The Philippines has been advised to increase “no-take” marine zones, among others, to protect the biodiversity of the country’s coral cover, said to be the third largest in the world.
“There are about 1,000 marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Philippines, some of them already no-take areas,” said Terry Hughes, director of the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, in his keynote speech at a forum on the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) on Tuesday in Manila.
No-take marine zones are areas of the marine environment permanently closed to all forms of extraction of resources, primarily fisheries, he explained.
“The ban lets species within the enclosure propagate, which will effectively reseed the area’s surrounding seascape and increase fish biomass by enhancing egg production,” Mr. Hughes said.
Citing a 2009 study conducted by Filipino and Australian scientists on the effectiveness of MPAs in the Philippines for biodiversity conservation, he said that current no-take MPAs — 85% of which are in just two sites — cover just 0.5% of the country’s municipal waters and 2.7-3.4% of coral reef areas in the Philippines.
Republic Act No. 8550, or The Philippines Fisheries Code of 1998, requires 15% of coastal municipal waters to be protected within no-take MPAs. Likewise, the Philippine Marine Sanctuary Strategy of 2004 aimed to protect 10% of coral reef areas in no-take MPAs by 2020.
The Philippines, said Mr. Hughes, ranks third in the world in terms of total coral coverage, next to Indonesia and Australia.
“The Philippines has been exemplary in terms of how marine governance is progressing through time. The country has been actively promoting the importance of locally managed marine reserves,” he said.
However, to progress further and ensure a sustainable future for the country’s marine resources, it is necessary to continue working towards improving marine management, he added.
According to Mr. Hughes, among the threats to the world’s coral reefs are population growth and migration, as well as increasing wealth and consumption which has led to the evolution of the fisheries global market, runoff from land, over-fishing and climate change.
Aside from the declaration of more no-take marine areas, he said that the country can also address threats by shifting towards sustainable aquaculture practices, improvement of marine governance systems and public education.
2012 BusinessWorld Publishing Corporation