leaders are not in parallel with our wants and aspirations but rather in favor
of companies or other interests that affect our rights.
b) Community Initiatives
To protect the mangroves that are threatened, we have taken a few
initiatives.
We are promoting the environmental, social and cultural importance of
mangroves and its management and care to the government and public. We
have been carrying out mangrove tree replanting activities in areas that
have been destroyed.
We have also formed an action committee to be the driving force in
managing and leading community activities. Through our action committee,
we have used and enforced our community protocol to regulate the
mangrove area, sent protest letters to related government departments, built
networks with the government, non-governmental organizations, academics,
media, and five communities who were also affected (Datong, Boluuh,
Ungkup, Gumpa and Telaga). Joint monitoring is also conducted in the
Iningoladan area.
For leadership conflicts, we have tried to reduce or resolve the
misunderstandings between the community, our leaders, the company, and
the government through dialogue sessions and negotiation processes so
that they understand our aspirations better. However, we still continue our
efforts in giving awareness on the importance and role in managing natural
resources. We use our community protocol ro convince the government that
we are capable of managing and caring for our resources ourselves.
4) Community Hopes
The mangroves that are still available will be maintained and preserved by
us to be passed on to the next generation. Our Iningoladan areas will be
made an example of community-managed mangroves with the area
maintained and a source of income for the community through the rich
natural resources and as a community-based eco-tourism spot.
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