By: Amadís Ma. Guerrero
Philippine Daily Inquirer
11:31 pm | Saturday, September 24th, 2011
A KAYAK instructor shows the proper way to handle an oar. Kayak clinics
may charge as much as P500 per person per day
Palawan, Oriental Mindoro and Camarines Norte are among the most
captivating of our provinces, filled with coastal areas, beaches and
resorts, rivers and streams, venues for adventures aqua sports, and
attractive to tourists both foreign and domestic.
In selected towns near the sea, bays and rivers, sports like kayaking,
along with related activities, can be harnessed – in fact, are being
harnessed – to provide livelihood and augment the income of local
residents, including farmers, fisherfolk, indigenous peoples and
unemployed but trainable persons.
Equal importance is being attached to protection of, and care for, the
environment in the face of destructive forms of livelihood like dynamite
or cyanide fishing.
Local government units (LGUs) and non-government organizations (NGOs)
are among those behind these developing micro enterprises. And their
guiding philosophy is yet another KKK: Kasiyahan (Recreation), Kabuhayan
(Livelihood), and Kalikasan (Nature).
Camarines Norte, for example, faces the Pacific Ocean and has seven
islands. One town mayor has approached the Philippine Kayaking
Association for a livelihood-environment project. The town is ideal for
surf kayaking.
In Oriental Mindoro, another town is developing under its mayor a white
water kayaking livelihood project which will benefit Mangyan
constituents who will be trained as kayaking guides.
"And residents in this town in [Central] Palawan want us to explore the
river as part of their tour packages," says Andrea (Didi) Camara,
secretary-general of the kayaking association and vice-president of is
corporate arm, Sun & Sea Sports Systems, Inc. So the focus here is on
river kayaking.
"It's more of an advocacy for us," adds Camara. "But it also sustains us
because we charge professional fees and supply some of their water
sports requirements. We are doing a lot of support in training. We train
the beneficiaries through the support of these LGUs."
Package tours have been identified as an ideal source of livelihood that
can be or is being developed. The residents will derive their income
from kayaking, from kayaking clinics, from rentals of equipment, and as
tour guides.
For a day package tour, the beneficiaries can charge from P700 to
P2,000. Rentals of a kayak may range from P250 to P400.
"For kayak clinics," Camara points out, "they could charge as much as
P500 per person per day, depending on the area or duration, or the level
of instruction."
It is the LGUs and the NGOs who will draw up the budgets.
"The beneficiaries will organize and definitely kikita sila [they will
earn]," the kayaking specialist predicts. "It always starts as an
alternative and eventually develops into a main source of income."
At the same time, kayaking is not a stand-alone activity, and will be
integrated into other outdoor and adventure activities.
"It's a way of helping the economy and indirectly and directly
protecting the environment," Camara concludes.
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