Aboitiz Group to develop and rehabilitate Boracay’s Wetland 4
The Aboitiz Group is supporting the government’s ongoing rehabilitation of Boracay Island by partnering with the Department of Tourism (DOT), Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Last August, the Group signed a Memorandum of Agreement with DENR to adopt and revive Wetland 4, a one-hectare lagoon located in Barangay Balabag in Boracay, one of the nine wetlands being rehabilitated by the private sector.
Currently, Wetland 4 is being fitted with various structures to enhance and develop its ecological footprint, including water plants, fishing areas, and water aerators to increase or maintain the lagoon’s water oxygen saturation.
Meanwhile, Aboitiz Group’s WeatherPhilippines has also installed an automated weather station (AWS) at Wetland 4. The AWS will gather localized weather information through rain probability, wind direction, wind speed, temperature, heat index, among others. This is important in making decisions relating to tourism, like scheduling of water activities and tours. These information are all accessible through the new WeatherPH app, which is free to download both via Google Play and App Store.
By supporting the national government in this rehabilitation project, the Aboitiz Group also delivers on its brand promise of advancing business and communities with long-term sustainability in mind. Aboitiz believes that it can do well by doing good, always making the right long-term decisions that balance the interests of people, planet, and profit.
“We are pleased with the progress we have achieved so far with the Boracay rehabilitation, yet we still have so much to accomplish. We would like to thank DENR, DOT and the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force for giving us opportunity to co-create a community that is safe, sustainable, and empowered,” said Erramon I. Aboitiz, Aboitiz Equity Ventures, President and Chief Executive Officer.
The Aboitiz-adopted wetland aims to have three traits: recreational, using low-impact ecotourism design; educational, by helping the immediate community learn about the protection, conservation, enhancement, and rehabilitation of Boracay’s natural ecosystems; and experiential, by engaging locals, students, and even tourists to participate in cleanup, maintenance, and protection initiatives.
The rehabilitation and development of Wetland 4 will be a three-year project starting in 2018.
More than ecotourism, the project, through the guidance of PGAA Creative Design, will convert the lagoon into a linear urban park with a plaza, a perimeter boardwalk, a speed table to promote road safety in the vicinity, and indigenous plant species to rebuild the land’s biodiversity.
