Boracay Island in Philippines Shut Down for Environmental Rehabilitation (2018)

Re:Boracay Island in Philippines Shut Down for Environmental... by mjohnre on Friday March 22, 2019 @12:16PM (#19464007)

Boracay is open since October 2018. The rehabilitation is still ongoing though and visits are regulated[0]. Cases have been filed against officials. Businesses found in violation of environmental laws have been closed down. Infrastructure has also been rehabilitated. Land titles were given to indigenous people through land reform.

It was deemed impossible at the beginning. Imagine cleaning up an island and disrupting the status quo. Some opposed it because of economic impact. Rumors of a casino to be built were unfounded. But seeing the result after, it proved that it can be done through holistic approach. It's one step to responsible tourism. More needs to be done. There's hope for the environment.

The next challenge is the rehabilitation of Manila Bay [1].

[0] https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/09/02/1847925/25-bor...

[1] https://www.philstar.com/nation/2019/03/03/1898154/5-million...

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Re:Boracay Island in Philippines Shut Down for Environmental... by pull_my_finger on Friday March 22, 2019 @12:49PM (#19464352)

Do you have a source on that land _actually_ being given to the locals? I know they mentioned it, but they were also offering to buy a lot of land as people were failing to make ends meet during the shutdown.[0][1]

0 - https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1000242/rodrigo-duterte-boraca...

1 - https://www.rappler.com/nation/204796-duterte-boracay-native...

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