Nalusuan resort: Marine conservation over profit

In today's globally competitive tourism market, more destinations in the country are developed to further provide more value-added products to tourists however, an island resort developer is more bent on protecting the marine resources than merely generating profit.

"So far we have the biggest and well-maintained marine sanctuary which we've started since the 70's and it has become our island's major attraction and we are bent on protecting it for long term as we balance between commercialism and business," said the vice president of Menca Development Corporation Michael Mendoza, the operators of Nalusuan Island Resort and Marine Sanctuary in an interview.

Nalusuan Island Resort and Marine Sanctuary is located in the Olango Reef in Cordova, Mactan Island. It is a close-to-a-half hectare island with 83.12 marine sanctuary that was legally constituted last 2002 and among the country’s top ten best marine sanctuaries in the world.

Mendoza said that maintaining their marine sanctuary and protecting the sea has become their family's advocacy ever since his father acquired the title for the uninhabited island in 1971, who already saw its long term potential for the tourism industry.

"As a water person, we love the coastal area so preserving the marine life is something we do with passion more than generating financial gains from our operations," added Mendoza.

Environmental preservation he said is an advocacy that requires dedication and political will to efficiently implement especially here in the country.

He added that in the Philippines, there is a severely low level of awareness in terms of coastal preservation which is unfortunate especially that as an archipelago, most of our famous tourism attractions and destinations are our beaches and coral reefs.

"We always explain to fisher folks and to the youth the importance of preserving our marine life especially for future generation. It’s a simple explanation that all creatures under the sea have their roles if any of them is destroyed, the balance will be upset," he explained.

Mendoza stressed that as of 2005; almost 85 percent of the country's coral reefs are already dead due to irreversible destruction brought by activities such as dynamite fishing.

"Mostly poor countries are not very keen with environmental laws and conservation efforts. And here in the country, there is no concept of conservation plus the lack of government support and LGU initiative," he stressed.

Despite of the overwhelming influx of foreign tourists composed mostly of groups of Japanese, Koreans, Americans and Europeans; Menca is more focused on renovation efforts than on lavish expansion and development plans to preserve the place and maintain its diversity as a marine haven within the booming province and accessible to its emerging metropolises .

“We do not want to subscribe to monstrosity as human intervention is one of the biggest threats to the fragile ecosystem so we limit our development. There are only a few places in the Philippines like this and tourists usually go here to appreciate the marine sanctuary. Without grand developments, we are sure people will still appreciate and pay for what we have here,” stressed Mendoza.