SANCTUARY

Any region or area that has been legitimately declared as a safe haven for dwellers is a sanctuary. In the early 70's, the trend for allocating marine sanctuaries was in vogue. This was in keeping with the purpose of conserving some marine ecosystems that may serve as the seedbed of sea organisms.


One of the famous Philippine sanctuaries was maintained by Silliman University in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental. Many local people and tourists had the privilege of seeing nature at its best with almost negligible level of human intrusion or interference.
The surrounding areas of marine ecosystem then had its regular source of seedings. As a result, fishing along those areas regularly meant abundant catch.


Today, many other marine ecosystems have been set aside as sanctuaries similar to the one in Batangas, and in Palawan. These areas have turned out now to be famous tourist spots. Aside from that, the areas as well support the neigboring marine ecosystem with aboundant marine life.


Having successfully implemented these ideas to the lower forms of animals, is there any chance that a similar concept may be applied to human communities? Is human sanctuary still possible for the 21st century generation? In the past this was only done for the lepers. The one in Switzerland currently is only for drug abusers.

WHITE SAND

In the early 70’s, during my college years, every week we visited this particular islands for the marine biology ecosystem study. There were no single spot in the area with white sand. We collected many samples of marine life for specimen study. Today, almost every beachfront has been turned into a resort for its white sand. Seems that everyone who owns the place, and the visitors who often spends days in the island at unbelievable prices are just mesmerize with the beauty of the white sand that line every nook of the isle. Obviously, people are not aware of the fact that the white sands are the products and confirmation that the coral reefs in the area are destroyed, that the waters in the area can no longer support marine life. These are the results of coral destruction because of extensive modified fishing, and extensive effluents from gold and copper mining industries, extensive effluents from manufacturing industries, extensive use of inorganic fertilizers in large scale farming, and extensive oil effluents from sea vessels. Nonetheless, there are still areas on the eastern part down South, facing the Pacific Ocean that seemed to have been less affected. This could be because the area is open and sea water circulation is more intense.