15 municipal employees trained on coastal mngt.

TALIBON – At least 15 municipal employees have successfully completed the three-day seminar workshop on Telling Danajon's Story: Interpretive Presentation conducted last Feb. 20-23, at the newly-completed Fisheries and Coastal Resource Management Interpretive Center (FCRMIC) of this town. The training was done in preparation for the start of full operation of the center with formal turn-over and blessing set on Feb. 28. The activity was conducted right in the newly-completed center where the panels featuring the whole faces of Danajon Bank areas are located. It was designed to prepare and train participants to become good interpreters and tour guides and become familiar with the whole area of the Danajon Bank and its components.

Topics in the training-workshop were assigned to participants who were grouped into five clusters. The first cluster dealt with the three communities found in the bank like the coral reefs, mangroves and the sea grasses. The second group focused on the “Danajon Bank”, while the third tackles the Life in Danajon. The fourth group discussed the “Fishing in Danajon”, while the fifth cluster focused on the topic, “Danajon and You”.

The Fisheries for Improvement and Sustainable Harvest (FISH) project, a non-government organization specializing on fishery development program and United State Agency for International Development (USAID) funded suggested the Local Government Unit (LGU-Talibon) to construct the FCRMIC in 2004. Mayor Juanario Item, who saw and realized that the proposed project was beneficial and important for his town, agreed on the proposal. He immediately asked the Sangguniang Bayan to allocate enough budget for the renovation of the old nurse's dormitory for FCRMIC. The center will serve as the house of all useful information about the Danajon Bank, and the other services that the local government can offer to its constituents and become host to visitors and guests having their study tour and cross visit. The training was successfully conducted with the full support of Mayor Item, SB members, Peter Polestico, HRMO IV and the contact person and the FISH Project Staff.

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