Ecotourism [Balitang America Travels]

If you've never been to the Philippines, you can get a taste for what it's rich, marine life is like at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. In one of my recent "Travels" segments on Balitang America, I interviewed research scientist Terrence Gosliner who is the senior curator of the Philippine Coral Reef exhibit: an impressive 212,000 gallon, 25-foot deep aquarium tank filled with fish, live coral and other aquatic life from the waters of the Philippines. The country is famous for having a unique and very diverse marine ecosystem.

Gosliner hopes visitors who see the exhibit at the Academy are inspired to see the real coral reefs in the Philippines. The reefs in the Verde Island Passage between Southern Luzon and Northern Mindoro, he said, are the "richest coral reefs of anywhere in the world."

But Gosliner said the coral reefs are in danger and has noted the damage to the marine ecosystems, since he began leading diving and conservation expeditions to the Philippines in 1992. Human activities such as dynamite and cyanide fishing threaten this fragile ecosystem, as well as on-shore construction projects, which remove protective barriers of mangrove trees or cause dirt, silt and sand to erode into the water and smother the coral. There are also tourists who break the coral while diving or take pieces home as souvenirs, and dive operators who damage the reefs with the anchors of their boats.

Visitors to the Philippines can do their part to help save the reefs by following careful diving practices and by choosing tour operators who promote ecological tourism. "Ecotourism" (as it is more commonly known) is a growing segment of the tourism industry that focuses on low impact travel to environmentally fragile areas. It means choosing activities, housing and transportation options that help preserve and protect your destination's natural beauty and animal/plant ecosystems for future generations. It also involves supporting the area's indigenous cultures and making choices that benefit the local communities economically and encourage them to wisely manage and maintain their natural resources.

The Department of Tourism is promoting ecotourism in the Philippines and several local tour companies offer eco-friendly activities like visiting the underground caves in Palawan, interacting with dolphins and whalesharks, birdwatching at Villa Escudero, or seeing the tarsirs in Bohol.

Travels is a weekly TV segment written and produced by Christi Morales. It airs every Monday during Balitang America's (News in America) 5:30pm PST newcast on ABS-CBN Global's The Filipino Channel (TFC). Balitang America can also be seen on KTSF Channel 26 at 6:45pm PST in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Photo credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/japes18/ / CC BY-ND 2.0