COMMUNITY PROJECTS
COMMUNITY PROJECTS
Overview
Schools
Sooner or later school children will be mayors, teachers, business owners and parents. These people in the future need to have a better understanding of the role of the environment built in to them at a young age to ensure they choose a different route than that which was chosen before them.
Only by immersing children in nature and science today can we create any real change for the environment of the future, and, by doing so we can break the chain of repeating of past mistakes.
Local Outreach
Children in school are a captive audience, but reaching the wider community takes more work. Our outreach extends the same lessons we teach in schools to environmental clubs, senior citizens’ associations, and other community groups, through activities ranging from scuba diving to mangrove tours and quizzes. A sustainable environment is one the whole community maintains, so we try not to leave any part of it out.
Governmental Capacity Building
Long-term environmental management can’t rely on MCP alone. Local stakeholders, especially government, need to be the ones making the decisions, so we focus on building their capacity to do so. Through an agreement with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), MCP supports implementation of their Coastal and Marine Ecosystem Management Program (CMEMP), training government personnel in scientific best practices and providing technical assistance where it’s needed.
Alternative Livelihoods
The UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity has warned that commercial fishing across Asia Pacific could collapse by 2050 without a change of course. Coastal fishing in the Philippines is largely indiscriminate, and one of the most effective ways to ease the pressure on fish populations is to give fishing communities other ways to earn a living. MCP is testing approaches like apiculture and hydroponics, aiming to diversify the local economy while improving both ecological sustainability and community health.
Communities, Food and Sustainability
Healthy oceans and healthy coastal communities can’t be separated. Millions of Filipinos rely on fisheries for food and income, and how communities manage food, population, and livelihoods all shape the pressure placed on marine ecosystems. MCP looks at conservation through this wider lens, including through Veggioke, our initiative encouraging more plant-based eating in a way that fits local food culture rather than working against it.