Nickelodeon Pulls Out Of Coron’s Coral World Park Project

Nickelodeon, the international children’s TV network has pulled out of the proposed Coral World Park project in Coron, Palawan. Nickelodeon which is owned by Viacom International Media Network, announced its decision after fierce opposition from local indigenous peoples and environmental groups.

According to a report in The Guardian, the decision was made in consultation with the project’s local partner, Coral World Park. The official statement simply stated the pull out but did not indicate the reason for it.

Victory For The Environmentalists And Other Local Groups

Since the project was announced in January, local environmental groups have been very vocal about opposing the project. Citing the potential impact on the already fragile corals and the marine ecosystem, the groups launched an online petition to stop the project.

According to an email statement from Anna Oposa, the petition gathered 263,813 signatures from all over the world. At the local level, groups such as Greenpeace Philippines, Social Action Center of Taytay and Environmental Legal Assistance Center organized awareness-raising activities and media activities. Members of the Tagbanua indigenous peoples group and other community members also signed a community petition against the project.

Opposition To Coral World Park Will Continue

Environmental groups however warned that opposition must continue as the Coral World Project may still look for other investors to support the project. They say they will continue to monitor developments and make sure that potential investors understand how potentially destructive the project can be.

According to Greenpeace, the network was “able to dodge the bullet that has a huge reputational backlash for Nickelodeon, which has been claiming it is children-oriented.”

CWP has not made any announcement following Viacom’s withdrawal.

The park, according to earlier announcements, will cover an area of 100 hectares which includes the coral and marine ecosystems of Coron municipality. Marine scientists also warned that if the development will push through, it will add to the stress on the corals and will lead to “whole scale death.”