Nickelodeon abandoned plans for a Philippines theme park on Palawan Island this week after criticism from environmentalists who said it would have destroyed the area's marine ecosystem.
The children's television network, which is owned by Viacom International Media Networks, said the plans for now are dead.
"(Viacom) and Nickelodeon will no longer be involved with this proposed development," Viacom said in a statement, according to Agence France-Presse. The media giant said its Philippine partner, Coral World Park, mutually agreed to the decision.
Palawan Island is the location of two United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) heritage sites – Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park and the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park.
AFP reported in January that the Philippines environment secretary Gina Lopez was cool to the idea of a theme park on Palawan because of its environmental history.
"That's our wealth. It's not allowed," Lopez told ABS-CBN television, according to AFP. "You can't kill the corals. For a theme park? No. No way, man. The commitment of the government is first and foremost and always, always to the benefit of our people."
Viacom had claimed at the time of the announcement that the theme park project would advocate for ocean protection, CNN reported. Coral World Park hailed that the project itself would be a coral reef conservation program.
Viacom had said that the theme park would have opened in 2020 and featured restaurants and lounges some 20 feet below sea level.
Philippines tourism secretary Wanda Teo spoke in favor of the park in June, according to the website Rappler.com.
"We are not going to destroy the corals," Teo said, according to Rappler, saying that developers favored the Philippines location over one in Indonesia. "The restaurant will be floating…and we will preserve the place."
Vince Cinches, of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, told AFP that Viacom's move to abandon the project was a win.
"We commend Viacom for heeding the call of more than 200,000 online petitioners and the offline community campaign," Cinches told AFP. "They were able to dodge the bullet that has a huge reputational backlash for Nickelodeon, which has been claiming it is children-oriented."