the influence of socio demographic on the stakeholders perceptions on the mangrove management in the municipality of palapag northern samar philipines

LIST OF TABLESin Bohol and Palawan 2013by mangroves adapted from Farley et at 2010Table 4.1: Interpretation Table of Spearman Rank-Order Correlation Coefficients 18towards the values of

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY

ELLA ARANDIA ELEJORDE

THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC ON THE STAKEHOLDERS’

PERCEPTIONS ON THE MANGROVE MANAGEMENT IN THE

MUNICIPALITY OF PALAPAG, NORTHERN SAMAR, PHILIPPINES

BACHELOR THESIS

Study Mode: Full-time

Major: Environmental Science and Management

Faculty: Advance Education Program Office

Thai Nguyen, 26/11/2021

DOCUMENTATION PAGE WITH ABSTRACT

Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry

Degree Program Bachelor of Environmental Science and Management

Student Name Ella A Elejorde

THE STAKEHOLDERS’ PERCEPTIONS ON THE

MUNICIPALITY OF PALAPAG, NORTHERN SAMAR,PHILIPPINES

Supervisor Dr Duong Hong Viet

Supervisor's Signature

Abstract:

Mangrove forest is known as the “rainforest of the sea” since it is abundantand widely distributed along the coasts of tropical and subtropical countries acrossthe globe However, it is also considered as one of the most severely threatened andundervalued ecosystems due to natural and anthropogenic activities Palapag is part

of the province Northern Samar, which is known for its richness in mangroves in theregion of Eastern Visayas, Philippines With the continuous destruction of mangroveforests, mangrove management should be implemented in every stakeholder Thestudy will determine if the socio-demographic background of stakeholders willinfluence their perception in mangrove management in their municipality throughcorrelating the variables from randomly selected respondents By identifying andacknowledging stakeholders’ diverse point-of-view, it can serve as a key factor todevelop and apply resilient and effective strategies towards mangrove conservation

and management globally.

Keywords: Mangrove Forests; Mangrove Management;

Socio-Demographic; Bivariate Correlation; Stakeholders’ Perception; Palapag, Northern Samar

Number of Pages: 123

Date of Submission: 26th of November 2020

The researcher wants to express her utmost gratitude and deepest appreciation

to God Almighty, who keeps on giving her blessings in guiding her and giving herwisdom all throughout her journey in conducting this research study

To her family Edmund A Elejorde Sr., Imelda A Elejorde, Edmund A.Elejorde, Jean A Elejorde, Ivy A Elejorde who keeps on supporting her throughemotionally and financially Thank you for unending love, support, and prayers sinceday 1

To my thesis advisor Dr Duong Hong Viet of Thai Nguyen University ofAgriculture and Forestry, thank you for giving her ideas and assistance throughout thisresearch study

Sincerest thank you to all respondents who invest their time answering thequestionnaire especially to the Mayor of Palapag, Hon Ricardo A Batula and staff, toHon Brgy Capt Migueil Bojaguin of Manajao, Hon Brgy Capt Lito J Orio ofBinay, Ms Dolorita Eder Gorembalem of Sumuroy Agro-Industrial School, and all thepeople especially to her relatives who helped her to accomplish her agenda in Palapag,Northern Samar

To Sumulong Memorial High School and Advance Education Program, ThaiNguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry for giving her the opportunity to studyabroad and explore her environment outside her comfort zone

To her professors for teaching and sharing knowledge, for guiding the class inacademics, and for letting them experience how real life will be

To the batch K49 Environmental Science and Management - AEP for sharingbeautiful memories and knowledge For reminding her that not everything is acompetition, that it's better to work together to accomplish and have a better outcome.And it’s okay if there are people who can’t appreciate everything you did, as long asyou know that you did your best

To all friends, especially Filipino friends, for unforgettable memories and beingher family in Vietnam and for always being there through ups and downs of herjourney.

The author got this far because of you all, who pushed her to pursue her goals,who are always there for her through ups and downs, and who give lessons in life.Words are not enough to express the gratitude and how blessed the author is to haveyou all May the Lord bless all of you

Ella A Elejorde

3.3.3 Cross-tabular analysis 15

4.1 Analysis of the Socio-Demographic of the Respondents 164.2 Relationship between their Socio-Demographic Variables 18

and their Perception towards the Value of Mangroves

4.3 Relationship between their Socio-Demographic Variables 25

and their Perception towards the Threats to Mangroves

4.4 Relationship between their Socio-Demographic Variables 31

and their Perception towards the Mangrove Management

4.5 Relationship between their Socio-Demographic Variables and their 37

Perception towards the Alternatives in Conserving and Managing Mangroves

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF TABLES

in Bohol and Palawan (2013)

by mangroves (adapted from Farley et at (2010))

Table 4.1: Interpretation Table of Spearman Rank-Order Correlation Coefficients 18

towards the values of mangroves

towards the values of mangroves

Table 4.4: Correlation between their barangay and their perception 22

towards the values of mangroves

Table 4.5: Correlation between their occupation and their perception 24

towards the values of mangroves

towards the threats to mangroves

towards the threats to mangroves

Table 4.8: Correlation between their barangay and their perception 29

towards the threats to mangroves

Table 4.9: Correlation between their occupation and their perception 30

towards the threats to mangroves

towards the mangrove management

towards the mangrove management

Table 4.12: Correlation between their barangay and their perception 34

towards the mangrove management

Table 4.13: Correlation between their occupation and their perception 36

towards the mangrove management

towards the alternatives in conserving and managing mangroves

towards the alternatives in conserving and managing mangroves

Table 4.16: Correlation between their barangay and their perception 39

towards the alternatives in conserving and managing mangroves

Table 4.17: Correlation between their occupation and their perception 40

towards the alternatives in conserving and managing mangroves

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AO - Administrative Order

BFAR - Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources

DAO - DENR Administrative Order

DENR - Department of Natural Resources

DSWD - Department of Social Welfare and Development

EO - Executive Order

FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization

FLA - Fishpond Lease Agreement

LGU - Local Government Unit

MNR - Ministry of Natural Resources

PAMS - Philippine Association of Marine Scientists

PD - Presidential Decree

RA - Republic Act

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix I: Recommendation Letters

Appendix I.A: Recommendation Letter from PENRO 50 Appendix I.B: Recommendation Letter from CENRO Pambujan 51 Appendix II: Request Letters

Appendix II.A: Request Letter for the Mayor of Palapag, Northern Samar 53 Appendix II.B: Request Letter for the Principal of 54

Sumuroy Agro-Industrial School

Appendix III: Questionnaire

Appendix III.A: Questionnaire in English 56 Appendix III.B: Questionnaire in Filipino 63 Appendix IV: Cross-Tabular Analysis

Appendix IV.A.1 Cross-tabular analysis between their sex and 73

their perception towards the values of mangroves

Appendix IV.A.2 Cross-tabular analysis between their age and 75

their perception towards the values of mangroves

Appendix IV.A.3 Cross-tabular analysis between their barangay and 77

their perception towards the values of mangroves

Appendix IV.A.4 Cross-tabular analysis between their occupation and 81

their perception towards the values of mangroves

Appendix IV.B.1 Cross-tabular analysis between their sex and 85

their perception towards the threats to mangroves

Appendix IV.B.2 Cross-tabular analysis between their age and 87

their perception towards the threats to mangroves

Appendix IV.B.3 Cross-tabular analysis between their barangay and 89

their perception towards the threats to mangroves

Appendix IV.B.4 Cross-tabular analysis between their occupation and 92

their perception towards the threats to mangroves

Appendix IV.C.1 Cross-tabular analysis between their sex and 95

their perception towards the mangrove management

Appendix IV.C.2 Cross-tabular analysis between their age and 97

their perception towards the mangrove management

Appendix IV.C.3 Cross-tabular analysis between their barangay and 99

their perception towards the mangrove management

Appendix IV.C.4 Cross-tabular analysis between their occupation and 102

their perception towards the mangrove management

Appendix IV.D.1 Cross-tabular analysis between their sex and 105

their perception towards alternatives in conserving and managing mangroves

Appendix IV.D.2 Cross-tabular analysis between their age and 106

their perception towards alternatives in conserving and managing mangroves

Appendix IV.D.3 Cross-tabular analysis between their barangay and 107

their perception towards alternatives in conserving and managing mangroves

Appendix IV.D.4 Cross-tabular analysis between their occupation and 109

their perception towards alternatives in conserving and managing mangroves

PART I INTRODUCTION1.1 Research rationale

Mangrove forests are known as the “rainforest of the sea” (Viray-Mendoza,2017) because it is abundant and widely distributed along the coasts of tropical andsubtropical countries across the globe (Choong et al., 1990) In 2001, it was estimatedthat there 70 distinct mangrove species in the world (Mangrove Science Database,n.d), which covers roughly 17,000,000 hectares all over the world (Valiela et al.,2001) Even though their habitat is in the salty soils, mangroves adapt to thesechallenging conditions through different methods in dealing with salt and prove thatthey are different from most woody plants that consider salty soils inhabitable Sincethere are mangroves use different methods in dealing with salt, scientists classified it

as either secretors - those that push salt out through special pores or salt glands within

their leaves like Avicennia germinans, and non-secretors - those that block and exclude the salt from entering their vascular system like Rhizophora and Bruguiera (The

Ocean Portal, 2018) Mangrove forests are considered as important coastal resources,since it is vital to our socio-economic development considering that it provides usnumerous benefits such as economic benefits (supply forest and fishery products, etc.);ecological services (protecting the coast from UV-B radiation, reducing “greenhouseeffects”, minimizing the fury of cyclones, mitigating the fury of tsunami, controllingthe flood, preventing coastal erosion, deepening the creeks, etc.); biomass and litterproduction (contribution in global carbon cycle); litter decomposition and nutrientenrichment; food webs and energy fluxes and interaction with other coastalecosystems; influence other coastal ecosystems (protection to marine ecosystem)(Kathiresan, 2012)

Mangrove forests are considered one of the most severely threatened andundervalued ecosystems on Earth due to natural phenomena and human activities (I124UCN, n.d.) like due to the increase in human population, more people nearby themangrove forest became directly and indirectly dependent on mangroves as it providednumerous benefits such as food, fuel, wood or even housing materials resulting in the

decrease in its population (Sarmiento, 2018) By that, there are numerous programspertaining to mangrove forest restoration that are mostly led by the local governmentunder the provision of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)

in the Philippines However, due to lack of science-based approach guidelines,numerous mangrove reforestation projects that have been implemented wereunsuccessful (Primavera & Esteban, 2008) The DENR and Local Government Unit(LGU) considered monitoring of mangrove as a challenge because of (1) lack ofappreciation on mangrove and its ecological functions; (2) continuous mangrovecutting; (3) overexploitation of mangrove resources for human benefits; (4) conversion

of mangrove areas into settlements; (5) mangroves as solid waste disposal sites; (6)lack/absence of law enforcement; and (7) lack/absence of effective managementmechanism (Sarmiento, 2018)

It is significant to conduct an assessment of the stakeholders’ perceptions on thecurrent mangrove management because (1) it determines the stakeholders’ level ofsupport given to mangrove management (Miranda et al., 2013), (2) knowing theperceptions of the stakeholders are relevant since they are involved in the managementprocess of mangroves, (3) numerous mangrove reforestation projects that have beenimplemented were unsuccessful due to lack of science-based approach guidelines(Primavera & Esteban, 2008), and (4) identifying and acknowledging stakeholders’diverse point-of-view can help to develop and apply resilient and effective strategiestowards mangrove conservation and management globally (Arumugam, 2020)

1.2 Research objectives

The aim of this study is (1) to identify the differences in perceptions amongdifferent stakeholders in regard to the management of mangrove resources in themunicipality, and (2) to investigate if there are any correlation betweensocio-demographic variables and their perception towards mangrove It can serve as akey factor to achieve successful future programs focusing on mangrove restoration,protection, and management projects

1.3 Research questions

1 How do different stakeholders perceive the current mangrovemanagement of the municipality?

2 How does socio-demographic variable correlate to their perceptiontowards mangrove management?

1.4 Research Hypothesis

1 𝐻 The different stakeholder groups will perceive the current

𝑜:mangrove management of the municipality similarly since they are living in onecommunity

The different stakeholder groups will perceive the current𝐻

𝑎:mangrove management of the municipality diversely due to their role in thecommunity

2 𝐻 There is no significant coordination between stakeholders’

𝑜:socio-demographic and their perception towards mangrove management

There is a significant coordination between stakeholders’𝐻

𝑎:socio-demographic and their perception towards mangrove management

1.5 Limitations

Limitations that were encountered throughout the study:

● Not all barangays in Palapag had been visited Since the distribution of

questionnaires were random, the researcher wasn't able to get respondents ineach barangay Some of the barangays were also far from the center of themunicipality Therefore, the distribution of respondents was not equal

● Lack of secondary data The municipal staff in the forestry sector wasn’t able to

provide documents regarding the distinct way on how they managed mangroveforests in the municipality They mentioned that once they distribute theseedlings to the locals, the management of the mangroves will depend on thelocal government of barangays And there were limited sources on the internetregarding the mangrove management of Palapag, Northern Samar

● Limited time The distribution of questionnaires was only conducted for 5 days,

from 16th to 20th of September 2021

PART II LITERATURE REVIEW2.1 Mangroves in the Philippines

Mangrove is considered as a forest ecosystem since it consists of different plantspecies that are exposed and submerged in sea water (Department of Environment andNatural Resources, 2013) In 2020, the Food and Agriculture Organization of theUnited Nations reported in the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 that thereare about 1438 million ha of mangroves area across 223 countries and territories, inwhich Asia has the largest area (5.55 million ha) (FAO, 2020)

The Philippines is a tropical archipelagic country in Southeast Asia, whichconsists of more than 7,000 islands and islets In terms of biodiversity, the Philippines

is considered as one of the 17 mega biodiversity countries, by which it has 50%mangrove species of the world’s approximate number of species (Garcia et al., 2013)

It covers 1.9% of the world’s total mangrove area (Long et al 2014), where it caters 39species of true mangroves belonging to the following genera: Acanthus,Camptostemon, Lumnitzera, Excoecaria, Pemphis, Xylocarpus, Aegiceras, Osbornia,Nypa, Aegialitis, Bruguiera, Ceriops, Kandelia, Rhizophora, Scyphiphora, andSonneratia (Primavera, 2004) in which it ranks 5th among countries with the mostnumber of endemic species (Long and Giri, 2011) The largest mangrove area thathave been conserved and protected in the Philippines are found in Palawan andQuezon province in Luzon, Samar provinces in Visayas, Zamboanga del Sur,Zamboanga Sibugay, Surigao del Norte and Sulu provinces in Mindanao (Long andGiri, 2011) The west-to-east pattern formulated by Fortes and Salmo in 2015, hasbeen observed in the species richness of mangroves in the Philippines; in which thereare high species richness in regions 2, 4a, 5, 6, 7, and 10, and the low species richnesswere found in regions 13 and ARMM (Mangrove Ecology Ph, n.d.)

Northern Samar is a province in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines It

is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean on the east, the San Bernardino Strait on the north,Samar Sea on the west, and the Samar and Eastern Samar provinces on the south The52% of its 349,800 hectares’ total landmass is covered by forest and the remaining

42% is classified as alienable and disposable (Province of Northern Samar, n.d.) Withits large percentage of forest area, it is known for its richness in mangroves in theregion of Eastern Visayas with an area of 9,300 ha based on the data provided byBureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) in 1992.

2.2 Mangrove Ecology

Mangroves are a critical forest ecosystem since it can be both coastal andmarine ecosystems because it acts like a bridge between terrestrial and marineenvironments (Viray-Mendoza, 2017) Since it is highly adaptive to its environment, itbecame the habitat of diverse marine and terrestrial flora and fauna, includingthreatened and endangered species like manatees, crab-eating monkeys, fishing cats,monitor lizards, sea turtles, Royal Bengal tigers, mud-skipper fish, etc (MangroveAction Project, n.d.) In coastal fisheries, mangroves become either a nursery area forfish and invertebrates; or a feeding area for adult fishes normally harvested from coralreefs or other habitat (Gilman et al., 2006) An estimated 75% of commercially caughtfishes spend some time in mangroves or depend on the food webs from mangrovessince the decomposition of tons of leaf litter provides nutrients for invertebrates andalgae that feed many small organisms like shrimp, young fishes, etc (AmericanMuseum of Natural History, n.d.)

2.3 Values of Mangrove Forests

Mangrove forests are considered as important coastal resources, since it is vital

to our socio-economic development considering that it provide us numerous benefitssuch as economic benefit (supply forest and fishery products, etc.); ecological services(protecting the coast from UV-B radiation, reducing “greenhouse effects”, minimizingthe fury of cyclones, mitigating the fury of tsunami, controlling the flood, preventingcoastal erosion, deepening the creeks, etc.); biomass and litter production (contribution

in global carbon cycle); litter decomposition and nutrient enrichment; food webs andenergy fluxes and interaction with other coastal ecosystems; influence other coastalecosystems (protection to marine ecosystem) (Kathiresan, 2012)

● Economic benefit - Coastal communities continuously depend on mangroves

as it provides numerous benefits such as food (production of shrimp, fishes,

seashells, etc.), fuel (charcoal production), wood (water-resistant wood forbuilding houses, boats, furniture, etc.) (Sarmiento, 2018; Florida Museum ofNatural History, n.d.) income from fishing and tourism, and mental and spiritualwell-being (UNEP-WCMC,2020) Based on the study conducted by Carandang

et al (2013), they compare the direct use values of mangrove forests for Bohol(Banacon) and Palawan (Kamuning and Busuanga) by estimating the revenuesfrom the major mangrove products that are shown in Table 2.1 As shown, therevenues from harvesting fish, crabs, shrimps, and mollusks are relatively highcompared to the remaining products that have been stated Even though it ishigh, the revenues to the products that required cutting of the tree are still high

Table 2.1 Comparison of direct use values of mangrove forests in Bohol and

● Ecological services - As stated by Brander et al (2012), mangroves provide a

range of ecosystem services which includes provisioning services (food, fuel,

wood, etc.) and regulating services (coastal protection, flood prevention, waterquality, etc) Most of the people who are not directly benefiting from theservices that mangroves provide are unaware that mangroves offer goods andservices that they are also benefiting from As shown in Table 2.2, it is anexample of ecosystem goods and services provided by mangroves that havebeen compiled by Farley et al (2010) from different researches related to it.

Table 2.2 Example of ecosystem goods and services provided by mangroves (adapted

from Farley et at (2010))

2.4 Human Effects - Exploitation

Mangrove forests are considered one of the most severely threatened andundervalued ecosystems on Earth due to natural phenomena and anthropogenicactivities (IUCN SSC Mangrove Specialist Group, n.d.) The mangrove lossesrecorded in the 20th century were mostly contributed by human activities such asexploitation of mangroves for timber production and raw materials, as well as rapidgrowth in coastal population and urban expansion (Richards and Friess, 2016; Thomas

et al., 2017) Due to increase in population, mangrove forests are converted intocommodity-based land such as fish ponds, rice fields, etc., to provide the risingdemand of needs in the economy, which result in the decrease in population ofmangroves (Goldberg et al., 2020)

People also see mangroves as wasteland where they dump their unwantedhousehold or building waste It results in severe effects in our ecosystem such aspreventing natural regeneration of wetland vegetation, pollutes water, and is dangerous

to health (Burnett Mary Regional Group, n.d.)

2.5 Legislation and Management

From many benefits mangroves can provide, like coastline protection from thewaves during storms, serve as food source and nursery for different species, etc., manylaw, policies, and/or projects were emerging to protect and conserve mangrove forestsand it increases the interest of the people in maintaining mangrove forests andparticipating in different activities that focuses in mangrove rehabilitation projects(Melana, et al., 2000) In the Philippines, the laws relevant to mangroves areassociated in fishery and environmental laws and legislation as shown in Table 2.3and Table 2.4

Table 2.3 Philippine Fishery Law relevant to mangroves

Table 2.4 Philippine Environmental Law relevant to mangroves

The mangrove plantation that was documented earliest in the Philippines was

the plantation of Rhizophora and Nypa fruticans around Manila Bay, and much of the

plantation program was undertaken mainly in Visayas since the islands are morevulnerable in typhoons (Primavera & Esteban, 2008) In 2014, the Department of

Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) launched the project “Mangroves andBeach Forests” in which they both provide employment to the beneficiaries of 4P’s(Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) that were affected by the typhoon Yolanda,and at the same time, rehabilitate mangroves area in Eastern Visayas (Department ofSocial Welfare and Development, 2014) Even though many projects were launched,there are lots of mangrove rehabilitation and plantations failed due to placing it in thewrong site and using the wrong species With that, a few guides on mangroveplantations in the Philippines were prepared but most of the locals have differentreasons why they can’t follow the guidelines Therefore, in 2005, the PhilippineAssociation of Marine Scientist (PAMS) call the attention of DENR, localgovernments and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to (a) considerthe planting sites of mangroves since we must also consider their natural habitat (b)track and update the records for FLA status of government-leased ponds, and (c) theabandoned and FLA expired ponds should be reserved for mangrove planting in order

to restore the balance of 180,000 ha of mangroves and 180,000 ha of aquacultureponds (for a minimum 1:1 ratio) (Primavera & Esteban, 2008) The monitoring ofmangrove projects was done by the DENR, however they admitted that they only dothis once to twice a year but mostly done only as the need arises and whether to releaseretention fund or not, unlike LGUs, they only monitor mangrove projects theyimplemented themselves or have been a partner for the project (Salmo III, et al., 2019).But still, many of the plantation projects failed due to lack of political will, weakimplementation, not enough manpower and resources (Primavera & Esteban, 2008),and most importantly lack of public awareness and knowledge of the things needed toconsider in establishing and managing mangrove plantations Therefore, in this part,

we will discuss more about some of the problems regarding mangroves in NorthernSamar, Philippines, and how an assessment of stakeholders’ perceptions can help tosolve these problems

2.6 Related Study

As the rapid degradation of mangrove forest continues, an increasing amount ofscientific literature and knowledge arises nowadays However, scientific literature

pertaining to mangroves only highlights the extent of the degradation and identifies thecauses of the degradation without acknowledging the diverse viewpoint of thestakeholders and their interests In the study of Arumugam et al (2020), the authorshypothesized that assessing the diverse viewpoint of the local stakeholders is the key

in identifying the common ground as a basis in establishing local management from asocial, ecological, and economic standpoint Based on the results, they distinguish thecommon grounds of the stakeholders by developing 4 narrative discourses from 4statistical factors

To test the hypothesis, the researcher adapted the analytical methodologyperformed in the study of Abdullah (2019) entitled “Community-Based ConservationFramework in Managing Mangrove Rehabilitation in Perak and Sengalor”, in whichthe data analysis was carried out using univariate analysis, bivariate analysis, andcross-tabular analysis This perception study was needed to be done for it to help notjust the municipality of Palapag, but also other areas or provinces Most of the time,the problem is that many programs were planned but the implementation andmanagement were weak and it reached the point that the public or local residents losttheir interest to participate By this approach, different knowledge, insights, values,attitudes, and perception of the stakeholders towards mangrove management will help

to understand more about it, determine the possible consequences of divergingperspective (Huge et al., 2016), and reach the goal of conserving, protecting, andmanaging mangrove forests

PART III METHODOLOGY3.1 Study area

The location of the study is the coastal municipality of Palapag in NorthernSamar shown in Figure 3.1, with a total land area of 223.72 km2., in which 73.13% ofthe land was used mainly in agriculture aspect (Bollido, 2019)

Figure 3.1 Map of Palapag, Northern Samar, Philippines

3.2 Research design

This study used a descriptive research method with the intention to assess thestakeholders; diverse perceptions on the current mangrove management The data wasgathered for the purpose of this study to validate the hypothesis presented Likewise,Nassaji (2015) defined that the descriptive research method has a goal to describe aphenomenon and its characteristics, and its data is collected qualitatively but oftenanalyzed quantitatively by analyzing the frequencies, percentages, averages, or other

statistical analyses As Figure 3.2 presented the summary of the research methodologyused in this research.

Figure 3.2 Research Method Diagram

3.2.1 Data collection

The data that had been collected for this study was gathered through randomadministration of closed-ended questionnaires in some of the barangays in Palapag,Northern Samar Since the primary focus of the study is to assess the perception of thestakeholders on the current mangrove management of Palapag, Northern Samar,random sampling was applied in order to get the diverse point of view in regard to thismatter

3.2.2 Selection of participants

Since the aims of this study are (1) to identify the differences in perceptionsamong different stakeholders in regard to the management of mangrove resources inthe municipality, and (2) to investigate if there are any correlation betweensocio-demographic variables and their perception towards mangrove, the researcherwas randomly select 200 respondents in some of the barangays in Palapag, NorthernSamar The respondents were also defined based on their occupation: unemployed(includes students and retired), homemaker, domestic helpers (cleaners, housekeepers,

…), agriculture and aquaculture (farmers, fishermen, rancher, forester, ),self-employed or small business owners, government employees (teachers, policemen,healthcare workers, …), non-government employees (cooperation managers, NGOstaff, …) , and others.

3.2.3 Questionnaire

The questionnaire for this study consisted of closed-ended questions derivedfrom the altered Q set of the study entitled “ The perceptions of stakeholders oncurrent management of mangroves in the Sine-Saloum Delta, Senegal” by Arumugam

et al (2020) The closed-ended question is more suitable as compared to open-endedquestion because most of the respondents have difficulty in expressing their opinionsand their availability is limited (Abdullah, 2019)

The questionnaire was divided into five parts which are Part I:Socio-demographic backgrounds, consisting of 4 items (Sex, Age, Barangay, andOccupation); Part II: Values of Mangroves, consisting of 20 items; Part III: Threats toMangrove, consisting of 14 items; Part IV: Mangrove Management, consisting of 14items; and Part V: Alternatives in Conserving and Managing Mangroves, consisting 7items

For Part II - V, it had 55 item statements sorted thematically (including values ofmangroves, mangrove management, threats to mangrove, and alternatives inconserving and managing mangroves) The questions are provided with five LikertScale answers, which are Strongly Agree, Agree, Undecided, Disagree, and StronglyDisagree It included the socio-demographic background to assess if theirsocio-demographic characteristics are related to how they perceive the currentmangrove management

3.2.4 Determination of variables

The variables that were determined in this study were independent variablesand dependent variables As per Cresswell (2009) and Neuman (2006) cited inAbdullah (2019), independent variables are the cause variable or the one that brings acondition that affects something else, while dependent variables are the effects or theoutcomes that the independent variable causes

In this study, the independent variables are the socio-demographic variables,which are the sex, age, barangay they lived in, and occupation The dependentvariables are their perception in the mangrove management, which are categorized intofour sections: values of mangrove; threats to mangroves; mangrove management; andalternatives in conserving and managing mangroves.

3.3 Data analysis

The quantitative data obtained from the closed-ended questionnaire distributed

in some of the barangay involved various methods of analysis, which are based on themethod used in the study of Abdullah in 2019 entitled “Community-BasedConservation Framework in Managing Mangrove Rehabilitation in Perak andSengalor” The data analysis was carried out using univariate analysis, bivariateanalysis, and cross-tabular analysis All quantitative data were evaluated using theStatistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS ver26) database

3.3.1 Univariate analysis

The univariate analysis is the simplest form to analyze each variable in a dataset The descriptive analysis and measures of central tendency are used for theunivariate analysis for this study The socio-demographic characteristics were analyzedthrough univariate analysis, by getting the frequency, percentage, and mode of eachitem in this section

3.3.2 Bivariate correlation analysis

The bivariate analysis is the analysis if there is a relationship between twovariables in a data set In this study, it measured the strength of the relationshipbetween nominal and ordinal variables This test was conducted to evaluate if theirsocio-demographic characteristics affect their perception towards the values, threats,management, and alternatives in mangrove management Since the data was ordinal(Likert Scale), Spearman’s correlation test was used

3.3.3 Cross-tabular analysis

The cross-tabular analysis in this study represented the relationship betweentwo variables (independent and dependent variables) analyzed in the bivariate analysis(University of Utah, n.d.)

PART IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSION4.1 Analysis of the Socio-Demographic of the Respondents

The 200 samples are accumulated from random distribution of questionnaires insome barangays in Palapag, Northern Samar Figure 4.1 presented that 108 (54%)respondents are female; 82 (41%) respondents are male; and 10 (5.0%) respondentsprefer not to say it The majority (77.0%) of them are from the age under the category

of 46 years old and above, while the remaining 23% of the respondents fell under theother categories as presented in Figure 4.2 Figure 4.3 presented that in terms of thebarangay they live in, most of them lived in Sumuroy (49.5%), while 20.5% in Binay,13.5% in Manajao, 4.5% in Asum, 4.0% in Laniwan and Tinampo, 2.5% inTambangan, and 1.5% in F.E Marcos Based on occupation backgrounds presented inFigure 4.4, most of them stated that they were unemployed (26.0%), including studentsand retired However, 14 (7.0%) of them did not state their occupation

Figure 4.1 Number of Respondents based on their Sex

Figure 4.2 Number of Respondents based on their Age

Figure 4.3 Number of Respondents based on their Barangay

Figure 4.4 Number of Respondents based on their Occupation

4.2 Relationship between their Socio-Demographic Variables and their Perception towards the Value of Mangroves

In correlating socio-demographic variables with their environmental perception,many researchers stated that sex and occupation positively predicted environmentalperceptions (Dlamini, et al., 2021) In this section, the researcher presented the result

on the correlation between the socio-demographic variables of the respondents andtheir perception towards the value of mangroves To correlate the socio-demographicvariables and the perception towards the values of mangroves, the researcher dividedthe items of the category Values of Mangroves in the questionnaire into 5 sections;ecological value (V1-V5), economical value (V6-V8), ecotourism value (V16-V20),mangrove regeneration (V9-V12), and the impact of mangroves in boat navigation andaquaculture production (V13-V15) As the Spearman’s Correlation was used, thestrength of correlation was based on the guide adapted by Leclezio, et al (2015) fromDancey and Reidy (2004) as shown in Table 4.1

Table 4.1 Interpretation Table of Spearman Rank-Order Correlation Coefficients

4.2.1 Sex

As the Figure 4.1 presented, there were a total of 200 respondents; 82 (41.0%)were male, 108 (54.0%) were female, and 10 (5.0%) prefer not to say their sex TheTable 4.2 showed the result of the Spearman’s correlation analysis between sex and theperception of the respondents towards the values of mangroves The correlationbetween the sex and the ecological values (V1-V4) ranged in ρ = 079 - 154, in which

it revealed no or negligible relationship between variables A negligible relationshipbetween variables also occurred in the economical value (V5-V8), in which it ranged

in ρ = -.050 - 055 A negative coefficient on inverse correlation means that betweentwo variables, one variable tends to increase while the other decreases (Hayes, 2021).The result also showed negative coefficients to the impacts of mangroves in boatnavigation and aquaculture production (V13-V15) having the value of ρ = -.024 .037 However, ecotourism (V16-V20) (ρ = 060-.222) and the regeneration ofmangrove (V9-V12) (ρ = 060-.268) have a weak to no relationship to the sex variable.Therefore, based on the correlation coefficient, the sex variable had no relationshipwith the perception of the respondents towards the values of mangroves

Table 4.2 Correlation between their sex and their perception towards the values of

mangroves VALUES Spearman’s rho (Sex)

Correlation Coefficientρ Sig (2-tailed) N

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

4.2.2 Age

As the Figure 4.2 presented, the 48 (24.0%) of the respondents were 18-24years old; 20 (10.0%) were 25-31 years old; 32 (16.0%) were 32-38 years old; 23(11.5%) were 39-45 years old; and 77 (38.5%) were 46 years old and above Thecorrelation between the age and the perception of the respondents towards the values

of mangrove are shown in Table 4.3 Between age and regeneration of mangroves(V9-V15), the result showed no relationship since the value of the correlationcoefficient ranged from 008 to 195 However, the negative coefficients were shown

in the rest of the variables The ecological value (V1-V4), regeneration of mangroves

(V9-V12), the impacts of mangroves in boat navigation and aquaculture production(V13-15), and the ecotourism value (V16-V20) showed a negative coefficient with norelationship with age Therefore, based on the correlation coefficient, the age variablehad no relationship with the perception of the respondents towards the values ofmangroves.

Table 4.3 Correlation between their age and their perception towards the values of

mangroves VALUES Spearman’s rho (Age)

Correlation Coefficientρ

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

4.2.3 Barangay

As Figure 4.3 presented, 9 (4.5%) of the respondents were from Asum; 41 (20.5%)were from Binay; 3 (1.5%) were from F.E Marcos; 8 (4.0%) were from Laniwan; 27 (13.5%)were from Manajao; 99 (49.5%) were from Sumuroy; 5 (2.5%) were from Tambangan; and 8(4.0%) were from Tinampo All of the sections in the items for values of mangroves haveshown a negative coefficient result as shown in Table 4.4 The respondents’ perception to theecological values (V1-V4), the impacts of mangroves to boat navigation and aquacultureproduction (V13-V15), and ecotourism values (V16-V20) showed results that it had norelationship with the barangay they were residing However, the results from their perception

in economic values (V5-V8) and regeneration of mangroves had weak to no relationship withthe barangay they were residing Therefore, based on the correlation coefficient, thebarangay variable had no relationship with the perception of the respondents towardsthe values of mangroves

Table 4.4 Correlation between their barangay and their perception towards the values

of mangroves VALUES Spearman’s rho (Barangay)

Correlation Coefficientρ Sig (2-tailed) N

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

4.2.4 Occupation

As the Figure 4.4 presented, 35 (17.5%) of the respondents were working foragriculture and aquaculture industry; 6 (3.0%) were domestic helpers; 22 (11.0%) weregovernment employees; 34 (17.0%) were homemakers; 2 (1%) were non-governmentemployees; 22 (11.0) were self-employed, 52 (26%) were unemployed includingstudents and retired; and 13 (6.5%) had other jobs aside from the occupation includedfrom the options Table 4.5 presented the result of the Spearman’s correlation analysisbetween occupation and their perception towards the values of mangroves It showedthat the economical values (V5-V8), regeneration of mangroves (V9-V12), andecotourism values (V16-V20) have no relationship with the respondents’ occupation.Both impacts of mangroves to the boat navigation and aquaculture production(V13-V15), and the ecological values (V1-V4) had a weak to no relationship with theiroccupation, but the impacts of mangroves have a negative coefficient as the resultshown Therefore, based on the correlation coefficient, the occupation variable had norelationship with the perception of the respondents towards the values of mangroves

Table 4.5 Correlation between their occupation and their perception towards the values

of mangroves VALUES Spearman’s rho (Barangay)

Correlation Coefficientρ

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

4.3 Relationship between their Socio-Demographic Variables and their Perception towards the Threats to Mangroves

In correlating socio-demographic variables and their perception towards thethreats to mangroves, the items of the category Threats to Mangroves in thequestionnaire into 2 major sections: Natural Phenomena (T5) and AnthropogenicActivities (T3, T4, T6, T7, T8, T9, T10, T11, T12, T13, T14), in which these are thecauses of the degradation of mangroves The Anthropogenic Activities includeshousehold activities (T11), aquaculture activities (T11), industrial activities (T7, T9,T10, T13), and agricultural and forestry activities (T3, T6, T8,T12, T14)

Table 4.6 Correlation between their sex and their perception towards the threats to

mangroves THREATS Spearman’s rho (Sex)

Correlation Coefficientρ Sig (2-tailed) N