time) Sept 02, 2006
By Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer

http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=18564

Editor's Note: Published on Page A13 of the September 2, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

JUST in time for the observance of Coastal Protection Month and preceding the first National Marine Protected Area Summit in the country, the Greenpeace ship MY Esperanza arrived yesterday in Cebu City, the last stop in the Philippine leg of her global “Defending our Oceans” expedition.

The voyage around the world’s oceans, says Greenpeace, aims “to highlight the wonders of, and the environmental threats to, the world’s oceans. [The ship] will also campaign for the establishment of a global network of marine reserves.”

In Cebu, Greenpeace is supporting the work of its partner in advocacy, Coastal Conservation and Education Foundation (CCEF) in their call for the establishment of more marine reserves. The Esperanza arrives in the city from world-renowned, community-managed Apo Island Marine Reserve in Negros Oriental. Many new and emerging marine reserves in Cebu and the rest of the country follow the blueprint of the Apo Island experience.

“Marine reserves are our and our oceans’ future. The benefits that they give to the oceans are benefits that will be enjoyed by many coastal communities, as healthy oceans provide sustainable livelihoods and resources,” said lawyer Rose-Liza Eisma Osorio, CCEF executive director.

Scientists recognize the Philippine archipelago as the world’s center of marine biodiversity, but the country’s rich marine ecosystem is also among the world’s most severely threatened. In her tour of the Philippines, the Esperanza has been witness to both the desperation of marine ecosystems and coastal communities and the viable future that these face once long-term solutions are implemented and enforced.

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GREENPEACE reports that since the ship’s arrival, “she has been witness to the various threats to the oceans, particularly pollution. In Manila, the Esperanza drew attention to the alarming plastic pollution in Manila Bay. Plastics together with various industrial chemicals and domestic sewage are suffocating the bay’s once productive waters.

The Esperanza’s early response in assisting the Philippine Coast Guard and other organizations in the Petron Solar 1 oil-slick disaster, which has devastated Guimaras Island and other parts of Central Visayas, has been crucial in helping focus the world’s attention to the massive environmental catastrophe. The ship has also actively taken part in community protests in Rapu Rapu Island in Albay province where toxic mine pollution from Lafayette’s mining operations is destroying marine ecosystems, endangering vulnerable and important species like the whale shark, and ruining the livelihoods of poor coastal communities.”

Greenpeace is campaigning for 40 percent of the world’s oceans to be protected by marine reserves in the high seas. “At present, only a tiny area of ocean (0.01 percent) is protected from increasingly destructive human activity,” said Greenpeace Southeast Asia campaigner Daniel Ocampo on board the Esperanza. “The wealth of local experiences with regard to the benefits of ocean protection is one of the key aspects that Greenpeace wants to highlight in the Esperanza’s year-long ‘Defending our Oceans’ tour. These will serve as examples of how similar reserves in international waters in the high seas are the key solution to the global oceans crises.”

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MEANTIME, Greenpeace, through Southeast Asia toxic campaigner Beau Baconguis, recently released a statement on the approval by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) of the final phase of Lafayette’s “test run,” which the environmental organization has called “a sham.”

The statement is reprinted in full:
“From the start, Greenpeace has been very disappointed with the DENR’s decision granting Lafayette a 30-day test-run despite findings that environmental lapses on the part of the company were responsible for the toxic spills during its first few months of operations. Now, the terms of the third phase of this so-called test-run proves without doubt that it is a complete sham designed to pave the way for Lafayette’s full operations.

“The decision to allow Lafayette to resume operations has obviously already been made even before the test run started. This is a shameless theatrical display conjured by the DENR and Lafayette, at the expense of the environment and livelihoods of people who depend on the integrity of the marine ecosystem around Rapu Rapu for their survival. Greenpeace maintains that Lafayette’s mining operations will pollute the island’s surrounding fragile marine environment. Last Aug. 24, Greenpeace released a report that extremely high levels of the heavy metals were found in water samples from Rapu Rapu Island. Cadmium, copper and zinc were found to be at levels more than a hundred times higher than background levels for river water in water samples taken from Mirikpitik Creek, Rapu Rapu Island on Aug. 2.

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“BUT instead of addressing the issue of contamination directly, Lafayette has instead cried sabotage over incidents of fish kills which occurred during their test run. To this day, however, they have yet to prove this allegation. Moreover, the disturbing lack of transparency during the conduct of the test run also remains an issue that the DENR and Lafayette have yet to address.

“The recent confirmation of the presence of whale sharks or butandings in the Albay Gulf also underscore what the region is bound to lose in the face of Lafayette’s continuing toxic onslaught on the pristine fishing grounds around Rapu Rapu Island.”

When the government’s regulatory agencies fail to do their job, who will stand between those who would exploit the environment and our natural resources for gain, and the environment and the ordinary people who depend on it for survival?