THE DIASPORA TO NATURE

It is said that by 2050, 60% of the global population shall live in urban centers/cities. In the Philippines, we beg to differ. Young Filipinos are beginning to leave the city due to the debilitating urban fabric (isolation from community, lack of communal open and green spaces, toxic commutes, and steady pollution) of the country’s capital, Metro Manila. Many are venturing outwards to the many islands and provinces that offer tranquility, cheaper lifestyles, and, most of all, nature at its finest. Yet such out-migration from the city / even those from abroad to these provinces creates a rupture within these far-flung majestic tropical islands. Provinces in the Philippines, those where the best nature can be experienced are most often than not also the poorest. Thus, city people, having more financial capabilities in comparison to the locals of a province, are wont to take advantage of this and create businesses that either support the locals or exploit them.

Sustainable tourism is one thing, but considering the actual sustainability and accessibility of housing/settlements of both locals and migrants in the province plays a massive role in creating (or destroying) a holistic ecosystem that not only helps nature, which are what the locals are used to cultivating and protecting, but also what the city people (those with higher educational attainments) can genuinely contribute to.

The prosaic saying, ‘think global, act local’, is heavily embedded here, where globally-minded city people fruitfully integrate with a locally-minded community.

This can only begin where and how we live.

Time to go home.