The Ecotourism-Based Administration and Development of Pandin Lake, San Pablo City, Philippines

Abstract

This study assesses the administration of Pandin Lake for ecotourism development. Premised on ecotourism’s benefits to the lake (specifically, in providing livelihood to residents and in ensuring the conservation of the natural resource), the paper contends that the ecotourism in Pandin Lake evolved completely due to a local community initiative, without the involvement of its two administrative agencies— the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) and the City Government of San Pablo City. It further argues that in sustaining the success of ecotourism and in dealing with the current issues in Pandin Lake (particularly, the need for a zoning development plan, the need to further develop the lake for tourism and the need to address the threat on the ecotourism enterprise), the local community organization, Samahang Mangingisda ng Lawa ng Pandin (SMLP), needs the intervention and commitment of the LLDA and the City Government. This study addresses the dearth in lake literature in the Philippines – a field dominated by natural science-based studies such as in limnology and aquaculture, and overwhelmingly concentrated on big lakes. The paper focuses on the area of development-governance of a small lake in the country.