Nickelodeon's plan to develop the first underwater resort in Asia received criticisms from environmentalists, including Philippines Environment Secretary Gina Lopez and Save Philippine Seas Executive Director Anna Oposa. In collaboration with Coral World Park Undersea Resorts Inc., the kids' cable and satellite TV network owned by Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) is reportedly looking to build a 400-hectare project in Coron, Palawan, a UNESCO-designated biosphere reserve.

An official tweet from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the Philippines confirmed on Wednesday that Secretary Lopez is not in favor of the proposed undersea attraction and resort. "Lopez says she won't allow the underwater theme park in Palawan," the tweet reads.

An online petition created by Oposa of Save Philippine Seas was also rolled out to oppose the development of the Nickelodeon Resort and Attraction in Palawan. She believes that the project would damage the marine ecosystems of the island. The campaign has already gathered more than 170,000 signatures as of this posting.

Following reports of environmentalists' uproar about the underwater theme park, a representative of Viacom clarified that the team behind the project has not finalized the design of the resort and attraction, CNN Money reported. The report also revealed a statement from Coral World Park, claiming that it plans to develop the attraction mainly on land while the only water infrastructure would just be floating.

However, the initial statement released by Viacom highlighted a design that involves 16 separate white sand islands across Palawan, which could be reached by tourists in five to 20 minutes via speedboat. It also detailed that there will be underwater spots such as restaurants located 20 feet below the seas.

It remains to be seen whether Coral World Park and Nickelodeon will change more details of the resort and attraction project in Palawan. In the meantime, leave us a comment below to share your thoughts about the proposed underwater theme park.