PALAWAN PHILIPPINES

Palawan Philippines is an island province of the Philippines located in the Mimaropa region. Its capital is Puerto Princesa City and it is the largest province in terms of land area. The islands of Palawan stretches from Mindoro to Borneo in the southwest. It lies between the South China Sea in the northwest and Sulu Sea in the southeast.

The province is named after its largest island, Palawan Island.

Palawan is a melting pot of 87 different cultural groups and races. Basically, the people are of Malay origin, with sprinkling of Chinese and Spanish bloodlines. Its culture has a strong influence from Borneo, China and the Middle East. Influx of migrants from other parts of the Philippines accounts for the high population growth rate of 3.98% annually. Eighteen percent of the population is composed of cultural minority groups such as Tagbanua, Pinalawan, Batak, Ken-uy (Tau't Batu), Calamian, Jama-Mapuns, Molbog, Tausug and Samal-Bangingi.

Northern Palawan consists of some of the most pristine natural habitats in the world, However its remoteness puts it at risk for ongoing economic exploitation and environmental degradation. A few programs have emerged to monitor and mediate negative impact through the initiation of economic alternatives. The development of eco-tourism as an alternative to reef-degradation, sand-theft, illegal-logging and wildlife-poaching has been approached, However funding for the development of such programs has been scarce. The Palawan Environmental and Marine Studies Center (PEMS) www.palawanenvironmental.com has been slow in receiving funding, DENR (Government regulatory) remains ineffectively funded and programs offered by international NGO's like US AID and WWW remain in their infancy.

American Parks and Planning Commissioner, Cultural Anthropologist Caril Ridley (Palawan Environmental and Marine Studies founder) describes Northern Palawan as having the potential for becoming an Ecological-Economic Conferencing Center for growing Asia, she encourages regional governments and local organizations to work together toward Ecological and Economic development. "ECO2" she calls it, saying that eco-tourism may offer the most available and most effective ongoing funding source for education, economic development and environmental protection through out the Islands. She says "In years to come the development of this outstanding region of the world could offer a touch-stone for environmentalism, making it the most desirable destination for corporate and international conferencing."

If Palawan is to be recognized for its outstanding biological diversity and ecological sensitivity it has an opportunity to realize an unexplored potential, it could, as a paradisiacal conferencing center and environmental study destination, encourage global awareness and by doing so protect its self.

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