Eighteen representatives of Tabaco City, Albay and Del Carmen, Surigao del Sur visited the Tomongtong Mangrove Eco-Trail in E. B. Magalona town on March 4 as part of their Negros Study Tour.
They were welcomed by Vice Mayor Eric Matulac, who represented Mayor Marvin Malacon, Acting Municipal Budget Officer Debbie Ann Dioneo-Monte, and Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Officer-designate Jojo Vargas.
Guests, who were local officials and members of civil society organizations (CSOs), were met with a dance presentation by members of the Tomongtong Mangrove Eco-Trail Women’s Association.
Accompanying the delegates were Galing Pook Foundation executive director Georgina Ann Hernandez Yang, program officer Ginno Briones, and former Negros Occidental governor Rafael Coscolluela.
Vargas gave a video presentation on the Tomongtong Mangrove Eco-Trail, highlighting its best practices on eco-tourism, community participation and involvement, and food security-related initiatives and their impact to the community.
Vargas said that it was during Coscolluela’s term as governor when personnel of Provincial Environment Management Office, environmentalists, members of the academe and residents started planting mangroves in the area.
The Tomongtong Mangrove Eco-Trail was established under the administration of Malacon in 2019.
The study tour serves as a two-way learning experience between the participants and the host local government units (LGUs) by fostering dialogues, sharing of best practices, and forging new partnerships for sustainable development.
The Negros Study Tour was an activity of SPACES or Strengthening Participation and Accountability through CSOs and Engagement with Subnational and national government supported by the Australian Government in partnership with Oxfam Pilipinas, AGREA Foundation, and Institute for Social Entrepreneurship in Asia.
The SPACES Project aims to promote collaboration between LGUs and CSOs in co-creating local food security and nutrition policy reforms and social accountability mechanisms. ||
