Community empowerment for positive change

This is the next installment of a blog written by our Site Manager, Daff, where he reflects on the value and impact of community level engagament initiatives in the Philippines. The first part of this blog can be found here: https://www.peopleandthesea.org/community-engagement-philippines/ The society’s strength is determined by its people. As most of us are aware […]

PepSea Interview – Project Manager

Presenting information to different stakeholder groups can prove challenging at times

A graduate of the Univeristy of the Philippines, where she studied Biology, Aleja joined the People and the Sea team in 2018 as Project Manager. She brought with her plenty of experince of working within the field of marine resource management having previously been employed with the Provincial Government as a Coastal Extension Officer. Approaching […]

First days on Malapascua

In Malapascua, days start early, so much things to do, you cannot waste your time ! The last few days I took part to different activities… I joined the boat expedition with a part of the diving team which was looking for new survey sites in a protected area. Some local fishermen came with us, […]

My Pepsea Intro…

Heading across to Malapascua on a local bangka to start the marine conservation expedition.

I am in Malapascua as an intern for People and the Sea (also known as PepSea). PepSea is an NGO promoting marine conservation on the island while developing community-based programs. Their main objective is to reduce the negative impacts that consumption habits may have on the marine natural resources. In Philippines lots of fishermen still […]

Mangrove Malarkey

Commnuity mobilisation for coastal protection

Before I headed out to Malapascua, I went on an Everglades tour with two of my friends. I’m a Floridian but have never spent any time in the Everglades so it was a fun adventure for me, and extra nice because I didn’t have far to go to get to the Everglades. Other than the […]

Reflections on a good day…

Waste management is a key ocean conservation issue for the future

So, I don’t have an amazing picture and I don’t have an impacting headlines for social medias to get my message viral. But I felt like sharing my day, as I wonder sometimes how I managed to go all this way. It’s a slow day – no diving. But it’s Mohamed’s last day, and saying […]

The Clean-Up and the Aftermath!!

Community engagement to tackle a marine conservation issue - the way forward!

Well, I was right at least! It really was an event! And a large one! And one to be proud of. After the days of preparation that we had put in, it would have been disappointing if the turnout had been only a handful. It also would have meant that the 500 bread snacks and […]

Getting Ready for the Clean-Up!

Who actually thought it would be some much work? Definitely not me! It was a little over two weeks ago that the idea was mentioned. ‘Saturday the 19th is International Coastal Clean-Up Day. Why don’t we organise something?’ Yes, of course, why not? At that time in my head, I imagined sending out some emails […]

Philippines Field Visit Update

Gawad Kalinga support People and the Sea

So, after a really long trip (see the previous post!), have finally arrived at Cebu. Had just about enough time to have a check-in and have a shower, than I was out to make a start on the meetings organised over the next week. Lunch was with the Regional and the Cebu coordinators for Gawad […]

What CAN we do?

the hummingbird tale, a lesson in the benefites of collaborative community projects

Social and environmental entrepreneurship is not a always an easy path. Every day I meet at least one person commenting on my efforts with this “what’s the point?” attitude. No matter how enthusiastic I am, no matter what solutions I offer, no matter how successful the examples I show them, these people seem convinced there […]

Meeting Tony Meloto of ‘Gawad Kalinga’

Tony Meloto of Gawad Kalinga

Spent an amazing day at the Gawad Kalinga Enchanted Farm! Built around a GK village, the farm is the showcase of many projects: ⁃ re-establishing use of the land with plantations, animal farm, etc ⁃ An  ‘incubator’ to support social entrepreneurs who are providing employment for the families of the village ⁃ An undergraduate school […]