MARINDUK ISLAND IN THE PHILIPPINES FROM THE POSITION OF GEOGRAPHY OF TOURISM

The Marinduque Island, which is a part of the Marinduque province, is a small but densely populated island within the Luzon Islands Group. The island surrounded by the water of the Sibuan Sea, the island has an area of 959 square kilometers and a population of 245 000 people. Flat plains, low coasts, low slope plains, mangrove forests and hilly lands constitute the most important natural elements of the Marinduque Island. There are many bays, beaches, atoll, cliffs, capes, coral and mangrove forests on the coast of the island. In this study, the geographical location of the Marinduque Island and its general geographical features have been explicated, and the main tourism elements of the island have been briefly discussed. We have tried to examine the main physical and human characteristics of the island by identifying its tourism potential. Furthermore, the main accommodation facilities, beaches and hotels located on the east and west coasts of the island have been identified. The main purpose of this study is to introduce the tourism potential and natural beauties of this Philippine island, which is not well-known among the foreign tourists and to offer new holiday options for the inquisitive tourists

Sustainable livelihood and seaweed farming in Calatagan, Batangas, Philippines

The study aimed to assess the contribution of seaweed farming based on sustainable livelihood framework using an indicator system formulated at the FAO Experts Workshop on Methods and Indicators held at Nha Trang University in Vietnam last November 2008

Methane emission from rice cultivation in different agro-ecological zones of the Mekong river delta: seasonal patterns and emission factors for baseline water management

<p>This study comprises a set of methane emission measurements in rice fields located in the four agro-ecological zones of the Mekong River Delta (MRD), namely the zones with (i) alluvial soils, (ii) salinity intrusion, (iii) deep flood, and (iv) acid sulfate soils. These zones have very distinct bio-physical conditions and cropping cycles that will affect methane emissions in various forms. Our study includes comprehensive mapping of these zones as well as an overview of rice statistics (activity data) at provincial level for each cropping season. Emission data were obtained by the closed chamber method. The available data set comprises 7 sites with 15 cropping seasons. Mean emission rates showed large variations ranging from 0.31 to 9.14 kg CH₄ ha⁻¹ d⁻¹. Statistical analysis resulted in weighted means for all zones that we use as zone-specific CH₄ emission factors (EF_z) in the context of the IPCC Tier 2 approach. The lowest EF_z was computed for the saline accounting for 1.14 kg CH₄ ha⁻¹ d⁻¹ (confidence interval: 0.60–2.14). The EF_z values of the alluvial and acid sulfate zones were 2.39 kg CH₄ ha⁻¹ d⁻¹ (2.19–4.13) and 2.78 kg CH₄ ha⁻¹ d⁻¹ (2.65–3.76), respectively, which indicated that they were not different from each other derived from their confidence intervals. The deep flood zone, however, required a season-specific, assessment of EF_z because emission in the autumn–winter cropping season, corresponding to the wet period, was significantly higher (9.14 kg CH₄ ha⁻¹ d⁻¹ (7.08–11.2)) than the other seasons (2.24 kg CH₄ ha⁻¹ d⁻¹ (1.59–3.47)). Although these emission factors correspond to baseline water management and do not capture the diversity of farmers’ practices, we see the availability of zone-specific data as an important step for a more detailed assessment of Business as Usual emissions as well as possible mitigation potentials in one of the most important rice growing regions of the world.</p