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| International Coastal Clean-up Day in Nasugbu, Batangas last Saturday, September 19, 2015, Here's in Mangrove (https://instagram.com/msmyrnz/) |
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in the Philippines and Hamilo Coast Hamilo Coast, the premier seaside leisure development of the SM Group marked the 30th International Coastal Clean-up Day in Nasugbu, Batangas last Saturday, September 19, 2015, with simultaneous clean-up activities on the shore, at a mangrove area, and underwater. A team of 200 WWF and Hamilo Coast staff, Philippine Army representatives, and members of the media collected a total of 1057.5 kilograms of biodegradable and nonbiodegradable marine debris from the three clean-up activities. Plastics and food wrappers consisted the bulk of the trash collected.
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| L-R: Hamilo Coast Senior Assistant Vice-president and Head for Property Management Star Tuason, WWF Project Manager Ruel Bate, WWF Vice-president for Sustainable Production Ria Apostol-Lambino, Pico Sands Hotel and Pico de Loro Beach & Country Club General Manager Maggie Garcia, and WWF National Ambassador Marc Nelson (Photo by Myrna Roman) |
According to WWF, It is estimated that 8 million tonnes of plastic waste are dumped into the ocean each year. That's roughly 17.6 billion pounds of plastic waste that pollute our seas and harm marine life!
The International Coastal Clean-up Day is an annual movement started by US-based Ocean Conservancy in 1986.
Hamilo Coast, the premier seaside leisure development of the SM Group in Nasugbu, Batangas, is now practically at the doorstep of Manila with the opening of the Ternate-Nasugbu Road.
Now just a 90-minute drive out of the Cavite Expressway, what used to be a three- to four-hour journey through Sta. Rosa and Tagaytay, the property’s master planners have long anticipated this groundbreaking road access, so it designed its first community - Pico de Loro Cove - not simply as a vacation destination, but a bonafide beach resort residential community where homeowners can choose to live in their beach homes full-time.
With proximity and full-time living comes a greater footprint on the environment. To minimize the impact of tourism and property development on Hamilo Coast, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in the Philippines has worked closely with the property’s developers since 2007 to uphold the pillars of sustainable development.
Hamilo Coast has worked with WWF-Philippines on environmental programs aimed at preserving the quality of its natural surroundings. Among the initiatives that have been born out of the partnership are the declaration of selected coves of Hamilo Coast as marine-protected areas, the deployment of Bantay Dagat units to protect the area from illegal fishing, and the cultivation of true giant clams in Hamilo Coast’s Santelmo Cove.
WWF’s ridge-to-reef management project helps protect the corals in Hamilo Coast from sedimentation and siltation, and includes the continuous monitoring of flora and fauna to identify and mitigate any such threats.
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| (Photo by Myrna Roman) |
The deputization of the Bantay Dagat unit at Barangay Papaya helps guard against illegal attempts to fish in marine-protected areas. One of the guards, a Nasugbu local known in the community as “Mang Pete”, once served as a spotter for blast-fishers. Mang Pete has since chosen to protect the coasts of his native Batangas.
WWF has also initiated renewable energy projects at Hamilo Coast. Around eighteen of the street lamps along the main road of the residential community are powered by solar panels, and solar power-assisted air conditioners have been installed in the chapel.
Waste management activities of employees and residents are closely monitored, with guidelines set to ensure compliance with the waste-management standards of global eco-tourism certification bodies.
For more information on the sustainable tourism projects of WWF-Philippines, visit www.wwf.org.ph.
To know more about options for full-time living at Hamilo Coast, call (+63 2) 945-8000, or visit www.hamilocoast.com.
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