Research Proposal

Institutional Arrangements Responsible

With The Maintenance and Preservation

Of The Navotas Marine Tree Park

Mialyza R. Salazar

3ASN3

May 19, 2017

 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background Of The Study

Southeast Asia has been characterised by its forest ecosystem: fertile lands,

forested hills and mountain ranges, and seas because of its wet-tropical climate.

The regions abundant seas are homes to coral reefs and its coastlines caters

different kinds of mangrove species. In fact, Southeast Asia holds 30% of the

world’s mangroves (http://faculty.cascadia.edu). Southeast Asian mangroves are

usually along the mainland and in island coastlines, especially in Andaman Sea,

Malacca strait, Sulu Sea, Celebes Sea and Flores Sea. Mangroves are known

natural habitats for different schools of fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals.

And as for the case of the Navotas Marine Tree Park, it is one of the places of

which flocks of migrating birds pass through.

Mangroves are known to be economic resources for wood, honey suckled

sugar, and medicine (Yamada, 1998), as much as they are natural defences from

marine disasters. Mangroves also serve as homes to different species that seek food,

shelter and protection from predators.

However, the figure of deforestation and depletion of the mangroves in

Southeast Asia has increased due to the ongoing course of urbanisation and
globalisation, as well as oil spills, chemical pollution, and disruption of salinity

balance of the waters. While in some cases, deforestation of the mangroves are

done to make way for rice fields.

Without mangroves, the storm surges, currents and tides from the ocean will

not be reduced. As for the mangroves in Sitio, Pulo, Tanza, Navotas, the absence

or the depletion of the mangroves might worsen the floods and other mishap of the

area as well as barangays part of the CAMANAVA area. The

Statement Of The Problem

This study aims to answer the question:

How does the government or non-government organisations, take

action in relation to the sustainability and preservation of the mangroves in Sitio,

Pulo?

Specially, this study aims to find answers to the following sub-problem:

1. What actions have been taken by the leaders concerning the clean-up of the

shoreline, the maintenance, preservation and protection of the marine tree

park?
Objectives of the Study

The study generally aims to know how institutional arrangements help and

benefit the marine tree park of Sitio, Pulo in terms of its sustainability, preservation

and protection. Specific objectives of the researchers are to identify what

institutions, both government and non-government, are involved with the

preservation and protection of the mangroves, to identify if there has been any

institutional arrangements, policies, projects done and present in benefit of the

mangroves, to determine whether the government or other institutions raise

awareness about the existence and the current state of not only the mangroves in

Navotas but also mangroves in the country, and finally to differentiate the

arrangements done by the government and NGO, whether their respective policies,

projects produced an effective outcome or not.

Significance Of The Study

Due to the increasing amount of mangrove degradation and deforestation in

Southeast Asia, which came along with the urbanisation and globalisation of the

countries, the researchers find it important to know what actions has institutions

such as the government and NGOs have taken to preserve and protect the
mangroves. The study is conducted for the benefit of students, environmentalists,

organisations and future researchers.

The study is beneficial to students studying natural sciences, since they

study the environment, this research could be used as reference for mangrove

management and preservation, and to be familiarized with what organizations and

institutions are part of the policy making and care of the mangroves. This is also

beneficial to students studying Asian Studies since the course is interdisciplinary

and it tackles economics, government and politics, and the region’s geography, and

mangroves are known to be sources of raw materials and to be natural

environmental defence.

This also beneficial to environmentalists, to serve as basis, on what kinds

arrangements are already present and in effect, and on what projects have been

successful and failures, for their future projects and dealings.

Lastly, the study benefits the future researchers exploring more about the

topic and may serve as reference for future further studies.

Scope and Limitations

Scope

The study covers the organisations that took part in maintaining and

preserving the mangroves, whether the projects and arrangements they planned

materialised and if it was a success or a failure. The study will also cover the

current status of the mangroves as of the year 2017, and the background of what

happened to the mangroves to become what it is.

Limitations

The study will not cover the biological aspects such as the organisms like

marine life that shelter in the Marine Tree Park. Limitations of the study will be

time and weather restraints as the field work would be conducted during the rainy

season, as well as the availability of the personnel to be interviewed for the

research.

Definition of Term

The following terms are defined to help the analysis and understanding of

the study.

Mangroves – botanical amphibians that grow along the coastlines

Marine Tree Park – refers to the protected area in Tanza, Navotas where the

mangroves are.

Institutional Arrangements – this is defined by the United Nations Committee of

Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management as the organisations

involved and responsible as well as the policies, systems, and processes that

organisations use. (ggim.un.org)

CAMANAVA – cities north of Manila composed of Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas

and Valenzuela
 CHAPTER II

REVIEW ON RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

Mangroves are botanical amphibians that grow on low oxygen soils along

the coastlines of tropical and subtropical countries. There are about 70 to 80 types

of mangrove species known and most of them are found in Southeast Asia

(oceanservice.noaa.gov). Mangroves acts as an ultra filtration system to keep much

of salt out and its complex root system allows it to handle the rise and fall of tides

and it slows the movements of the tidal waters. These botanical amphibians

stabilize the coastlines, acts as breakwaters—dispersing the waves’ energy and

extenuating property damage.

Although, there is a growing number of threats facing these forests, they are

sacrificed for salt pans, aqua culture ponds, housing developments, roads and port

facilities, hotels, golf courses and farms (ngm.nationalgeographic.com). Aside

from that, World Wide Fund (WWF) listed seven threats to mangrove forests. (1)

Clearing of the mangroves for urbanisation and globalisation. Due to the smelly

and unproductive perspective of the forests, they are turned into infrastructures and

industrial areas if not cleared for tourists developments, shrimp aquaculture and

salt farms. (2) Overharvesting. Mangroves are known to be sources of lumber used

for firewood, construction, woodchip, pulp production and animal fodder, and the
balance between the supply and demand for these is greatly tilted. (3) River

Changes, mangroves are very sensitive botanical organisms, alterations in the

amount of water reaching the forests and the change of the salinity of the water

causes the forests to wilt and die. (4) Overfishing which causes an imbalance and

alteration in the food chains and mangrove fish communities. (5) Destruction of

Coral Reefs. Coral Reefs acts as the first barrier against strong waves and currents,

when these are destroyed, stronger waves and currents reaches the coast and

damages the sediments where the mangroves grow. (6) Pollution. Manmade

chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides threaten the existence of the mangrove

forests as much as oil spills and chemical pollution. (7) Climate Change. As said,

mangroves are very sensitive botanical organisms which require stable sea levels

for long term survival. With global warming and the sea levels rising 3.2

millimetres per year over the past few decades, coastal flooding is expected to

happen in the future.

Institutional Arrangement as defined by UNDP, "...are the policies, systems,

and processes that organisations use to legislate, plan and manage their activities

efficiently and to effectively coordinate with others in order to fulfil their mandate.”

It could be said that the importance of Institutional Arrangement lies in the legality

and the system process that organisations use for their projects to become efficient

and to work in harmony with other present and upcoming plans.

 An example of institutional arrangements revolving Mangrove Forests is in

1997 when the Danish Red Cross assisted Goao Lac to plant mangroves for sea

dykes and other other assets of coastal dweller's protection. They cleared a clam

farming site in Trong Island and closed more than 300 hectares for mangrove

plantation. In the plan, there is a main household and other three additional

households to pland five hectares of mangroves respectively. The main household

was stated to be a poor household with sufficient labour while the remaining three

households were selected by the Danish Red Cross and Giao Lac. Institutional

Arrangements usually include incentives in their plans, and with this example for

each hectare planted, the respective group was paid around US$26. In reality

regarding this project, a very few number of poor households were selected to

participate and a number of upper-middle households who were friends and

relatives of the organisers took part (Le, 2001).

After the mangroves grew in the designated place, the quantity of marine

creatures that are caught in the area increased. And because of this increase in

number, the locals tried to poach the mangroves to catch these creatures although

they were not allowed to. At first guards told the locals that they might kill the

mangroves in the process of poaching them. Yet again, these guards are only paid

US$25 a month and two years after the mangroves were planted, the village guards

decided to sell tickets to the locals who wanted to collect marine creatures in the
mangroves. The entrance to the mangroves was priced 70 cents, a price that the

poor could not afford.

Community Base Mangrove Management (CBMM) has been an ongoing

trend in sustaining and managing the ecologically important mangrove forests

which are threatened worldwide. CBMM lies in the potential of the local

communities’ involvement in resource identification, priority development, and

formulating and implementing appropriate sustainable managing practices (Datta,

2012). CBMM has also been in the Philippines as it has been taken as initiatives

for coastal management, which not only involves the mangroves but sea-grass beds

and coral reefs too.

It could be taken that CBMM has influenced the Department of Environment

and Natural Resources’ National Greening Program that involved mangrove tree

plantings in the Navotas Marine Tree Park in 2010. Based on an article posted on

Likasyaman of the Protected Areas, Wildlife and Coastal Zone Management

Services (PAWCZMS) of DENR-National Capital Region, they coordinated with

the local government of Barangay Tanza, Navotas for a mangrove tree planting

program. In 2012, They were able to plant 20 hectares of Bungalon mangrove

specie along the coast. Bungalon mangrove species are sturdy enough to withstand

sea surges, specie that once populated the tree park in the 1990s.
Theoretical Framework

The researcher decided to use the Theory of Common Pool Resource which

serves as a basis for researchers to understand why individuals engage in

agreements to devise institutions to cope with the problem of Common Pool

Resource, as well as what types of rules would make the institution successful

(www.ecdenver.edu). Common Pool Resource are resources that is beneficiary to a

group of people, a community, yet if pursued by an individual for his or her own

self interest, the benefits it provides diminishes to everyone. This theory is chosen

for it firstly engages with the cause of the issue which is the vulnerability and

threat of environmental resources and later on applies this knowledge in

developing institutions, if not arrangements, to cope with the problem.

A framework chosen to accompany this theory is the Institutional Analysis

and Development Framework (IAD). The IAD (see fig. 1) is designed for the

analysis of institutions, which will be helpful for this research as to it focuses on

the institutional arrangements and development plans, and their formation. It also

used for comparative analysis which would aid in the achievement of the

research’s aim to evaluate the development plans and policies in effect of the

institutions (ocsdnet.org).
Figure 1: Institutional Analysis and Development Framework (Ostrom, 1990).
 CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

The third chapter indicates the research design, research study site, research

methods, research tools and the analysis of data that the researcher used in the

study.

Research Design

The major objective of this qualitative research is to know how institutional

arrangements affect mangrove sustainability and preservation. To attain this, data

will be gathered through a Case Study and through interviews.

The researcher selected Case Study method as the most appropriate system

of data gathering in order to examine the current state of the Navotas Marine Tree

Park and to evaluate institutions and their arrangements related to the Mangrove

reserve.

Research Study Site

The research study site is

in Sitio, Pulo, Tanza, Navotas,

10 kilometres north of Manila.

Research Methods

The following are the research methods conducted for the study:

First are interviews with key informants to gather data about the institutional

arrangements, policies in effect and the different institutions taking part in this.

Second is field observation to evaluate and analyze whether the institutions’

programs and arrangements materialize in the research site. And finally is review

of secondary data to have background and basis on what programs and policies

have taken effect in the past and what had existed.

Research Instruments

The following are the research instruments used to conduct the study:

- Guide questions for the interview

- Transcript of interview (data)

- Recorder (for the interview)

- Video recording and photography for documentation

- Respondents/key informants for data gathering

Research Participants

The targeted research respondents are intellectuals regarding the

maintenance and preservation of mangroves such as environmentalists and

environmental organizations, and informants familiar with the policies in effect,

how they are implemented, and the development plans of NGOs and LGUs.

Analysis of Data

Analysis of data will be done through the evaluation and study of the

interview transcript, categorization of gathered data through the review of

secondary data and finally reassessment of annotations taken in the field

observation. Once all of these data are arranged and reviewed, the theory will be

applied, related, to the gathered data.

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