|
01/23/2009- The moral dimensions of environmental preservation is seen as equally important as the physical dimensions, and this became very evident in Labangan municipality, Zamboanga del Sur, where the USAID-funded Philippine Environmental Governance Project Phase 2 (EcoGov) recently distributed the Al-Khalifa (The Steward) sourcebook.
The Al-Khalifa advocates the management of natural resources as both a moral and legal obligation of Muslims with injunctions from the Holy Quran. From this perspective, the sourcebook urges all Muslims to take a proactive role as stewards of the earth. The sourcebook was developed by EcoGov in consultation with Islamic scholars and the Assembly of the Darul Ifta of the Philippines and released in 2007. Lumna Tabina, president of the Bulanit Seaweeds Farmers Association (BSFA) in Labangan’s Bulanit village, says: “We Muslims are divided into several tribes, but all are one in Islam.” Today, as main overseer of the aquasilvi project through BSFA, Tabina is more convinced that a Muslim’s greater accountability to God is nurturing his coastal resources and enabling more livelihood opportunities for fisherfolk. In Bulanit Elementary School, Department of Education teachers also showed support for environmental awareness among their schoolchildren. Prior to the aquasilvi culture launching, the Municipal Planning and Development Office of Labangan and EcoGov jointly held a poster-making contest for the school’s pupils. The children were exposed to the mangrove and aquasilvi culture areas after which they came up with artistic depictions of their role as caretakers of the environment. EcoGov and the LGU of Labangan have a long-standing technical assistance agreement that has resulted to the crafting of a coastal resources management (CRM) plan. Situated in a key biodiversity area with a rare sea turtle sanctuary, Labangan is one of the eight component municipalities of the Illana Bay Regional Alliance in Region 9 (IBRA-9). The aquasilvi culture project on mudcrabs was awarded by the National Economic and Development Authority to the LGU in 2008 after IBRA-9’s report on Labangan’s sustained coastal resources management efforts. With Al Khalifa providing strong moral guidance, no less than Labangan Mayor Abubakar Afdal has found more reasons to look closer into Labangan’s environmental threats. “Now I understand better that it is one of my duties as a Muslim to take care of the environment,” he says.
|
The distribution of the sourcebook was part of the launching of the local government unit’s first aquasilvi project — mangrove culture that allows the culture of economically important fish and marine species. The Labangan aquasilvi culture is for mudcrabs. 
