Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars |

Everyday more than 4,500 new residents are born in the Philippines. The rapidly rising population has overwhelmed the fisheries that have traditionally supported the population, bringing poverty and malnutrition to many coastal communities. The Integrated Population and Coastal Resource Management (IPOPCORM) initiative works to save these fisheries while improving the livelihoods of individuals that rely on them. By integrating the delivery of family planning and conservation services, IPOPCORM found that integrated approaches yielded better and more effective results than the traditional single sector approach. IPOPCORM trained community health workers to accomplish three goals: to improve the reproductive health status of adult and youth populations, improve the management of coastal resources at the community level, and increase awareness and support for cross-sectoral approaches to biodiversity conservation. This community based approach has partly led to the success of the IPOPCORM project.