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It is important to have a comprehensive and integrated national academic initiative based on the perspective of the Philippines as an archipelagic country. Therefore, ARCOAST shall address the following key program areas:
Food Security
The sustainability of the marine living resources is vital to the nation’s food security.
Water Supply
Identifying and developing sources and technology for the delivery of water of the right quantity and quality for domestic, agricultural, industrial and other uses are among the most urgent and critical concerns of the country.
Transportation, Communication and Tourism
The use of marine and coastal resources for transportation and tourism, and the provision of adequate means of communication linking the communities in an archipelagic setting, occupy a pivotal role in national development.
Environmental Conservation
The islands of the archipelago are home to fragile and sensitive ecosystems that must be protected.
Non-living Resources and Renewable Energy
The benefits to be derived from nonliving resources within the archipelago and in the seabed and subsoil in its offshore areas have yet to be tapped. The potential energy from the sea bed and subsoil sources as well as from ocean thermal energy and tidal power remains unexplored.
Marine Living Resources and Biodiversity
The broad range of biodiversity in the Philippine terrestrial and marine environment has hardly been assessed. Marine living resources and fisheries management has an important role in the national economy.
Formation of National Community
The archipelagic character of the Philippines has shaped the specificity of its historical turning points, and has defined the central problems of a geographically divided people in the formation of the national community.
Preservation of National Security
New dimensions of challenges and problems have gone far ahead of the country’s capability to respond to international developments, particularly since the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea took effect. The Philippines has yet to fully exercise its sovereign and jurisdictional rights in the Exclusive Economic Zone and all the resources contained therein. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea has instituted an international legal regime that poses serious difficulties for the Philippines in the preservation of national security and protection of the marine environment.