THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY VALLADORES, JEMIMAH CESTER YOUNG PEOPLE’S PREFERENCES FOR MANGROVE CONSERVATION IN BAYBAY CITY, LEYTE, PHILIPPINES ________________________________________ BACHELOR THESIS Study Mode: Full-time Major: Environmental Science and Management Faculty: Advanced Education Program Office Batch: 2018-2021 Thai Nguyen, 08/06/2022 DOCUMENTATION PAGE WITH ABSTRACT Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry Degree Program Bachelor of Environmental Science and Management Student Name Jemimah Cester Valladores Student ID DTN1754290026 Young People’s Preferences for Mangrove Thesis Title Conversation in Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines Supervisor (s) Truong Thi Anh Tuyet, PhD Supervisor’s Signature Abstract: Mangrove ecosystems bring a variety of benefits to both the people and the environment. They not only serve as protection against storm and wind surges but also are natural habitats to different marine organisms. However, despite these benefits, mangrove forest areas are still exploited for economic reasons. Anthropogenic activities, such as profitable pond farming systems contribute greatly to mangrove loss.
Another is because of natural causes, specifically that of Super typhoon Haiyan, as the most prominent reason for mangrove loss in Baybay City, Leyte. Nevertheless, this is slowly changing as people are now becoming more aware of the benefits that mangrove ecosystems bring to the people, animals, and the environment as a whole. In this study, the researcher found out the preferences of the young people of Baybay City, Leyte about mangroves and mangrove conservation programs. A contingent valuation method through open- ended format was used in this study upon analyzing the respondent’s willingness to pay.
Out of the 205 respondents, 93 answered yes, but only 80 were valid and counted. The parametric estimate of the mean WTP was PHP480 (US$9. Demographic variables such as gender, age, year level, major, and monthly income and allowance were found to be statistically insignificant to the WTP of the respondents that answered yes. The results of this study can be used by the LGUs, NGOs, and other stakeholders to help them be more knowledgeable about the local’s responses to conservation and rehabilitation acts proposed, specifically the young people.
Mangroves, Mangrove conservation programs, Keywords: Contingent valuation method, Willingness to pay, Open-ended format, Baybay City Number of pages: 43 Date of Submission: 02/06/2022 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to acknowledge and give my warmest thanks to my supervisor, Dr. Truong Thi Anh Tuyet. Thank you for all your comments, suggestions, advices, and guidance in the writing process of my thesis. I would also like to thank Dr.
Dennis Peque, dean of the College of Forestry and Environmental Science in Visayas State University for allowing and assisting me throughout my survey. To all the students of Visayas State University who took part in answering my survey, thank you for your participation, with a special mention for Ms. You were all such a great help. I would also like to extend my gratefulness to my family, Papa Ferdie, Mama Fe, and Ate Aya, and friends, Pamilyang Solid and BTK, as a whole for your unending support and motivation in me throughout my research.
Your continuous faith and understanding have helped me finish my thesis; despite all of the struggles I have faced. SLMT as well to SB19 for inspiring me to go up and move forward, MAHALIMA! Last but not least, I would like to thank God for the strength He has given that sustained me with all the sleepless nights and breakdowns I have gone through. I would never have made it this far without His faithfulness and goodness in my life. In everything that I do, I do it all to glorify Him.
Padayon! TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES. I LIST OF TABLES. II LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. Research Questions and Hypotheses.
A History on Local Mangrove Conservation. Community-based Management Systems. Local Awareness on Mangrove Conservation. MATERIALS AND METHODS .1 The Contingent Valuation Method .3 Estimation of Influential Factors.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .1 General Information of the Respondents .2 Awareness and Attitude of Young People on Mangrove Conservation.3 Willingness to Pay Analysis. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION. 34 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: The map of Southern Leyte and Landuse map of Baybay Page 15 City, Leyte. Figure 2: Respondents’ interest in mangrove conservation.
Page 19 Figure 3: Reasons the respondents don’t want to be informed. Page 20 Figure 4: The probability of the willingness to pay of respondents. Page 22 Figure 5: Reasons the respondents chose not to participate. Page 23 Figure 6: Reasons the respondents chose to participate.
Page 24 Figure 7: Histogram on the frequency of the WTP of the respondents. Page 25 I LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Basic statistics for socioeconomic characteristics of Page 17 respondents. Table 2: Prioritization of environmental issues. Page 18 Table 3: Attitude on mangrove education.
Page 19 Table 4: Summary of the Likert Scale Responses. Page 21 Table 5: Estimation results for Mangrove Conservation Programs (in Page 24 PHP). Table 6: Description of variables for “Yes” probability. Page 26 Table 7: The regression analysis of the mean WTP to each Page 27 demographic variable.
II LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviation Explanation CVM Contingent Valuation Method WTP Willingness to Pay CBM Community-based Management CBFM Community-based Forest Management VSU Visayas State University LGU Local Government Unit NGO Non-government Organization III PART I. Research Rationale Tropical storms and hurricanes are not new scenarios for the Philippines. The country is located within the typhoon belt and just beside the Pacific Ocean, where typhoons normally form. Ever since then, Philippines has experienced overcoming different natural calamities that has made the country known to be resilient.
However, due to the rapid change in climate and the extreme pollution over the past years, resiliency may not be enough to bounce back and combat the damages brought by these natural disasters. Acosta et al. (2016) explained that the Philippines is experiencing typhoon-induced floods and landslide damages due to the frequent and intense tropical cyclones that are happening recently. These events cause psychological distress to the citizens and are affecting their adaptation methods.
Considering this, the Philippines is not only looking for adapting measures to counter the effects, rather mitigation measures to, if not end, lessen the effects and damages of the natural calamities. One study in the Philippines focuses on analyzing the community-based forest management (CBFM) sites and how they would help mitigate climate change. They are focused in looking for the benefits of agroforestry farms (Lasco et al. In relation to this, another action that can help mitigate the effects of typhoons are mangroves.
According to a study by Barbier (2016), mangrove ecosystems serve as protection against the damages that typhoons cause. They attenuate the disasters, such as property loss, injuries, deaths, that hurricanes and tropical storms bring to the community. Mangroves do not only protect the people and the land properties; they also help protect lessen the damages caused by wind from 1 storm surges. A study conducted by Das and Crépin (2013) stated that an additional evidence of mangrove benefits shows that they reduce wind damage in houses amounted to approximately US$177 per hectare at 1999 prices.
Despite of the benefits and protection that mangroves provide; it cannot be denied that they are continuously exploited for economic reasons. Conforming to the article by Goldberg et al. (2020), global mangrove losses can be traced from anthropogenic and natural activities. Over the periods between 2000-2016, it was estimated that around 62% of the losses are from change in land use.
The conversion of mangrove forest areas to aquaculture and agriculture areas for economic purposes can be accounted to this. Also, around 80% of this human-driven losses happened within Southeast Asian nations. This is accurately true in the Philippines. The construction of brackish water pond is seen as a reason for around 50% of the mangrove loss in the whole country.
Many people were enticed with the profitable pond farming systems. This so happened due to the economic benefits that can be acquired from this, even though loss of mangrove systems is the consequence of this activity (Primavera, 1995). A significant increase in mangrove loss also occurred during the incidence of Super Typhoon Haiyan. The provinces of eastern Samar and western Samar were severely affected of the damages, but the Super Typhoon’s intensity slowly decreased as it went across from eastern to western Visayas.
However, mangrove resiliency was seen after the unexpected phenomenon when severely, moderately, and minimally damaged mangroves decreased by 90%, 81%, and 57%, which is an evidence that they should be conserved (Long et al. 2 Mangroves have proven to be quite essential for the community. They offer a variety of benefits and protection to humans, animals, and the environment as a whole. Nonetheless, they are still often neglected and abused by people for financial opportunities.
But recently, this perception is slowly changing, and a lot more people are starting to raise awareness about mangrove conservation. As per Sandilyan and Kathiresan (2012), mangroves should be conserved globally for they serve as a habitat for a variety of marine organisms. As a matter of fact, mangroves are seen to contain rich biological and genetic diversity. This is one of the reasons why conserving mangroves should be prioritized.
It is difficult to bring back species and natural habitat lost. Moreover, mangrove habitats are natural defenses against flood damages in the Philippines. They reduce flooding to 23% of the people, which are below the poverty line. Mangroves save possible economic losses, around 1.7 billion US$ damages were prevented presently (Menéndez et al.
An effective way of conserving mangrove forest areas is by working together hand-in-hand in raising awareness and physically protecting them from any exploiters that plan on harming them. A study by Walters (2004) stated that local community-based management may be a better way in conserving mangroves. This action can be a successful economic innovation locally, especially if they are educated of mangroves’ benefits to their homes, livelihood, and community as a whole. Taking that into account, this study aims to know young people’s preferences in conserving the mangrove forest areas in Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines, as no such research has been done before yet.
Knowing the awareness and knowledge of the youth when it comes to mangroves, their role and benefits, and conservation is the main focus of this study. This will be essential for determining the 3 proper conservation programs to develop. This will help the local government and community in creating collaborative solutions for awareness and actions for conservation. Research Objectives ● Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess and understand young people’s preferences when it comes to mangrove conservation in Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines.
● Specific Objectives: o To identify the awareness of the youth about mangroves and mangrove conservation in Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines. o To determine the average amount of money the youth are willing to pay and participate in mangrove conservation programs in Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines. o To recognize the factors that influence the WTP attitude of the youth in Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines. Research Questions and Hypotheses ● Main Question: What are young people’s preferences when it comes to mangrove conservation in Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines? 4 ● Specific Research Questions: o How well aware are the youth about mangroves and mangrove conservation in Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines? o How much are the youth willing to pay and participate in mangrove conservation programs in Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines? o Are there factors that influence the WTP attitude of the youth in Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines? ● Hypotheses o The young people of Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines are not well aware of mangrove and mangrove conservation programs.
o The young people of Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines are not willing to pay and participate in mangrove conservation programs. o There are no factors that influence the WTP attitude of the young people in Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines.