Philippines

The ways Philippines have chosen for celebrating the IYO (which coincides with their 100th Year of Independence from Spain) are focused on emphasizing the need not just to be aware of the importance of the oceans, but more importantly, to understand it, adopt it in our institutions, and finally undertake the necessary actions. These activities are undertaken through integrating the ongoing and planned activities under the aegis of most UNESCO programmes, e.g. WHS, MAB and CSI.

The National Committee on Marine Sciences (NCMS) of the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines (UNACOM) is the focal point of these initiatives in the Philippines. The committee initiated these activities via similar and related activities in commemorating 1997 as the International Year of the Reef. These activities are focused largely on database development. Another initiative is the nationwide "adopt-a-reef" program which encourages agencies and institutions to adopt a reef. The Environmental Center of the Philippines is about to finish the Atlas of the Philippine Environment, while the NCMS has just finished an inventory of the research vessels for use in cruises.

In the celebration of the IYO, the NCMS has been successful in convincing the Philippine Government to highlight Tubbataha Reef in the country’s booth at EXPO’98 in Lisbon. The reef is the only National Marine Park of the country and its only Natural World Heritage Site.

One of the major activities through which the NCMS plans to commemorate the IYO is the organization of the 3rd International Seagrass Biology Workshop (ISBW-3) to be held in the Philippines 19-25 April 1998.

The Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB of UNESCO) has been revived and it is now spearheading initiatives to commemorate the IYO at the two MAB sites in the Philippines.

The CSI project of UNESCO is currently undertaking efforts related to the activities for the IYO. It is implementing a National Symposium on Sustainable Tourism for the 21st Century in Palawan, the country’s last frontier. It has also approved in principle the development of a management plan for Ulugan Bay in Palawan to meet the long-term needs of both the inhabitants and the coastal and marine environments upon which these people largely depend for survival.