Atong Kabakhawan: Making Participation Meaningful in Community-Based Mangrove Restoration in Negros Oriental, Philippines

Community-based management has a long history in the Philippines, where local participation has been a central concern of coastal conservation. Participation, however, is poorly defined and assessments are rarely based on the perceptions of participants themselves. Building on applied anthropology and participatory research techniques, I studied participation through an ethnography of community-based mangrove restoration projects in Negros Oriental, Philippines. Ethnographic research revealed the values, goals, and perceptions of local participants while situating these findings within their broader social context. I use Bisaya language as a guide for analysis, examining key phrases to show how local meanings impact mangrove participation in unexpected ways. From these findings, I make recommendations for applying ethnographic insights to project activities and develop a perception-based monitoring tool to assess participant engagement.