The Province of Siquijor has been chosen to be the research setting for a P16.5-million worth of action research project on environmental conservation and ecotourism. 

This after the University of Santo Tomas Research and Endowment Foundation, Inc. (UST-REFI) bagged the research grant awarded by the Gerry Roxas Foundation and (GRF) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). 

The UST-REFI has secured the grant to conduct an action research project focusing on environmental conservation and ecotourism in Siquijor province entitled “Siquijor Island Conservation and Restoration: Toward a Regenerative Ecotourism Destination.” 

This action research project was one of the 11 recipients of grants from GRF’s program called INSPIRE or Investing in Sustainable Partnerships for Inclusive Growth and Regenerative Ecosystems.

According to Dr. Moises Norman Z. Garcia of the UST-REFI, the project team has crafted communication plans for the said project aimed at conserving and restoring the ecosystem of Siquijor for a sustainable, regenerative island.

In connection with this, a two-day inception and planning meeting and a series of Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with the local government units (LGUs), civil society organizations (CSOs), and other stakeholders was done recently in Siquijor. 

The FGDs aimed to develop relationships and potential alliances and gain a better understanding of the sustainability issues faced by the island's tourism industry through the use of the UST-REFI situation model and its possible solutions, as well as to establish their respective roles and responsibilities for the implementation and management of the project.

The discussions also involved identification of threats, opportunities, and solutions to environmental problems by the stakeholders of the Province of Siquijor from the local and national government agencies, farmers, fisherfolks, transport groups, drivers associations, tour guides, women, youth, the academe, as well as the provincial and municipal tourism and environment officers, and the local disaster risk reduction and management offices.

The action research project hopes to aid Siquijor’s collaborative governance efforts on environmental protection, environmental conservation education, and achieving community-based sustainable livelihood.

It also  seeks to empower the island’s LGUs in regulating the use of trees and medicinal plants, curb illegal and unregulated fishing activities, encourage tourism development, reduce solid and liquid wastes, and control freshwater consumption. 

“These efforts contribute to the vision of making Siquijor a ‘zero-waste island’,” Garcia said.

He said the project will capitalize on environmental advocacy to counter climate change and take inspiration from Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Sí as it hopes to contribute to climate change action. (RAC/PIA7 Siquijor with reports from Marifel Faith Hammond)