The Coron Initiative
Coron Island is one the fastest developing prime tourist destinations in the Philippines. Tourist arrivals to Coron have more than doubled in the past five years, reaching 178,000 in 2016 according to the Coron Municipal Office. The exponential increase of tourism, coupled with booming economic activity over recent years, have called for sustainability initiatives to prevent environmental consequences and bolster economic and infrastructure development.
The Coron Initiative (TCI) has set environmental parameters to safeguard natural cycles in marine and coastal ecosystems and reduce the effects of global climate change. This project seeks to preserve the Coron and Calamianes Islands as attractive destinations for environmentally responsible tourism as well as create tools and guidelines on sustainability planning for businesses, agencies, NGOs, local government units and communities. Supported by the Asia–Pacific Forum for Environment and Development Showcase Programme administered by United Nations Environment – Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, the initiative has held a number of educational and training conferences and workshops over recent years, which brought together public and private stakeholders from the tourism sector, government, and civil society. Notably, the Coron Initiative Sustainable Tourism Charter was presented to the local government units of Coron and Calamianes as a framework for sustainable tourism after the series of capacity building workshops that enhanced participants’ knowledge and skills to promote environmental conservation and sustainable tourism development. TCI’s activities have helped raise stakeholders’ awareness on environment and sustainability issues, leading to collective action to further promote sustainable tourism, community empowerment and alternative activities supporting sustainable development in Coron. The initiative is set to proceed with the GSTC Sustainable Tourism Training Program for the more vulnerable coastal destinations around the Philippine archipelago and has engaged local and regional stakeholders and national agencies, namely the Department of Tourism and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, in the education and training of the local stakeholders. TCI serves as a replicable model for sustainable tourism development, environmental conservation and stewardship of ecotourism sites, as well as good governance for sustainability and resilience by local government units.
