Philippine fisherfolk: Sustainable community development action research and reflexive education

ABSTRACT

A bioregional participatory study is presented in response to the global need for new mechanisms and methodologies to meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for small-scale fisheries (SSF). Herein, a dispersed Philippine fisherfolk community defined by fish-stocks is engaged to elucidate consensus that can support participatory educational programming. A Cultural Consensus Model is characterized within transdisciplinary Participatory Action Research and Learning on sustainable fisheries and poverty mitigation. The bioregional fisherfolk epistemology on Coastal Resource Management as outlined supports food security. Results present an example for national and international applications using social artistry for curriculum development through a government and non-government organization partnership. Recognizing traditional fisherfolk artisanal epistemologies within professional and paraprofessional Ecohealth certification can support mitigation of chronic poverty and promote sustainability through an ecocentric-anthropocentric balance. This Philippine meta-level change mechanism for SSF could also contribute directly to the need for Indigenous and other local input on governing the global-ocean commons.

KEYWORDS:

• fisherfolk
• sustainability
• tragedy of the commons
• community consensus
• transdisciplinary Ecohealth

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to dedicate this paper to those PAMANA leaders that were instrumental in the project and have since passed on, specifically: Eli Dino, Victorino Duran, Romulo Villanueva and the leader amongst leaders, alliance President, Fernando Tiburcio (T’yo Andoy). The interest and support of Tom Epplett was pivotal during project conceptualization. Douglas Medin and his dedicated team at Northwestern University in Chicago organized critical support and training on the use of consensus methods and Megan Bang provided inputs on artisanal and Indigenous dialogue development. The work was a direct result of the local government units (Table 1) engagement. The authors are indebted to the 1000 fisherfolk leaders that volunteered their time to help elucidate opportunities and strategies. The project was funded through the USAID/NAS Partnership for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER): NAS Sub-Grant Award PGA-2000001992; Sponsor Grant Number: AID-OAA-A-11-0002.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Declaration

The authors have no competing interests regarding this paper.

Notes

1. Fisherfolk marine protected area (MPA) managers have previously been characterized as paraprofessional Ecohealth practitioners, supporting human and environmental health (Añabieza et al., 2010). DOI: 10.1007/s10393-010-0334-x.

2. seaaroundus.org.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the USAID/NAS Partnership for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) [NAS Sub-Grant Award PGA-2000001992; Sponsor Grant].