BEYOND BARRIERs (and not necessarily Removal of a Barrier)

I attended a session on Barrier Removal (BR)  on my second week with RARE and it talks about identifying barriers in the implementation of the Pride Campaign, how to overcome barriers and how to make sure that the strategies to remove the barrier are maintained in order to ensure that the desired conservation result is achieved. It sounds so methodical and with the case study that was used as an example, barrier removal seemed so easy to handle. The approach that was used was even simple and can be done right away without going through a lot of hassle. However, looking at it in the context of the Philippines and the implementation of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), barrier removal is really complex, site specific, demand driven and it takes a lot of patience, understanding, research and the right attitude to implement it.

I just happen to link the session with the photo that I took at Pulauan Port, Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte. It was the second day of my job and we were on our way to Tagbilaran City, Bohol, where RARE’s office is located. My colleague and supervisor asked me to take a photo of the “sari- sari” stores that is as if sitting on top of the barricade of the port. He said he is going to use the photo to show and concretize the concept of adaptive management. I see another thing after I listened to the BR session.

To give you a context on why I am writng about it is that the transformation of that space of the port is something that I witnessed over the years because when I was a studying in Dumaguete City, there used to be a small door beside the blue trash bin and it provides passenger and micro -entrepreneur’s the access to and from the port.  When I started working, they banned the micro-enterpreneur’s  to sell inside the port area and only allowed passengers to pass through. Ten years later, the Philippines Port Authority totally blocked the area and created a very high wall and re- routed the passenger’s access to the port. And it looked like this now.

From this photo, there are a few things that I realized when it comes to understanding the barriers in implementing barrier removal strategies based on the Theory of Change. I would say I am inspired to think of barriers in the management of MPAs as:

• Barriers are not always a big wall on what we wanted to achieve. Sometimes, it is a vehicle where we will be able to sit on it and use it as a pillar for what we really wanted to do.
• Barrier removal does not literally mean removal of the barrier. It could also mean using the barrier as a base, an instrument, a circumstance in order to get our message across.
• Barriers are actually opportunities. Opportunity to explore other means, to learn, to do our best and most of all exhaust our creativity in pushing management options.
• Barriers are not just barriers but there is something behind it that created such a barrier. We must always remember that small door before and try to investigate what are the things, situations that made it the way it is right now. We might not be able to appreciate the barrier that we are facing right now but at least we understand why it became a barrier.

Finally, barriers are not as high and as thick as the walls and it is not always tangible. Sometimes it will also take someone to point or show it to us. And that is the important in working with people who are pushing for the same cause. Marine Protected Areas implementation is really looking beyond barriers.

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