Blue belles: The freediver and the kiteboarder – Landscape News

The rainbow reefs of Palawan, thesnow-white beaches of Boracay, the surfing mecca of Siargao the waters of thePhilippines are precious places, harboring some of the worlds richest marinebiodiversity, drawing visitors from around the world and supporting a topfishing economy.

Yet, the Philippines is among the three biggest plastic polluting countries and is the most dangerous for environmental defenders, putting the health of its coastal ecosystems under ecological threat.

Alongside the growing global youth movement acting to fight climate change, young Filipinos and ocean-sport athletes in particular are making their waters the focus of their careers and lives, to clean them up and keep them intact for the future. In this two-part series, meet four.

Read part one of the series here.

Marine Conservation Philippines is a non-profit working to protect fragile marine habitats and the livelihoods of marginalized coastal communities in the central Philippines. Connect on Instagram: @camzzrivera

Bais is located in the Taon StraitProtected Seascape (TSPS) which is the largest seascape in the Philippines. Ithas the ideal ecosystem of mangroves, seagrass and coral reefs.

But in Bais, out of an estimated 600hectares of fishponds, there are approximately 95 hectares of abandoned andunderutilized fishponds and 35 hectares of undocumented fishponds, which are neitherproducing food for the community nor fulfilling government-mandated coastalmanagement goals. This has also destroyed the mangrove ecosystem. So we createdthis project to revert Baiss mangrove ecosystems back to how they were yearsago.

I think that the environment is not a priority in thiscountry but basic necessities such as food and shelter are. Communities onlyconsider if there is food today or tomorrow, and that is why fishponds are ashort-term value. Some do not realize the long-term value of mangroves generatingmore fisheries in the future. That is why in order for us to docommunity-based mangrove conservation, we need to involve the community in arole where they can generate income with it in a very short time.

Its funny how I came into the marinescience field. I just chose the most random course in university, a course noone goes to. I didnt even know how to swim! It just started as a calling, andthe moment I went into the ocean, I almost drowned, but I was still able toappreciate everything about it.

I focus on mangroves because I think were all blindedby the conservation of coral and seagrass. But mangroves are the primary shieldsfrom the rivers, so they get all the sediments from the agriculture. Coral cantsurvive the nutrients from mangroves. They also give shoreline protection,provide homes for fish and are carbon sinks. Mangroves are a balance betweenthe river, the land and the sea. Also, I like those ecosystems that nobody elselikes to look at.

Understanding the social network has played a big part in environmental impact, and that is missing in most natural sciences. Communities need moral support and motivation, and thats where we come in with happy faces. Ive seen how theyve changed their trust and relationship toward me. Their voices arent often heard, so they really like that were hearing them.

Rosales is the founder of Blue Kiteboarding, a sustainable kite-sports consultancy and school, and a local travel agency. She was the 2015 winner of the KTA Asian and ICTSI Philippine Freestyle kiteboarding championships. Connect on Instagram: @Paularosales

Ive always been a water baby. Ive been acompetitor swimmer since sixth grade. From the pool I transferred to the ocean.Ive always found a special connection with the water. Humans are mainlycomposed of water, so I always felt I wanted to be near it.

The adrenaline I get from kiteboarding is something Ive never experienced in any other sport. And it uses free energy. As we go into the future, we have to use more renewable energy, which can start as leisure. Instead of using a jet ski or motorized sport, use something more friendly to the environment.

The Philippines is composed of over 7,000islands, and its surprising that a lot of us dont know how to swim. I waslucky to learn. In the rural parts of the country, the ocean is scary to Filipinos.

When surfing became popular 15 years ago,this was a new avenue for the Filipinos to enjoy the ocean. There was noparticular special relationship with it before that, but I think this was agood way to start. When someone begins surfing, it triggers something becauseit gives them joy. Thats why I think playing in the ocean plays a positiverole in encouraging ocean protection.

When I moved here to Boracay, I was very happy, living on white beach, teaching kiteboarding, living this perfect life. But a few years ago, I started getting sick from the water. We found out from a scientist that tested the water that the coliform (bacteria) was very high. So as an athlete and a person who thinks the ocean is my home, I felt the need to protect it.

I do this through events and communicationsand spreading the word about the different issues to keep our home livable. WhenI got sick, I started doing beach cleanups and educated my staff about theimportance of keeping the ocean clean and of conservation. For health reasonsfirst of all I couldnt go in the water when it was filthy.

If you love where you live, you have to doeverything you can to protect it.The reason why I fell in love withBoracay was because of the beauty of the place, the nature, the white-sandbeach, the ocean. I think we all came here because of that. But due tooverdevelopment, the forests and ocean are suffering. I believe that itseveryone responsibility the businesses, the residents, the tourists to takecare of the ocean, to keep it clean and keep it safe.

A lot of surfers and kiteboarders are aware of the importance of ocean conservation, and this is a good platform. Its a cool way to learn to love the ocean. We should utilize the water sport community to drive change in this particular sector however we can.

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Blue belles: The freediver and the kiteboarder - Landscape News