Palawan’s UN status as eco reserve in peril

BARANGAY captain Grace Dantic of San Juan, Aborlan, where DMCI plans to relocate its coal plant project, is “anticoal” but admits she is taking strong pressure from Palawan Gov. Jose Alvarez to support the controversial project. REDEMPTO D. ANDA/INQUIRER SOUTHERN LUZON

MANILA, Philippines—The country’s last ecological frontier, Palawan, may lose its status as a “Man and Biosphere Reserve” under the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) if a plan to build a coal-fired power plant in one of its towns pushes through, an environmentalist organization warned.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Philippines sounded the alarm earlier this week in response to reports that a coal plant would be built in Aborlan town to help meet the province’s increasing electricity needs.

In a statement, the group warned the construction of the coal plant would threaten Palawan’s natural resources and put at risk its special designation as a Unesco reserve.

In 1990, Unesco declared Palawan as a Man and Biosphere Reserve, classifying the province as a “site of excellence where new and optimal practices to manage nature and human activities are tested and demonstrated.”

Palawan hosts two Unesco World Heritage Sites: the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Marine Park and the Puerto Princesa Underground River. Palawan is also one of the country’s most popular tourism hot spots.

On Monday, some 1,500 students at Western Philippines University students marched to Aborlan to protest the plan, said Lita Sopsop, dean of the university’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Sopsop, who has a doctorate in Environmental Science from the University of the Philippines-Los Banos, said a coal plant’s adverse effects on Palawan’s marine ecosystem would be “massive.”

WWF-Philippines said the coal plant was originally supposed to be put up in the town of Narra but it “faced such strong local opposition that the developer was unable to get the local government endorsement it needed to continue with the project.”

It had to transfer the proposed site to the municipality of Aborlan, the group said.

“The question is not whether Palawan should develop. The question is how it should develop,” said WWF-Philippines vice chair and chief executive officer Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan.

WWF-Philippines said it would be highlighting the plight of Palawan through what it called the “Seize Your Power Campaign.” The campaign calls on financial institutions and government to divest from dirty fossil fuel investments and to invest more in cleaner, renewable energy solutions.”

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