Eco Tourism Development Plan for Duenas, Iloilo

Chapter 1

The Problem and Its Background

Introduction

The cultural heritage of Dueňas as manifested by its people is one of the richest in Western Visayas. Culture by virtue of the remnants of the past based from accounts taken from the works of early local historians in collaboration with works of the some national historians is quite interesting and made the researcher create a problem to work on.

The development of culture and society of Dueňas starts way back to the pre-Malayan age , which illustrates a very rich natural resources of the place. The socio-cultural heritage of Dueňas and the indigenous natural sites were considered pride of place that could promote ecotourism . In improving the quality of life of the people every possible tenet for income generation may be considered. Thus, ecotourism as an economic activity if well planned would eventually bring about increased employment opportunities, creation of related industries as manufacturing, food processing, environment, physical infrastructure, and even agricultural enhancement. It also has impacts on the natural and social resources of the community.

Ecotourism may also be viewed as means to enhance the value of agriculture and forest resources. It can also be considered as an alternative to destructive agricultural, fishing and other resource extractive industries. It could likewise assume a general role in developing areas where traditional uses of land would only yield marginal produce and income. Since the above development process would put pressure on the environment careful planning will be made so that whatever progress is in the offing sustainable use of resources is entrenched in the plan. Ecotourism planning at the local level focuses primarily on the identification of local attractions or areas that have and ecotourism potential to generate tourist traffic to these areas.

While Dueňas does not fall within priority tourist areas, the municipality must...