Transnational environmentalism has traditionally been considered an environmentalism that emphasizes the conservation of "nature," not social justice and the empowerment of local peoples. On Palawan Island, Philippines, the linkages between meso-level environmental Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and local fisherfolk are the primary foundation for social justice, food security, and the empowerment of local peoples through community-based coastal resources management (CBCRM). This suggests that these linkages are the basis for CBCRM, which focuses more on social justice, and less on scientific, technocratic, or preservationist approaches to resource management. Since the People Power movement and the new Philippine Constitution of 1987 the democratic space in the Philippines became especially conducive to communitybased resource management. My research is significant because it fills several gaps in the literature on environmentalism. First, the relationship between meso-level NGOs and local communities is rarely addressed in analyses of environmental movements, which are usually focused primarily on either transnational discourses or local case studies. Second, most contemporary environmental movements have focused more on the conservation of nature, and not on social justice and the empowerment of local peoples. Third, there is a dearth of literature on coastal environmentalism. Palawan in particular has received international attention for its high biological diversity and is host to a growing number of coastal environmental programs. Recently, environmentalism has begun to emphasize the conservation and regeneration of the worlds oceans and coastal zones. Utilizing tools and perspectives from cultural anthropology and other disciplines, this research analyzes the linkages between NGOs and local peoples. Unlike projections made by early critiques of NGOs, many Palawan environmental advocacy NGOs started as volunteer organizations, and with the infusion of donor funding have not sold out advocacy to become project mangers. On Palawan, hybrid NGOs have maintained advocacy positions and activities while taking on project management roles. The research suggests that fisherfolk become empowered through relationships with and information learned from NGOs along with government agencies, and will likely maintain those relationships for effective resource management as opposed to an ideal held by NGO environmentalists for autonomous self-determination.