Private nature reserves
BY A.C. ALCALA

Nature reserves in the Philippines are probably all public or government protected areas, that is, they are created from public lands or from sea areas (e.g. marine waters 15 kilometers from shore) reserved for exclusive use by a sector of society (small-scale fishers). However, there are no cogent reasons why privately owned lands and water bodies cannot be converted into private nature reserves.

If a careful survey of private land use is conducted, I have reason to believe that there are many areas that can be converted into nature reserves. But there are probably parcels of private land that are already serving as nature reserves or sanctuaries for biodiversity and wildlife, but are not givenpublicity by their owners. Owners of such lands could be provided local government assistance in various forms.

The justification for PNRs is well argued by Brent Mitchell in an editorial written in the IUCN journal, Parks, 2005, vol. 15, no.2. He sees PNRs as strategic counterparts, not competitors, of public reserves and well managed private reserves could “raise the bar” for public or government controlled reserves. Furthermore, he says that PNRs can be stable over time despite changes in land ownership, because such designations go with the land, not with their owners, in contrast to public reserves, which are “vulnerable to changes in governments, public policies and central budgets.”

We know that the latter statement is true in regard to the management of public parks and reserves in the Philippines.

I propose that government (local and national) provide incentives to landowners to convert their wilderness areas that are not under cultivation or are not suitable for conventional farming, into nature reserves for purposes of conserving water, nutrients, soil, and wildlife and other forms of biodiversity, as well as for purposes of maintaining equable temperatures and humidity for the benefit of the local communities and the future generations. While government recognition of such PNR areas is not necessary, at least government should offer quality standards.

This way, the private land owners can contribute to the mitigation of the adverse effects of climate change, such as water shortages, extinction of wildlife, nutrient cycling, etc.

The first step is to engage in conversations with landowners and the people in the areas with potentials for the establishment of private nature reserves. The local government units should include in their development agenda an information campaign on urgent environmental issues. The function of touching base with the people should be one of the functions of the municipal environment officer of each municipality.

The next step, in my view, is for local government units to legislate incentives for landowners as their response to the call for action to confront the changing patterns of weather elements that are now being observed.

Private nature reserves is one novel approach to the conservation of the environmentin the Philippines. If given the necessary push, I have no doubt that they will nicely complementthe public park and nature reserve systems that are already in place.*