Domestic “Eco” 85a Man & Biosphere Reserve during the early 1990s, and the establishment of a
moratorium on logging in 1992) provided a foundation for eco-branded tourism
to become heralded as an alternative to resource extraction. The flagship site for
ecotourism on central Palawan Island has been the PPSRNP; previously called
St. Paul’s, the PPSRNP was established as a national park in 1971. In 1999,
the Park was expanded from 3901 ha to 22202 ha in order to be inscribed as a
UNESCO World Heritage site (see Dressler 2009, pp. 156–59 and 243). As the
potential for the Park to attract tourism and revenue became apparent, entrance
fees were introduced in 1994; however, indigenous Tagbanua and Batak families
living in the region were rarely the beneficiaries of tourism revenue or jobs as
Park employees (Dressler 2009, p, 159).^3 It has subsequently been argued that
eco-branded tourism has exacerbated the historical and ongoing socioeconomic
marginalization of indigenous residents, who have been dislocated and persecuted
for practicing livelihood activities that are not seen to align with market-based
conservation (Dressler 2011). During a household livelihood survey conducted
as part of my research in late 2011, none of the indigenous families surveyed
in the three barangays (municipalities) surrounding the PPSRNP were found
to have livelihoods primarily oriented around tourism.^4 The marginalization of
many local indigenous families from the benefits of eco-branded tourism in the
Figure 6.1 Map of Palawan Island