Section 7Sec./Art. 7

Environmentally Critical Areas Network (ECAN). The SEP shall establish a graded system of protection and development control over the whole of Palawan, including its tribal lands, forests, mines, agricultural areas, settlement areas, small islands, mangroves, coral reefs, seagrass beds and the surrounding sea. This shall be known as the Environmentally Critical Areas Network, hereinafter referred to as ECAN, and shall serve as the main strategy of the SEP.

The ECAN shall ensure the following:

1. Forest conservation and protection through the imposition of a total commercial logging ban in all areas of maximum protection and in such other restricted use zones as the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development as hereinafter created may provide;

2. Protection of watersheds;

3. Preservation of biological diversity;

4. Protection of tribal people and the preservation of their culture;

5. Maintenance of maximum sustainable yield;

6. Protection of the rare and endangered species and their habitat;

7. Provision of areas for environmental and ecological research, education and training; and

8. Provision of areas for tourist and recreation.