Sibuyanons Against Mining (SAM) is an environmental advocacy group organized primarily by

Sibuyanon May-as, also called Mangyan tagabukid, is a term for the indigenous people of the island of Sibuyan, in the Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southea ...

s. It has been fighting for mining moratorium in Sibuyan Island (Philippines). It aims to protect the island, which has the world's densest forest, the Philippine's cleanest river and

Mount Guiting-Guiting Mount Guiting-Guiting is the highest mountain in the province of Romblon, located in Sibuyan Island, in the Philippines, with an elevation of above sea level. Its steep slopes and jagged peak, have earned it a reputation as one of the most techn ...

, from future

environmental degradation Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

and exploitation.

History

SAM was primarily an online advocacy created in February 2006 and formed formally on July 2, 2006 in Intramuros,

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

. From then on, it helped organize the creation of a worldwide environmental advocacy campaign against mining operations in Sibuyan Island.

Advocacy

SAM adheres to responsible

stewardship Stewardship is a practice committed to ethical value that embodies the responsible planning and management of resources. The concepts of stewardship can be applied to the environment and nature, economics, health, places, property, information ...

. Mining in the island is not sustainable because the island-people live by the island's bounties.

Endemism Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

and

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

are major factors why SAM is also looking for mining moratorium in the island since it is a center of endemism and critical plant site. They 'think that exploration could destroy the environment, the ecological balance, particularly the Mount Guiting-Guiting, which means posing a threat to the human beings of the area.'Fortuna, Julius F
East and West
column, ''Manila Times''. November 9, 2006

/ref> On September 2, 2006, almost 8,000 people (first in the history of

Romblon Romblon (, , ), officially the Province of Romblon, is an archipelagic province of the Philippines located in the Mimaropa region. Its main components include Romblon, an archipelagic municipality of the same name that also serves as the provi ...

province) gathered in front of a mining site to express their environmental concern. The mobilization was realized in collaboration with the ''sambuligan'' or basic ecclesial communities of the Immaculate Conception Shrine Parish of San Fernando, Romblon, and the Vicariate of Sibuyan.

Network

The advocacy is now worldwide through its online petition and local and international environmental organizations' support. SAM is also a member of the Philippine's alliance against mining, '' Alyansa Tigil Mina''.

References

{{reflist

External links

Sibuyan ISLE Inc.
Environmental organizations based in the Philippines