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MULTIPLE MODERNITIES: GLOBALIZATION IN ASIAN CONTEXT23raise the awareness of government officers and has ledto the recognition of the work done by Nanko. It hasalso drawn the attention of the general public toconservation issues.The Osaka-Nanko Bird Sanctuary located in Osakashi,Osaka Prefecture is a wild bird sanctuary that usesan artificial tidal flat. A development project was aboutto be launched in the area when a group of NGOs andlocal residents tried to stop it by proposing theestablishment of a bird sanctuary instead. After a seriesof negotiations between the NGOs and the localgovernment in 1995, plans were revised and an NGOwas assigned to recover the natural habitat for birdsand create the Nature Center. Since then, theSanctuary has been used for both conservation andrecreation purposes by Osaka residents. In addition,various groups of users such as researchers, universitystudents, school children, and the general public cometo visit.In the Philippines, Tatet Kibnat of the PhilippinesEagle Foundation indicated that it is important for theorganization to let the people know what it is doing sothat the foundation’s work and its problems will beunderstood by them and support generated for thefoundation. Prof. Blas Tabaranza, Jr Chief OperatingOfficer, Haribon Foundation, Philippines explainedthat they translate data on birds obtained fromresearch and studies into communication action andpromote it through communication to makeconservation on the ground more effective. Tabaranzaalso mentioned that the foundation’s website is themost effective tool in getting support from thebusiness sector. Haribon also demonstrated howAdvocacy Communication is an important tool forresolving social issues. For instance, a successfulcampaign against illegal logging for commercial andmining purposes in the natural forest gathered onemillion signatures that were submitted to thegovernment. The campaign’s success inspired thefoundation to move forward and create Road to 2020,a campaign to plant 1,000,000 hectares to nativerainforest species.Haribon has been working on biodiversityconservation for the past 38 years. And in the lastdecade, it actually created a lot of awareness in thePhilippines through partnerships with GMA7 TVnetwork, the Manila Times, and five FM radiostations. These entities gave support in kind: freeairtime for more than five television ads in the past fiveyears, free print space in the Manila Times, and freeairtime over the radio. Media exposure was a veryeffective tool in awareness raising for conservation,according to Anabelle Plantila, Director of HaribonFoundation. Meanwhile, Lina Reyes, a journalist inMindanao, stated that the need for an intensiveawareness raising campaign, especially in thecommunities away from cities, remains, since thepresent generation has lost its linkage or connectionwith the land and forests. This alienation might makethem allow outsiders to use these precious lands andforests for other purposes, provided that they givesomething in return.In Malaysia, the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS)conducted an awareness raising campaign to save theBelum and Temengor forests. The campaign consistedof publications, radio and television exposure, andconferences. In six months, the campaign gathered80,000 postcards that it gave to the State of Perak andled to a declaration of conservation areas that stoppedlogging concessions in Belum and Temengor. For thecampaign to succeed, a website and social media werewidely used.Thus far, Belum and Temengor are the two remainingtropical rain forests that have yet to receive strongprotection. Of the 13 hornbill species in the world,exactly 10 species are found in the forests, among themthe 2,000 Hornbill Plain-Pouched, whose continuedexistence is threatened globally. This particularexample indicates how important the conservation ofBelum-Temengor forests is, according to Elena Koshy,Communications and Events Manager of MalaysianNature Society (MNS).In Japan, the Fishermen Group of Saga, FukuokaPrefecture led by Nobukiyo Hirakata, is campaigningagainst the reclamation of Isahaya Bay. Thereclamation project aims to develop farmlands andcontrol disasters. The fishermen started the campaignin 1986 in an effort to protect the largest tidal flat ofJapan, which is rich in aquatic varieties and is animportant feeding site for migratory birds. Thisproject will also affect industrial fishing. Despite thebay’s importance, a reclamation project continues toclose off the Bay by way of a seven-kilometer floodcontroldike begun in April 1997 and completed in2008. The tidal flat dried up and the large volume ofpolluted water discharged from the reservoir into thebay can cause red tides. A group of fishermen sued thegovernment and made a request to stop thereclamation. In 2008, a court judgment ordered theGovernment to stop operating within three years sinceThe Work of the 2010/2011 API Fellows