Linapacan, located in the northern part of Palawan, has a population of over 16,000 spread across 10 island barangays. Here, Flores works as a guard or enforcer of the marine protected area (MPA) between Calibangbangan and adjacent small island Takling.
MPAs help protect important habitats and representative samples of marine life in the Philippines, one of the world’s centers of marine biodiversity. They assist in restoring the productivity of the oceans and avoid their further degradation.
In the town of Linapacan, Flores works with 37 Tagbanua women who help clean the coast and watch and restore the mangrove areas, including a nursery.
They also watch over seagrass beds, said Raffy Agustin, assistant field program officer of Path Foundation Philippines, Inc. (PFPI). PFPI is one of the consortium of partners of Fish Right, a flagship program of USAID in partnership with the Philippine government to advance sustainable fisheries management and marine biodiversity conservation in the Philippines.
Women like Flores – especially Tagbanua and other indigenous women – from Linapacan and other towns in the CIG (Culion, Busuanga, and Coron) have figured prominently in safeguarding MPAs, including marine species that either nest in, or migrate to, the isles.