Thursday, February 14, 2013

ANILAO, BATANGAS - Solid Waste Management Assessment



For students of De La Salle University, Anilao Batangas is continuously a choice for research and field of study for Environmental Science students in particular to Biodiversity, Ecosystem and dynamics, and scuba diving. It’s no wonder for Anilao has one of the highest concentrations of marine biodiversity in the planet and is designated as the “nudibranch capital of the world” by folks at Underwater Photography Guide – with corals extremely healthy that was preserved through the efforts of the earlier divers; sharks and bigger pelagic are often spotted; and periodic sightings of pelagic drifters in one of the dive sites, whale shark, mantras, and most recently a mola-mola (sunfish)!. 

During my Philippine Environmental Laws on Water report, I had shared about an editorial from Philippine Star entitled “Custodian of the Planet” dated July 3, 2011. It was an editorial about a 42-day expedition conducted by scientist and environmental advocates and results were presented at the California Academy of Sciences, where they discovered about 300 new species in Luzon alone: An inflatable shark, a wood-eating sea star, a red sea urchin to name a few. 

The discoveries validate the fact that biodiversity in this country is unusually high. Aquatic experts have classified the Verde Island Passage between Batangas and Oriental Mindoro as “the center of the center” of marine biodiversity in the world. It is a precious treasure not just of the country but of the planet, and the Philippines is its custodian. With such a gift, Anilao had marked as one tourist destination for the province of Batangas. However, in most cases, this haven when opened to public gradually deteriorates and loose its natural picturesque as resources abruptly abused – soild waste as major contributor. 

The editorial caught my attention as it challenges the country if we’re up to the job as custodian of biodiversity in Batangas – Mindoro. As environmental science student, I take the challenge to be front liner in accepting the job. Together with my brethrens, we conducted assessment on solid waste management at Anilao, Batangas with Planet Dive – a popular diving site, as our field experiment. 



Assessment was conducted the following morning, using calibrated steel tape, we measured 5 meters x 100 meters marked for identification on shore as subject area for collecting solid waste; personnel assigned, thoroughly gathered waste within area of responsibility excluding agricultural and domestic waste; collected wastes were then weighed and sorted accordingly; and identified waste was the turned over to resort for proper disposal and findings were reported to resort owners for awareness and corrective action. 

Non-biodegradable Solid Waste collected: 2% bottles (drinking and cosmetic bottles); 1% metal (tin cans and battery); 30% plastics (food snack wrappers); 50% rubber (sandals); 1% glass (bottle); 5% Styrofoam; 1% cloth (from umbrella);  and 10% nylon (fishing gear and ropes). 

5% collected Styrofoam

50% rubber sandals

30% Plastic Wrappers

10% Nylons

30% Plastics

High percentage of solid waste collected was rubber slippers at 50% followed by plastic wrappers. Based on interview conducted with Bantay Dagat representative, local residences are the major source of solid waste, since it was reported that garbage trucks seldom do rounds to collect garbage in community that surrounds Planet dive. Thus, locals’ primary options were either to burn their garbage or bury in soil. Despite physical evidence of solid waste on shores on Planet Dive, I had noticed that no personnel from resort to do coastal clean-up and/or cleaning maintenance for the whole duration of our stay; waste water effluents from resort was observed to go directly to the sea; there was no adequate trash bins within facilities of Planet Dive; and worst during high tide, water reaches dikes that washes out burned garbage by resort to the sea. 

Resort's Waste Water Effluents

Burning of solid waste as alternative means

Planet Dive is a private property and given present condition, a serious solid waste management problem can be concluded not only of the resort but of the community of Sittio Teodoro that is detrimental in preservation of unique biodiversity of Anilao, Batangas. The authorities and bantay dagat are focused on protecting the biodiversity with ordinances such as “No Take Zone”; “No Killing of Marine Organism”; ‘No Dropping of Anchors”; and “No Check out Diving and 20 Divers Maximum Policy”. Yet, they missed out to address concerns on waste disposal in preserving Anilao’s water resources.


Spotted lifeless on shore of Planet Dive

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