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A new beginning
By: Jonah van Beijnen
At the end of 2009, SouthSea Exclusive
Philippines Inc., started operating a hatchery,
nursery and grow-out facility for high value
marine species in barangay Sta. Lucia, Puerto
Princesa City, Philippines. The company was
owned by South Sea Exclusive Holding B.V.,
the Dutch mother company.
After 2 years of operating the Dutch company
experienced a shortage of capital caused by
several issues and we had to make the
decision to stop with its activities. We and our
partners believe that the projects we are
implementing are of vital importance to the
sustainable development of Palawan and to
reduce poverty in the region and therefore
the project has continues in a nonprofit way
through the South Sea Exclusive Foundation. A
new beginning with new goals asks calls for a
new name and the organization is now
branded as the: Centre for Sustainability.
The Centre for Sustainability is a non-profit
organization
working
on
sustainable
development in Palawan, the Philippines. We
are operating independently as social and
environmental entrepreneurs and we focus on
contributing to the creation of a sustainable
future for Palawan through the execution of
projects that are practical, environmental
friendly and long lasting. With our style of
developing and implementing sustainable
projects, we aim to serve as a blueprint for
sustainable development in other areas of the
Philippines.
The Centre for Sustainability strives to
contribute to “A Sustainable Future for
Palawan”, through:
Livelihood: Creating sustainable
livelihood initiatives for coastal and upland
communities.
•
Conservation: Protect and restore
coastal and upland ecosystems.
•
Education: Making
people
more
aware of the importance of our natural
resources.
•
We believe that an integrated approach of
these three focus areas is required to carry
out our mission of contributing to a
sustainable future for Palawan.
Our spear point program is our grouper
hatchery. We have been working over 3 years
to establish the first hatchery for four grouper
species in the Philippines. We use our
hatchery to provide local people with
fingerlings for grow-out purposes and a part of
our production is sold commercially to pay for
the overhead expenses of our social
enterprise.
Changing the world isn’t always easy! Just
never give up!
Capturing
the
Sustainability
Centre
for
By: Kyra Hoevenaars
Santi Cogolludo, professional photographer
and winner of the several photography prizes,
visited our area in Sta. Lucia to capture a
series of photographs of our facilities and
employees.
Santi and his wife Marie Jose arrived in our
area by a small boat, showing their
adventurous side. They are curious people,
and very interested in our projects. Santi,
specialized in photographing people, was
willing to make a series of photos of our
project in Sta. Lucia and our employees in
action. Knowing Filipinos, it is not easy
capturing them not joking with the camera
but Santi, as an outstanding photographer,
managed to shoot some amazing portraits.
Herby a preview of the result, more pictures
by Santi Cogolludo can be found on our
website.
A New website
We have launched a new website, where you
can find all the latest informational about the
Centre for Sustainability:
www.centreforsustainability.org
Please be aware that our email has changed
too:
[email protected]
[email protected]
Students for a sustainable Palawan
By: Kyra Hoevenaars
We have also re-launched our student
program in which we offer students from all
over the world internship and thesis
possibilities to develop their skills and
knowledge on sustainable development. In
this program, international students are
paired with local students to optimize
knowledge exchange and cultural experience.
We are currently expanding the project, we
will host more students and we are happy to
have found several partners cooperating with
us in this program. StartLife, Otherwise and
Aiesec assist us in finding enthusiastic and
motivated students for the available projects
at different organizations in Palawan.
Organizations as Palawan Conservation Corps,
the City Government of Puerto Princesa and
several local NGO’s, host students to work at
their organization.
The first student arrived in Palawan this
November, and is now working on our
Grouper Mariculture Program as a sustainable
livelihood for local fishermen. Together with
his Philippine counterpart he is visiting some
islands in the North of Palawan to study the
methods used by existing grouper farmers and
to find ways to improve the sustainability of
their practices!
Acrobatic Dragonflies of Puerto
Princesa
By: Jonah van Beijnen
We try to promote the wonderful nature of
Palawan in many ways and when the BBC
approached us the assist them in creating a
documentary about dragonflies for their new
series “Wonders of Life”, we knew what to do.
Jonah is a dragonfly enthusiast and already
has found several new species of dragonflies
in Palawan and therefore he was assigned to
helping the BBC.
One of the excellent locations present in
Puerto Princesa to film dragonflies is the lake
that is located at the headquarters of our
organization. Over a dozen species can be
found in the area and the main interest of the
BBC was to film the acrobatics of Orthretum
tetaceum.
To do this they use special high speed cameras
and to a operate these, a lot of patience is
required. They brought one of the senior
cameraman who works with David
Attenborough for most wildlife series of the
BBC.
Wonders of Life is presented by Professor
Brian Cox, a well known particle physicist who
works at the world renowned CERN. His focus
is on how to explain the behavior and flight of
dragonflies by calculating the energy spending
and requirements of the animals that were
filmed.
After a few days of hard work the team was
satisfied with their shots and by the end of
2012 the show will broadcasted at the BBC
and other stations.
the sea ecosystem and protects forests, which
are among the most significant in Asia.
The PPSRNP is designated a core area for the
Palawan Biosphere Reserve under the Man
and Biosphere Program. In recognition of its
globally significant natural properties, it was
inscribed to the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization’s of
(UNESCO) List of Natural World Heritage Sites.
Inscription to the list confirms the exceptional
and universal value of the Site that deserves
to be protected for the benefit of all
humanity.
The PPSRNP is managed by the City
Government of Puerto Princesa based on a
program
centered
on
environmental
conservation and sustainable development. It
has the distinction of being the first national
park devolved and successfully managed by a
Local Government Unit. It has been cited as an
example of best practices for biodiversity
conservation and sustainable tourism in the
Philippines.
The Underground River: One of the
New 7 Wonders of Nature
By: City Government of Puerto Princesa
The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River
National Park (PPSRNP) is one of the most
important biodiversity conservation areas of
the Philippines. It features a spectacular
limestone or karst landscape that contains an
8.2 km long underground river. A
distinguishing feature of the river is that it
flows directly into the sea, and the lower half
portion of the river is brackish and subject to
tidal influence. The area also represents
significant
habitat
for
biodiversity
conservation. It contains a full mountain to
The Puerto Princesa Underground River is
reputed to be the longest navigable
underground river in the World. It is one of
the few such rivers which the public can easily
experience and appreciate. It is a source of
pride and a key element in the identity of the
people of Puerto Princesa in particular, and of
the Philippines as a whole.
Puerto Princesa Underground River was
chosen as one of the provisional New 7
Wonders of Nature. The voting calculation is
now
being
checked,
validated
and
independently verified, and the confirmed
winners would be announced starting early
2012 during the Official Inauguration
ceremonies.