UN develops new ‘hybrid’ boat design for ‘Yolanda’ survivors

A fisherman builds a wooden boat near the typhoon devastated city of Tacloban. UN FAO will soon be making “hybrid” fishing boats that use fiberglass and wood making it cheaper and more durable that purely wooden boats. J. BELGRAVE/UN FAO

MANILA, Philippines—The United Nations (UN) has developed a new “hybrid” boat design for fishermen in areas devastated by super typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan) using fiberglass to make it cheaper and more durable.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) announced the prototype design of the hybrid boat that replaced the keel, usually made with a protected hardwood tree, with fiberglass.

“In helping to preserve the hardwood trees and deterring further illegal forestry practices, FAO has further included built-in buoyancy tanks and other features that ensure floatability and durability,” UN said in a statement Monday.

José Luis Fernandez, FAO Representative in the Philippines, said that the UN will train the boat builders, non-government organization (NGO) workers, local government technical staff, and BFAR personnel on how to build and repair the new hybird boats.

“The adoption and fabrication of this inexpensive hybrid fiberglass-wooden boat model is taking advantage of the opportunity to introduce more responsible practices,” Fernandez said.

“By training trainers, knowledge on construction and maintenance is expected to be passed on to 3,000 boat builders and carpenters,” he said.

The UN FAO is also providing 2,900 seaweed farmers with materials and inputs to restore seaweed farms while 3,000 fish farmers engaged in cage farming of finfish and bivalves will be supplied with smallfish cage assets and stocking materials as part of their efforts to restore livelihood in typhoon devastated areas.

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