Environment
RSDC Romblon Sun
at Horizon
Credit : PEMSEA / Michael Villanueva
Creation of
the Romblon
Sustainable
Development
Council
50
T
he ocean plays an important role in the lives
of the people of the Philippine province of
Romblon, whose mountainous, archipelagic
terrain leads its residents to have a close
relationship with the sea around them.
Straddling the eastern edge of the Verde Island
Passage, which is touted as the center of global
marine shore fish diversity, Romblon’s seas have
global as well as local significance. Scaling up
ICM in provinces surrounding the Verde Island
Passage is critical to conserving this highly diverse marine corridor.
Conscious of the importance of maintaining the health of the
province’s environment, the Romblon Provincial Council passed
the rigorous Romblon Environment Code in 2013. This legislation
called for the establishment of a body to oversee integrated coastal
management (ICM) efforts across the province. While Romblon’s
three northernmost municipalities fall under the DENR’s existing
SMART-SEAS project, the other municipalities, including those that
share the islands of Tablas and Sibuyan, have not had the same
support for coordinated action.
Romblon was selected as one of the priority sites for ICM
development under the GEF/UNDP PEMSEA Project on scaling
up the implementation of the Sustainable Development Strategy
for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA) in the Philippines. Due to
this, PEMSEA offers its experience in operationalizing and