Where does the rubbish go??

Having lived in Lungsodaan, Southern Leyte since 2005 I am wondering when the local government of Padre Burgos is going to provide a properly managed rubbish collection and environmentally friendly rubbish / waste dump.

The nature of buying patterns in the Philippines, mainly buying short-term / small quantities, generates huge quantities of (mainly) plastic packaging. Huge population growth in recent years has compounded the problem, not only through more people generating more rubbish. With so many babies being born, huge numbers of largely plastic baby-nappies (diapers) are consumed.

Most of the rubbish generated by the local population in Southern Leyte ends-up in the sea!

We have all heard of the huge mass of rubbish collecting in the north-central Pacific Ocean. Much of it has probably drifted there from the Philippines! http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-news/ocean-trash-plaguing-our-sea OK. An exaggeration. But we have our own ecological disaster under-way, right here in Sogod Bay and surrounds.

The Padre Burgos Municipality has natural beauty in it's undersea Coral Reefs and marine life. Scuba Divers and Whale-shark Tourists come here from around the world. There presence greatly helps the local economy by providing employment, fees from the MPA's, customers for the restaurants & shops and spending on local produce.

But this Tourism generated income is under threat!

The fact is that most, if not all, of the rubbish from all of the towns around Sogod Bay gets washed down the rivers and creeks onto the beaches and Corals all along the coast of Lungsodaan, Santa Sofia, Tankaan and even Limasawa Island.

Not only does this rubbish get washed up on the beaches (we collect huge amounts of rubbish from the beach every week) and lays along the roads and streets throughout the community. The rubbish collects and builds-up on the Coral Reefs through-out the bay

How do our Foreign Tourists see our community?

Foreign Tourists come from environmentally aware countries, where effective rubbish collection is enforced and education about the damage caused to the environment by careless disposal of our packaging is the norm. They are, frankly, shocked that Filipinos care so little about their Tropical Paradise.

Scuba divers spend their valuable time and big-money come to the Philippines and Southern Leyte to enjoy the natural underwater beauty of the Coral Reefs and enjoy the marine life. What they find is diminished marine life through over-fishing caused by gill-net fishing, damaged Corals caused by the use of fish-traps (Bobos) and, even more sadly, nets and rubbish strangling the Coral Reefs and killing the marine animals (see our other Blog entries on these problems).

What are scuba shop operators to says to our guests when they surface, after a 1- hour dive over the Sogod Bay Coral Reefs, with pockets full of rubbish they have been compelled to salvage from the reefs? We can only explain that the local community does not yet fully understand the environmental damage they are causing and their Governments have not yet taken the necessary action to provide effective waste disposal.

But these excuses cannot prevent these visitors from asking themselves... "should I find a place to visit and scuba dive where I will not be collecting more garbage than enjoyment"?

But the locals residents cannot be really be blamed for this situation.

Local residents have damaging buying practises because of their economic situation. This can only be overcome through wealth creation; and that is a different issue. But residents could be educated by government about the issues of rubbish in the environment and this could (and should) be done - with little cost involved.

But if people were to stop dropping their rubbish in the streets, what are they to do with what they pocket and take home to add to their domestic rubbish? The real problem is there is no effective domestic rubbish collection in the communities and no Province-wide waste disposal system in place. Surely the Southern Leyte Government needs to lead the way and provide an environmentally friendly system of waste collection and disposal?

In Summary...

The population grows every year and nothing seems to be done to provide effective and environmentally friendly rubbish collection and disposal. Surely, Tourism development in Southern Leyte will be seriously affected if the local, municipal and Provincial governments do not act soon, in a coordinated way, to remove rubbish from the streets, beaches and Coral Reefs around Sogod Bay.

Lungsodaan MPA

Rubbish collected in one week

No rubbish collection ??? They have been promising for 6 years

Santa Sofia MPA

A Sea-Turtle Tragedy

On December 19, 2012 there was a dramatic and tragic encounter at Zack's Cove, Limasawa Island between a young sea-turtle and a very ordinary plastic bag floating in the sea. The turtle lost.

It was unexpected drama and tragedy for the group of scuba divers who had crossed the sea from Padre Burgos to Limasawa Island for dives at Adrian's Wall and Zack's Wall aboard the banca Kermit, operated by Sogod Bay Scuba Resort of Lungsodaan, Padre Burgos, Southern Leyte.

The group was thrilled with the calm crossing from Tankaan Point and first dive on Adrian's wall, where they marvelled at the beauty of the wall so adorned with corals, nudibranch, scorpionfish and so mysterious with it's deep crevices and overhangs. Indeed, a sea-turtle had been encountered by the group happily feeding in the shallow waters, near the diver's exit point.

This seasoned diver came up from that dive with the usual pocket-full of household rubbish picked from the reef. He even saw a plastic bag floating out in the “blue”, well out of reach. We all know about the dangers of floating plastic bags, especially to turtles (they mistake these floating bags for jelly-fish, one of any turtles favourite delicacies). But one cannot just venture far out from the reef to capture a plastic bag. Or so I told myself.

It is something I suppose I will always regret.

After the dive on Adrian`s Wall, with everyone on board and accounted for, the Banca moved from Adrian's Wall to the mooring at Zack's Cove, about one kilometre north, for the planned one-hour interval. The cove is the home of the guard for the Marine Protected Area (MPA) and his small house is easily visible from the mooring.

It was a beautiful sunny day and the divers, guides, and crew were strewn lazily about the boat. About forty minutes into the interval, somebody spotted a sea-turtle breaching not very far from the boat. It might come as a surprise to some, but scuba divers are crazy-lovers of turtles, so everybody suddenly came alive and jumped-up to see the the turtle before it dived again.

But what we saw was not the usual turtle breaching for air. It was a very different and horrifying sight.

When learning advanced scuba diving skills, in the Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI) Rescue Diver Course, we learn how to recognise divers in distress on the surface. We learn that those in trouble and fearing drowning irrationally kick their legs and flail their arms, trying to raise their heads as far out of the water as possible.

That is what this turtle was doing! His head was well out of the water where he should have easily gulped the air he needed. But still he flailed. It certainly appeared that he thought he was drowning and seemed unable to take-in air although his head was well clear of the water.

A crew-member immediately dived into the water and swam toward the turtle. Meanwhile, a dive guide quickly put on his scuba gear and entered the water to try to make a rescue. It was only a minute or so from when the turtle was spotted flailing, and then disappearing beneath the surface, until the diver reached him. The turtle had already stopped his struggle.

The diver brought the turtle to the surface and swam quickly to the boat, where helping hands brought the turtle aboard the Banca. There was no struggle left in the poor beast. He appeared to be barely alive, laying passively on the deck and bubbling from his nose.

Frantic attempts were made to see if something was blocking his throat or mouth, but there seemed to be nothing. What could be done to help the turtle? Our human life-saving techniques can not be used on a hard-shelled turtle. It was dying before our eyes. Within minutes it's eyes closed for the last time. It died there on the deck. With willing but helpless divers looking on.

It was a sad moment for us all. Anyone that has encountered a turtle under the sea knows they are beautiful and gentle animals, who go about their business of survival without causing anyone any harm. Often they are more interested in their dinner than the divers crowding around to stare or take pictures.

The crew signalled to the MPA guard to join us at the mooring. He dutifully came in his small banca to see what the fuss was about. The dead turtle was handed over, along with the story related above. We don’t know what he would have done with the dead turtle. Maybe it would end-up in soup! It doesn’t really matter.

In a remote place like Limasawa Island there are no facilities for evaluating the death of marine life. Only an autopsy would prove that the turtle had indeed ingested a plastic bag, blocking it’s breathing and suffocating it.

But this old-hand is convinced that that plastic bag he saw floating on the previous dive, or one much like it, caused the death of that young turtle. There is really no other obvious cause.

This is a true story. It is a sad personal encounter with the effects of human waste being dumped into the sea; mainly because local government authorities do not educate their people about proper disposal of rubbish.

Thankfully, the Government of Southern Leyte has recently begun to provide their communities with waste disposal services; providing pick-up of rubbish placed in bins or bags along the main roads of the Province. This program has been funded by the Philippine National Government.

But still, far too much domestic rubbish seems to be cluttering the streets, beaches and coral reefs and, in this case, killing innocent, threatened, marine life. The Southern Leyte Government needs to initiate a vigorous program to promote it's rubbish collection service and to institute education of Barangay residents and, especially the children, on the virtues of carefully disposing of their waste.

This education need not cost much. But it will have a big benefitial effect and might even save the lives of gentle marine animals, like this young sea-turtle.

For more information, contact...

info@sogodbayscubaresort.com

www.sogodbayscubaresort.com

www.southernleyte.ph

southern leyte state university: Homer Yray homeryray@yahoo.com

University of San Carlos (USC): Ethel C Wargas ecwargas@gmail.com

Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD)   www.pcaarrd.dost.gov.ph

Filipinnovation of Coral Reef Restoration

The Philippine Government is worried about the decline in the size and quality of it's Coral Reefs, which provide livelihood for local fishermen and local jobs in tourism and recreational scuba diving. Protection is by far the best and most economical way to help Coral Reefs survive. Philippine Laws have already been implemented to protect the Coral Reefs through strict controls on mining, fishing and pollution. They need maximum enforcement to save the remaining Coral Reefs!

But what can be done to restore reefs already destroyed by present and past bad practices such as fish-cages and dynamite fishing or natural disasters like storm, El Nino driven coral bleaching or Crown Of Thorns Starfish plague? The Department of Science and Technology has initiated the "Filipinnovation of Coral Reef Restoration" project, under the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) to do coral reef restoration; through public-private cooperation.

What is Coral Reef restoration? It is proven that damaged coral reefs can recover in managed areas, such as Marine Protected Areas (MPA), that are free of human pressures such as over-fishing and pollution. But destroyed coral reefs cannot easily recover due to the lack of live corals in the immediate area. Coral Reef restoration is the process of collecting live Corals that have been broken area and moving them to a target area for cultivation and planting.

The cultivating is done in Coral Nursery Units which are clusters of 3-meter by 1-meter frames made of blue plastic water pipe, strung with nylon webbing, standing on metal legs and anchored to the sea bottom. Pieces of live coral are placed upright in the webbing and are tended daily to ensure they remain stable and free of sand, algae or tunicates which prevent their growth. Once a piece shows significant signs of growth, they are individually removed from the Nursery and literally planted in a suitable spot in the MPA.

The process is obviously labour intensive and, in addition to needing a nearby source of already broken but live corals, requires scuba diving skills and equipment to work underwater for 3-6 hours every day. The "Filipinnovation of Coral Reef Restoration" project has cleverly, and perhaps uniquely, married the Philippine Government's capability to provide qualified Marine Biologists and project funding with the commercial interests and resources of scuba dive shop operators around the country.

In Southern Leyte, the Coral Reef restoration pilot project is being implemented in Lungsodaan, Padre Burgos. To manage the project, PCAARRD have contracted the University of San Carlos (USC) of Cebu City, Cebu. USC provides a Marine Biology Professor as Project Leader and a Marine Biology School under-graduate student as Project Development Officer. Southern Leyte State University students work as volunteers. That's the Public side.

Sogod Bay Scuba Resort (SBSR), located in Lungsodaan, Padre Burgos has been the private-enterprise part of this public-private cooperation so far. Since the local project began in May 2012, Sogod Bay Scuba Resort has provided logistical support to the project, helping find and collect broken corals for transplanting and supplying air-filled scuba tanks for the government team. By the time  the project ends in April of 2013, the government team targets to plant approximately 1-hectare or 10,000 individual fragments.

It is envisaged that at the end of the government project Sogod Bay Scuba Resort and the Lungsodaan Local Government Unit will take joint-ownership of 10 of the 40 Coral Nursery Units in the Lungsodaan MPA and will continue to grow new corals for planting the 4-hectare site. The remaining 30 Coral Nursery Units will be distributed around the Sogod Bay area, in groups of 10, with other Barangay LGUs and dive shop operators taking ownership of these and carry-on the woork of planting new live corals.

This is a great example of government-private vision, cooperation and commitment of resources; in this case to restore an important natural resource and source of livelihood for local fishermen and for tourism within Southern Leyte. It is a positive example of Government in action and another demonstration of the contribution that scuba dive operators can make to local communities.

A great win-win battle for the Coral Reefs.

For more information, contact...

info@sogodbayscubaresort.com

www.sogodbayscubaresort.com

www.southernleyte.ph

southern leyte state university: Homer Yray homeryray@yahoo.com

University of San Carlos (USC): Ethel C Wargas ecwargas@gmail.com

Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD)  www.pcaarrd.dost.gov.ph

Crown of Thorns Plague

It is easy to criticize Government inaction and there are plenty of these complaints in the press and from people you meet, here in the Philippines. But there is precious little good press when Government does something which is insightful, proactive and effective.

Take for example the Government of Southern Leyte and it's Local Government Units (LGUs) campaign against the Crown of Thorns Starfish infestation around Sogod Bay. You have probably never heard of this, but Government at all levels, from top to bottom, are working hard to save the Coral Reefs from what would be total devastation if immediate and extensive action were not taken.

Crown of Thorns Starfish (COTS) are naturally found in Coral Reefs throughout the Pacific area; normally in numbers between 1-15 COTS per Hectare (10,000 square meters). COTS each consume between 5-13 square meters of Coral Reef per year; preying on all types of coral, hard and soft, with a preference for the fast growing Branch Corals. Their natural common predators are Conch and Anemone.

But for some apparently unknown reason the COTS can reproduce in large numbers, sowing their eggs in one general area, which drift on currents over a larger area and so on. One possible cause of increased reproduction is increased nutrition sources caused by "run-off" of fertilizers and other human activity. Or maybe it is just a cyclic thing. Exact knowledge seems limited.

The Sogod Bay area experienced a serious outbreak of COTS infestation in 2005. The local scuba dive shop operators worked together and did their best to arrest the problem by extracting tens of thousands of COTS, and the outbreak eventually subsided. But the resources of the dive shop operators were limited, and several reefs were devastated. Sogod Bay is experiencing another major outbreak in 2012.

Early in the year, with the COTS populations reaching up to ten-times "normal" levels, the dive shop operators decided to bring the new outbreak to the attention of the Provincial Government in an attempt to save the reefs from destruction. Recognizing the importance of the Coral Reefs to the local fishing community and the recreational scuba dive tourism operations around the bay, the Provincial Government decided to take action.

Using funds from their Provincial Disaster Risk fund, the Government organized a meeting of all government units, Southern Leyte State University and the scuba dive operators. The kick-off meeting was held April 12, 2012 and was well attended by all stakeholders. It resulted in a comprehensive action plan, funded by the government, to aggressively fight the COTS infestation and save as many of the best reefs as possible.

The battle-plan calls for use of the effective methods developed by Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) in their ongoing fight against COTS infection in Australia. The only effective methods found so far are to either physically remove the COTS one by one from the water, where they then suffocate on dry-land, or inject each COTS in the water with a deadly solution.

These are both labour and resource intensive procedures. It requires the Local Government Unit and area people to enter the water and physically remove the COTS, while the scuba dive shop operator's staff use their Bancas and scuba dive gear and use "dosing-guns", purchased by the Provincial Government and charged with dry-acid (sodium bisolfinate), to directly kill the COTS in the water.

The local stakeholders contribute their time and receive 1-Peso "bounty" per landed COTS. The dive operators likewise are provided the bounty to off-set their staff, fuel and dive-tank costs. The government appointed Dive Ranger (see separate blog entry) helps to organize intensive extraction events and maintains bounty records; while Southern Leyte University is scientifically studying the efficacy of the effort.

Anecdotal observations show that the effort is working! Literally tens-of thousands of COTS have been removed, and the program is ongoing. While the Coral Reef on the north-side of the Tankaan Peninsula was devastated early in the outbreak, destroying five popular dive-sites and fishing-grounds, the other major reefs and dive sites around the bay have so far been largely protected.

This is a great example of government-private vision, cooperation and commitment of resources; in this case to protect an important natural resource and source of livelihood for local fishermen and for tourism within Southern Leyte. It is a positive example of Government in action and another demonstration of the contribution that scuba dive shop operators make to local communities.

A great win-win government - private enterprise battle for the Coral Reefs of Southern Leyte!

For another view of this problem see...

http://www.ucanews.com/news/southern-leyte-battles-starfish-attack/51856

For more information, contact...

info@sogodbayscubaresort.com

www.sogodbayscubaresort.com

tourismsouthernleyte@gmail.com

southern leyte state university: Homer Yray <homeryray@yahoo.com>

Dive Ranger Padre Burgos

In 2012 the Municipality of Padre Burgos, Southern Leyte, Philippines established the new Position of Dive Ranger to help protect the area's abundant and pristine Coral Reefs; especially within the Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) scattered around the Municipality's coastal waters.

The position of Dive Ranger is under the direct supervision of the Municipality of Padre Burgos' Agriculturalist, under the Department of Agriculture. The Municipality Mayor has been instrumental in ensuring the new position is given the funding, scope and authority necessary to "make a difference".

Arnold Beslig, aged 40, is the first ever holder of the Dive Ranger position within the Municipality. He is locally born, raised and educated and his related experience includes various work with Barangay Lungsodaan and other Local Government Units (LGUs), known locally as Barangays, as well as more than four years of direct experience with a long-established local Scuba Dive Shop operation.

The roll of Municipality Dive Ranger has already been effective in three key ways.

First, Arnold has participated in many seminars with the Barangays to explain the scope of his new position and the need to enforce Philippine Government rules that are in place to protect the Coral Reefs. A key part of this protection, along with MPA Wardens, is to use the Barangay Police to provide 27 x 7 supervision of the MPA's and coastal waters in an effort to prevent illegal fishing practices.

Second, he has directly observed the scuba diving activities of the many "transient" scuba dive boats that periodically visit the Municipalities' waters; bringing scuba divers from dive shops outside the area. These transients include "safari" and "live-aboard" operations which, like local dive shop operators, are required to pay fees to dive within the Sanctuaries. These fees are an important source of revenue to help fund the Coral Reef protection activities.

Third, the Dive Ranger has represented the Municipality by participating in specific Coral Reef protection and rehabilitation projects. Two of these projects currently ongoing in the Municipality in 2012 are the Crown of Thorns plague alleviation project and the Coral Reef Restoration project (read more about these elsewhere in this blog).

Congratulations to the Municipality of Padre Burgos on establishing the new role of Dive Ranger; demonstrating it's commitment and foresight with respect to sustainable fishing practises, Coral Reef protection and rejuvenation and scuba dive tourism.

Gill-net Fishing - a marine ecology catastrophe

Over the past several years we here around Sogod Bay, Southern Leyte have been aware that the population of fish has decreased rapidly.

We notice it especially in Lungsodaan and Padre Burgos areas where we scuba dive regularly. Perhaps the best proof of the problem is at the local fish markets; where catch size of all fish has decreased significantly and the large silvery oceanic species, like Tuna, Marlin and Wahoo have all but disappeared.

The major cause of this decline is local fishermen using 10cm gill-nets; which have a disastrous effect on marine ecology.

Net fishing with 10cm gill-nets is allowed under Philippine law for local fishermen registered with Barangay Captain at the Local Government Unit (LGU). Therefore, the problem is not national law enforcement. The problem is the law itself and, more importantly, the failure of local fishermen and governments to understand the effects of their historic fishing practise in today’s marine environment.

Net fishing with 10cm gill-nets removes everything from the sea; small bait, colourful reef fish, and all but the largest pelagic The larger pelagic fish may escape, with the entire gill-net in-tow; but will probably die later from dragging the gill-net until they are exhausted. Even protected species, such as sea-turtles and dolphins, can be swept-up by the nets!

With gill-net fishing removing everything, even juvenile fish, this form of fishing prevents ANY of the fish growing to maturity and reproducing. Lack of reproductive age fish prevents mating, causing a drop in population. The reduced population causes risks for the whole species by making them vulnerable to disease, pollution and climate change.

In addition to reducing the fish population, the nets often drag along the bottom; damaging or breaking the very Coral Reefs which are the critical environment required for a healthy reef-fish population. Just as important is the fact that the reef-fish population is the attraction for the visiting pelagic fish (so revered by the fishermen for sale to local markets). No reef-fish, no pelagic!

Sogod Bay benefits from a number of good-sized Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), where all fishing is banned. These sanctuaries are rich in biodiversity and are doing their job of allowing fish to breed in safety. The fish within the sanctuary act as a lure to larger pelagic fish that come into the bay in order to feed on the smaller reef fish.

Because the fish mostly remain within a sanctuary when young, and because they are not fished-out by fishermen, many are able to reach maturity. Once mature they tend to migrate to other areas around the bay, becoming available for local fishermen to fish-out. Hopefully using sustainable fishing practises!

Regrettably, some local fishermen have been using those devastating gill-nets very close to the shoreline and within the MPA no-fishing "buffer-zone" of 50-meters. With gill-net fishing rampant, the marine population within Sogod Bay is simply not sustainable.

Every week groups of divers have been removing torn gill-nets left strewn across the reef. The torn nets destroy the corals by breaking them or blocking the sun light that the corals need in order to undergo photosynthesis. Corals are vital to the ecology of a reef system, if we have no coral, we have no fish.

Simply put, net-fishing should be totally banned within Sogod Bay and should be replaced with the more sustainable Hook & Line method. Hook & Line fishing is proven to be an perfectly acceptable method of subsistence fishing because it does not remove the smaller and younger fish; allowing fish to reach reproductive age and resulting in more fish being born and developing.

Because of net-fishing, even the protected MPAs in Sogod Bay are presently unable to incubate enough fish to increase the fish population; let alone to allow the fish population to grow enough to sustain current levels of fishing.

If gill-net fishing methods are not soon banned by local Barangay, local municipalities and Provincial Government in a coordinated way, the beautiful Marine Protected Areas will never be able to reach their full potential. As the local population expands, more and more pressure will be put on the local marine environment.

Perhaps the National Fisheries Department cannot enact a country-wide ban on net-fishing, for reasons known only to themselves. But that does not mean that the governments around Sogod Bay cannot act now to expand the number, size and management of Marine Protected Areas and rid the bay of bad fishing practices - before it is too late!

Please stop destructive fishing practices. If we don't have healthy Coral Reefs, well populated with fish, we have no dive resorts - which means no tourism. Tourism is a leading source of spending on local agricultural and craft products, entertainment and employment for the inhabitants of Sogod Bay. Please do your part and speak out against bad fishing practices.

Fish traps (Bobo's)

Bamboo fish-traps, known locally as Bobos, are a very destructive fishing method that is slowly destroying the coral reefs of Sogod Bay, Southern Leyte.

What are the local government and fisheries departments doing about this problem?

I have been watching the increased use of fish traps in the Lungsodaan and Padre Burgos areas over the past 5 years. They appear to have doubled in number. Perhaps in part due to the dramatic increase in the local population, perhaps in part by lack of enforcement of existing regulations.

The bamboo fish trap smashes everything when dumped onto the Coral.

I have watched the ongoing destruction of Georgian fans, Green-tree Coral, Table Corals and even soft Corals from this fishing method. The bamboo fish trap smashes everything in its path when dumped onto the Coral Reef. That is already significant damage. But it is not the worst of the damage inflicted on the reef.

Swinging Bobo ropes destroy anything standing in it's path.

These traps normally have a long rope which is attached to a large rock in the shallows for easy retrieval later. This rope swings back and forth with the tidal-currents and wind-driven wave surge; sometimes swinging over a wide area, knocking-over Corals or scraping away other marine life in it's path; such as sponges and anemonies.

The fisherman simply don't seem to understand the destruction.

The fisherman seem to have no idea what damage and destruction they are inflicting upon the Corals and other marine life below. They simply don't seem to understand how they are damaging their own livelihood.

The Coral Reefs are the critical environment required for a healthy reef-fish population. Without the Coral Reefs there will be no reef-fish. Without the reef-fish population there will be no visiting pelagic fish (so revered by the fishermen for sale to local markets). No reef - no reef-fish, no reef-fish - no pelagic fish!

The use of Bobos must be restricted.

The use of Bobos must at the very least be restricted to areas where there are no existing Coral Reefs. If the use of Bobos is not controlled soon, the beautiful Coral Reefs of Sogod Bay will disappear; along with the fish population they support.

The Philippine fisheries department and local governments should take action now, by enforcing existing laws to control the use of these destructive bamboo fish traps. Before its to late!

Meanwhile the Philippine Government should look at passing and enforcing more adequate laws and penalties to prevent the ongoing destruction of Coral Reefs in this country.