Evaluation and its role in the development of a national coastal policy statement : a Philippine case study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Philosophy in Resource and Environmental Planning at Massey University

Abstract

National Coastal Policy Statement for the Philippines whose unsustainable management methods and practices over the years have increasingly degraded the coastal environment in a way which is likely to prevent future generations from having the same opportunities as the present. The practices in the Philippines, have exceeded the carrying capacities of resources, reduced the diversity of species, and contributed to the extinction of significant and endangered species. These actions and impacts are all attributed to the economic situation in the Philippines: poverty of coastal residents, and the rate of population increase. Both sectors: socio-economic and ecological, in addition to institutional sector, need reconciliation in order for people to live in harmony with nature and coastal resources. Thus, it is envisaged that the Philippines should have an integrated coastal policy statement at the national level. This move is according to IUCN recommendation and is the answer to emerging issues on the coastal zone: impacts of human activities on coastal resources, issues arising from hazard occurrence, issues on developmental needs and their likely impacts, and organizational process problems. In order to develop a NCPS for the Philippines, nine criteria for the coast are developed: water quality (including prevention of pollution at source, species diversity), carrying capacity, equity (including intrinsic values), coastal protection from hazards, cooperation, financial criteria, administrative efficacy and systems approach in planning. These are used in evaluating the effectiveness of various coastal policy statements at different levels, using a framework developed for the purpose. The developed NCPS for the Philippines is aimed at addressing all coastal issues, and is based on: the IUCN principles, the Philippine principles, and some of the policies of Hawaii and New Zealand. It is envisaged that the implementation of the Philippine NCPS will lead to the achievement of sustainable development of coastal resources, including a sustainable living which hopes to alleviate poverty.