In Coron, Palawan: Earth-Friendly Farming with a Side of Eco Tours
Al and Mae Linsangan
Those formative years helped Al develop important life skills for his future success in a field he has had a natural affinity for. He may not have known it then when he had to step out of his happy place, the old hometown, for his higher education in Manila.
In the big city, he had to deal with the sensory overload of traffic, pollution, urban distractions and contrasts. Al earned valuable social, even marketable skills and he realized he had higher goals to aim for. Although he valued his economics degree, his kinship with nature remained strong.
After his studies, Al returned to Coron at a time when it was becoming a rising star in the tourism industry. Organized tours were taking off. Initially, he and his wife, Mae, opened a gallery and craft gifts shop called Corong Galleri, showcasing the craftsmanship and artistry of the Calamian locals and indigenous upland communities. However, his attachment to his hometown's biodiversity and his advocacy for sustainable tourism made him set bigger goals.
In 2000, Al and Mae started Calamianes Expeditions and Eco Tours. Initially, the company offered island-hopping tours with Al as the tour guide. The tours were a good fit, a natural complementary connection with the gallery. Inevitably, he saw the need to diversify his tour and travel products and make Coron's culture and biodiversity mutually supportive. Calamianes Expeditions and Ecotours was on its tenth year when in 2010, Al started farming on land their family owned.
"Farming the land was a natural direction when I saw that in order to maintain the integrity of our eco tours, I had to make sure the food I was providing on these tours came from local sources and farms and freshly prepared -- the farm to table principle,” Al recounts.
He explained further: “I started farming in 2010, but I was doing it the conventional way, using pesticides, and yield depended on fertilizers. I was getting produce, but I wasn’t doing the land a good turn. Finally in 2015, I realized and humbly accepted my mistakes."
This mistake led Al and Mae to immerse themselves in reviewing sustainable and regenerative farming practices. They went on a sabbatical and traveled all over the Philippines, observing agricultural methods in different farming communities. They learned about innovative programs and courses offered specifically in the groundbreaking and inspiring Green School Bali's curriculum.
The Green School’s eco-friendly bamboo structures designed by IBUKU, a sustainable architecture firm in Bali, showcase the beauty of natural materials and their potentials for large scale construction. The possibilities were exciting.
This was their personal, year-long, eye-opening Farm Tour, a major turn that made the Linsangans reassess their goals, skills, and long- term viability. They made more informed decisions with newfound knowledge and clarity. Never again were they going to farm against nature.
A full day experience where you learn about the land, the farm, the workers and the impact of farming on yourself and the rest of the world.
By 2016, farm tourism and eco lodging had gained popularity and support among private entities with land to farm. The pioneering Calamianes Expeditions and Eco Tours could now be combined with the Coron Natural Farms conservation and regenerative farming for a holistic experience. Beyond the usual offerings, more tour products were developed, like river paddling, biking tours, firefly and plankton tours, farm tours, photography treks, farm to table meals, and even stargazing.
At Coron Natural Farms, all food served comes directly from the source, nothing travels to get to your table allowing for freshness and a better appreciation of the farmers and fisherfolks hard work.
Today, Coron Natural Farms is a sustainable, organic farm school and destination by itself. It has six components -- vegetable gardens, an orchard, livestock, bio-composting facility, permaculture, and aquafarming. In a transformative approach, everything reverts back to the soil, producing a better and safer yield. The ecosystem is rejuvenated, facilitating its share in global efforts at environmental sustainability.
At Coron Natural Farms , small plots are planted to a variety of vegetables, herbs, flowers and medicinal plants. Traditional gardening with endemic plants suited to local climate conditions is practiced to provide fresh organic produce.
One of the aquaponic ponds in the farm for raising fish and growing plants; a method for creating a symbiotic relationship between plants and fish through a circular exchange of nutrients.
Coron Natural Farms also piloted an internship program with Kansas State University (KSU) made possible through Dr. Manny Reyes, a fellow Coronian, an agriculture engineer and a professor at the university. Both Al and Manny actively support environmental initiatives in Coron, and on one of Manny's trips to the Philippines, they created the implementing guidelines for the internship program with KSU. In the International Volunteers Program for Conservation Agriculture and Permaculture volunteers share, learn about, and experience new cultures.
Other foundations like the Regalo ng Kilit (RNK) Foundation (gift of kilit, the blue-headed racket tail bird endemic to Palawan) and United Services Foundation (USF) partnered with Coron Natural Farms and supported its programs by setting up the aquafarming component, funding conservation agriculture through vegetable gardens, funding local interns, and bringing in workers from neighboring communities in Coron.
The farm has international volunteers who share expert green practices and teach technical knowledge and skills for novice farmers in immersive farm boot camps. These volunteers from all over promote cultural and educational exchange and help build a global community conscious of ecological farming and sustainability practices. Local volunteers are taught and trained to plant their own food. These are exchanges for these times.
Al and Mae Linsangan with the core members of the farm.
A prototype organic garden in the farm is on a ground bed with a layer of compost.
Coron Natural Farms has come a long way and is now an Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) and Department of Agriculture (DA) accredited learning and training site for conservation agriculture with TESDA accredited trainers.
Al Linsangan is happy about having found an enjoyable work-life balance, and his retirement years may not be soon. There's the next generation of earth guardians that will need mentoring, and he looks forward to this.
Coron Natural Farms is located in Barangay Decalachao, 27 kms.away from Coron town and 6 kms. away from Busuanga Airport, Palawan.
Glenna Aquino is a Filipino writer and journalist who has written about arts, travel, culture and business for the Philippine Daily Inquirer. She was Asia Pacific Contributing Editor for the Middle East art journal : Art Bahrain. Her writing has been shaped by her various experiences of living in different parts of the world. She now lives in Manila and writes for the online magazine The Diarist.ph.
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