When the Negros Island Region (NIR) was declared as a unit separate from Regions 6 and 7, a lot of us in the environmental groups were glad for the islands natural resources.
Finally, the island, the fourth largest in the country, can be managed as one whole ecosystem, with better coordinated efforts for sustainable agriculture, wildlife conservation, ecotourism, and a green economy.
Despite differences in dialect, the people of Negros were ready to build and sustain the connections between the Occidental and Oriental sides.
Weve seen that dream shot down again. This is not an essay attempting to unravel the political complications of both the establishment and the dissolution of the NIR. In the movement for sustainability, one can be overwhelmed with politics at play, sometimes at the expense of our environment.
What we could talk about now is how the current generation of Negrosanons from the two provinces (and now two separate regions) see that even though we are divided in administration, we could still definitely continue to work together for our shared goals.
People will ask why there would even be a divided Negros. This is a question we could start with. Perhaps for a long time, has it been difficult to travel through the terrain in the middle of the island?
Roads were not well-paved, safety amid insurgency was an important concern, and it took more than half of the day to get to the other side of Negros. I grew up in Bacolod City and honestly I wasnt able to memorize what cities and municipalities are in Negros Oriental. When I was learning more about geography, the farthest in my memory of Negros were Hinoba-an in the south and San Carlos City on the other end.
It was only in the last three years that Ive come to truly appreciate connecting with Negros Oriental. The millennial trends in social media have brought us the stories and images of the beautiful other side. It does hit you: How come weve traveled to other islands when we havent fully explored our own?
My questions to fellow young people from Negros Occidental: Have you been to the caves of Mabinay? Have you enjoyed the air in Canlaon? Have you seen the beauty of the Balinsasayao? Mt. Talinis? There must be a lot more to appreciate in Negros Oriental.
And with the better road system now, and information easier to find through the Internet, we have to encourage the visiting exchanges between Occidental and Oriental. The travel routes in between will hopefully usher new businesses, products, and experiences for the locals of Negros Island.
In terms of ecology, even if NIR is no longer an entity, our island remains to be an ecosystem we all need to take care of, even if it is divided into two different jurisdictions.
The NIR team of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) was one of the very active NIR-borne agencies that I was optimistic about.
I was disappointed with Regional Director Al Orolfos departure and now even more with the dismantling DENR-NIR just when we were starting to gain momentum in the continued fight for our protected areas. But then again, we must continue to protect our islands ecological wealth, even through changes in political landscapes.
Our meager three to four percent primary forest cover is delicate, and as Negrosanons we need to be aware of all the efforts past and present to conserve Negros forests and reefs.
Barely scratching the surface of Negros Islands environmental concerns, I am aware there are readers here who are passionate and eager about the status of different projects that may affect our islands resources.
As stewards of our one island ecosystem, valuing interconnectedness of our remaining forests and reefs, we need to have a discourse thats not an all-or-nothing for any side. I invite different parties to send this newspaper letters about issues you care about so that theres a space for these participatory discussions.
***
In Dumaguete City last weekend for the Students Environmental Writing Initiative (Camp SEWI), I had a meaningful time with 15 young and aspiring environmental journalists.
Organized by Silliman Mass Communications magna cum laude and TOSP finalist Val Vestil with the support of Kennesaw State University in Georgia, USA (where Vestil was an academic fellow earlier this year), the US State Departments Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI), and the American Studies Resource Center of Silliman University Library, the event provided training to improve budding journalists skills in reporting environmental stories. More of this workshop and its outputs in my next column.
See the article here:
One island ecosystem | SunStar - Sun.Star
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- EcoLogo - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
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- Seed Bombs - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
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- Safeway Sponsors Portland Community Cleanup - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Electric Vehicle Race - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Portland Bridge Pedal 2009 - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- E-waste in Oregon - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Bike Sharing in Portland - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Bucks for the Bay Challenge - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Drive to Make a Difference with MyMPG - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Bathroom Sprayers - Green your Toilet Routine - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
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- Green Metropolis, David Owen - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
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- Donate to Oregon Toxics Alliance - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Biomass Energy Generation Myths - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Crude The Real Price of Oil | Playing in Portland - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Pictures From 350 Climate Day in Portland - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Arcimoto Electric Vehicles in Oregon - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Urban Rooftop Wind Turbines - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Chromium 6 Emissions from ESCO in Portland - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Food Inc. Review - December 19th, 2009 [December 19th, 2009]
- Making Maps with Google Earth and Google Maps by Shane Bradt of the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension - March 23rd, 2010 [March 23rd, 2010]
- Demonstration of Miradi 3.1 by Nick Salafsky of Foundations of Success - March 23rd, 2010 [March 23rd, 2010]
- Advanced Mashups – KML and the Mapping API by Cary Chadwick of the University of Connecticut Center for Land Use Education and Research - March 23rd, 2010 [March 23rd, 2010]
- Demonstration of InVEST by Heather Tallis of the Natural Capital Project - March 23rd, 2010 [March 23rd, 2010]
- GIS Maps Online by Emily Wilson of the University of Connecticut Center for Land Use Education and Research - March 23rd, 2010 [March 23rd, 2010]
- From ArcGIS to Web Maps: Simple Techniques for Publishing GIS Maps Online by Emily Wilson of the University of Connecticut Center for Land Use Education and Research - March 25th, 2010 [March 25th, 2010]
- Demonstration of Marine InVEST by Anne Guerry of the Natural Capital Project - March 31st, 2010 [March 31st, 2010]
- Eliminate and Decrease Styrofoam - March 31st, 2010 [March 31st, 2010]
- Portland Plans to Spend $600 million on Master Bike Plan - April 2nd, 2010 [April 2nd, 2010]
- (Webinar in Spanish) Demostración sobre Vista 2.5 de NatureServe en línea (Webinar) por Ian Varley, Carmen Josse, y Alexandra Sanchez de Lozada de NatureServe. - April 6th, 2010 [April 6th, 2010]
- Using and Adding Your Content to Google Ocean by Charlotte Vick, Google Content Manager of Mission Blue - April 13th, 2010 [April 13th, 2010]
- End Paper Receipts - May 1st, 2010 [May 1st, 2010]
- Demonstration of CanVis by Chris Haynes of NOAA Coastal Services Center - May 6th, 2010 [May 6th, 2010]
- Demonstration of HD.gov Web Portal by Jeff Adkins from NOAA Coastal Services Center - May 13th, 2010 [May 13th, 2010]
- Demonstration of Ecosystem Assessment and Reporting Tool by Steve Schill of The Nature Conservancy - May 13th, 2010 [May 13th, 2010]
- Demonstration of Version 2.0 of the Multipurpose Marine Cadastre by Adam Bode and Brian Smith of NOAA Coastal Services Center - May 17th, 2010 [May 17th, 2010]
- CRUDE Filmmakers Subpoenaed by Chevron - May 22nd, 2010 [May 22nd, 2010]
- Demonstration of the Digital Coast Coastal Inundation Toolkit by Steph Beard, Jodie Sprayberry and Billy Brooks of NOAA Coastal Services Center - May 25th, 2010 [May 25th, 2010]
- Presentation on the Creating Resilient Communities EBM Tool Demonstration Project by Jocelyn Hittle of PlaceMatters - June 10th, 2010 [June 10th, 2010]
- Presentation on Economic Data Needed for EBM by Linwood Pendleton of Duke University - October 11th, 2010 [October 11th, 2010]
- Recycling Water - October 16th, 2010 [October 16th, 2010]
- ODOT Partners with Oregon Toxics Alliance to Reduce Pesticides - October 17th, 2010 [October 17th, 2010]
- Goats Hired to Mow Portland Lot - October 17th, 2010 [October 17th, 2010]
- A World of Health: Connecting People, Place, and Planet - October 17th, 2010 [October 17th, 2010]
- Alternative Recycling Options - October 17th, 2010 [October 17th, 2010]
- No More Bullying the Bull Trout - October 17th, 2010 [October 17th, 2010]
- 1000+ EV Charging Stations Slated for Oregon I-5 Corridor - October 17th, 2010 [October 17th, 2010]
- The Vertical Farm Concept - October 17th, 2010 [October 17th, 2010]
- Blog Action Day 2010 | Water - October 17th, 2010 [October 17th, 2010]
- Eco Districts - October 24th, 2010 [October 24th, 2010]
- Will The Nissan Leaf Thrive? - October 24th, 2010 [October 24th, 2010]
- A Green Railroad - October 24th, 2010 [October 24th, 2010]
- Biomass is not Oregon's clean-energy future as currently promoted - October 24th, 2010 [October 24th, 2010]
- Electrified Parking Spaces - October 24th, 2010 [October 24th, 2010]
- Tree Planting - October 24th, 2010 [October 24th, 2010]
- Three Tips to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint and Live Longer. - October 24th, 2010 [October 24th, 2010]
- Biomass is not Oregon’s clean-energy future as currently promoted - October 31st, 2010 [October 31st, 2010]
- Rail~Volution - October 31st, 2010 [October 31st, 2010]
- Green Streets Initiative - October 31st, 2010 [October 31st, 2010]
- Mayor Kitty Piercy and Envision Eugene - November 7th, 2010 [November 7th, 2010]
- The Willamette River Transit Bridge - November 13th, 2010 [November 13th, 2010]
- Collaborative Learning and Land Use Tools to Support Community Based Ecosystem Management by Chris Feurt of the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve - November 14th, 2010 [November 14th, 2010]
- Portland Federal Building Begins Green Makeover - November 14th, 2010 [November 14th, 2010]
- Vestas’ New HQ in Portland Shoots for LEED Platinum - November 14th, 2010 [November 14th, 2010]
- College Degrees to Get You in the Environmental Field - November 14th, 2010 [November 14th, 2010]
- Demonstration of openNSPECT, an Open Source Version of the Nonpoint-Source Pollution and Erosion Comparison Tool by Dave Eslinger of NOAA Coastal Services Center - February 14th, 2011 [February 14th, 2011]
- Demonstration of EMDS by Keith Reynolds of the US Forest Service - February 14th, 2011 [February 14th, 2011]
- Demonstration of Habitat Priority Planner by Chrissa Waite and Danielle Bamford of NOAA Coastal Services Center - February 14th, 2011 [February 14th, 2011]
- Presentation on the Coastal Adaptation to Sea Level Rise Tool (COAST) by Sam Merrill of the New England Environmental Finance Center - February 14th, 2011 [February 14th, 2011]
- Presentation on the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard by Kathy Goodin of NatureServe - February 14th, 2011 [February 14th, 2011]
- Demonstration of Coral Reef Scenario Evaluation Tool (CORSET) by Jessica Melbourne-Thomas of the University of Tasmania - February 14th, 2011 [February 14th, 2011]
- Demonstration of Multi-scale Integrated Models of Ecosystem Services (MIMES) by Roel Boumans and David McNally of AFORDable Futures LLC - February 14th, 2011 [February 14th, 2011]
- Creating Life in the Desert - February 14th, 2011 [February 14th, 2011]