Section 5Sec./Art. 5

Strategic Environmental Plan (SEP) Philosophy. The SEP shall have, as its general philosophy, the sustainable development of Palawan, which is the improvement in the quality of life of its people in the present and future generations through the use of complementary activities of development and conservation that protect life-support ecosystems and rehabilitate exploited areas to allow upcoming generations to sustain development growth. It shall have the following features:

1. Ecological viability The physical and biological cycles that maintain the productivity of natural ecosystems must always be kept intact;

2. Social acceptability The people themselves, through participatory processes, should be fully committed to support sustainable development activities by fostering equity in access to resources and the benefits derived from them; and

3. Integrated approach This allows for a holistic view of problems and issues obtaining in the environment as well as opportunities for coordination and sharing that will eventually provide the resources and political will to actually implement and sustain SEP activities.