Baby green sea turtles released back to sea

 Baby green sea turtles were released backed to the sea in San Jose de Buenavista.

The first batch of was released on the evening of September 19 and another batch of more or less 37 green sea turtles was released evening of September 23 at the Marine Protected Area, Brgy. Funda-Dalipe of the town.

The first batch of green sea turtles was born in Brgy. Durog sometime July of this year.  Barangay officials notified the Local Environment and Natural Resources Officer Cornelius Yanga about the event. In cooperation with the municipal government, the barangay made sure that the eggs survived until they hatched.

On September 18, 68 hatchlings were removed from their nest in Brgy. Durog and were taken to the MPA and were released.

The second batch was from Funda-Dalipe where a green sea turtle laid its egg under a house also sometime in July.






Municipal Environment Code has declared the shores of Madrangca up to Durog as turtle sanctuary.

San Jose dB, DOT train site guides for town's main attractions

The local government of San Jose de Buenavista in partnership with the Department of Tourism (DOT) conducted a tourist reception and basic tour guiding techniques seminar.

According to DOT, The seminar was designed to develop and improve the performance of front-liners in rendering first rate professional service in the tourism industry.

Moreover, the LGU hopes to improve the service in its main tourist attractions - Farmville and the Marine Protected Area especially the Coastal Resource Management (CRM) Mini Galley.

Farmville is an LGU-owned demo farm for integrated organic farming, which offers tour, lectures and training on organic farming techniques.

The CRM Mini Galley offers discovery tour of the marine ecosystem and environmental protection and conservation while the Marine Protected Area is open for snorkeling activities thru the CRM Mini Galley.

Participants from allied services such as accommodation establishments and souvenir/ craft shop also attended the training.

On the last day of the training, a mock tour was conducted to assess the compentency of the participants.

Mayor Rony Molina hopes to conduct tourist reception training to tricycle and jeepney drivers in the Municipality. 

MPA Center: There's something new this summer

San Jose dB fisherfolks received BFAR fishing gears

Photo by Michael Tonding

Eleven small-scale fisherfolks received deep sea fishing gears from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) through the local government unit of San Jose de Buenavista in a simple turn over ceremony at the town’s hall.

The recipients were small-scale fisherfolks living near the municipal marine protected area.  They were selected and indorsed by their Barangay Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management Council (BFARMC).

In 2003, San Jose dB established a marine protected area with 67.22 hectares of coral reef covering the barangays of Funda-Dalipe, Madrangca, Barangay 3 and Barangay 4. Of this, 6.57 hectares is the core or the no-take zone located in Funda-Dalipe.

Deep sea fishing gears were given to selected fisherfolks to encourage fishing activities beyond the no-take zone.

The distribution of deep sea fishing gears is part of the livelihood support program of BFAR which complements the livelihood component of the Coastal Resource Management (CRM) Program of the local government of San Jose de Buenavista.     

Mayor Rony Molina (center) with Rotary Antique President Fe Osorio, Designated Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Officer Cornelius Yanga, Peace Corp Volunteer Benjamin Martin (back, wearing black shirt) with the beneficiaries. Photo by Michael Tonding