The vicious cycle of high fertility-poverty-environmental degradation is spiraling out of control in the coastal Philippines. A country once rich in natural resources has experienced over-exploitation and mismanagement of resources causing crisis in food and environmental security and escalating conflicts among resources users that threaten social stability. This paper presents the evidence of the affects of unbridled population growth on environmental decline and poverty. It also discusses the experience of a community-based, integrated population and coastal resource management approach to address interrelated Population, Health, and Environment (PHE) issues.

In 2001, PATH Foundation Philippines Inc. (PFPI) started the Integrated Population and Coastal Resource Management (IPOPCORM) project, aiming to improve the quality of life of human communities that depend on coastal resources, while maintaining biological diversity and productivity of coastal ecosystems. The central organizing theme of IPOPCROM being food security, the “linked eco-social systems” concept, and the idea that small improvements in ecological and social systems can turn around both systems from deterioration to health. Upon monitoring the IPOPCORM project, the Behavioral Monitoring Survey (BMS) used displayed that the results significantly contributed to the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The paper describes how IPOPCORM has worked to achieve these goals and that the project is noted to be successful with two particular goals: eradicating extreme poverty and ensuring environmental sustainability.