The government should declare protected areas and national parks based on its capacity to protect them from potential intruders.
Arsenio Tanchuling, lead convenor of the Tambuyog Development Center, a fishery non-governmental organization, said the development and rehabilitation of such ecologically important areas should have corresponding budget allocation.
There are a total of 240 protected areas and national parks in the country and the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB), the agency in charge of their management and protection has a budget of only P669 million this year.
Tanchuling, who presented the citizens group’s alternative budget proposal during a budget consultative meeting at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, noted that most of the protected areas and national parks are in fact unprotected, because of the insufficient budget allotted by the government for the purpose.
In his presentation, Tanchuling underscored the need to prioritize a review and conduct of participatory strategic planning for marine protected areas, and allot budget for strategic planning for protected area management in all marine protected areas in the country.
In an interview with the BusinessMirror, Tanchuling said there is a need to enhance the capacity of law- enforcement agencies, particularly the Navy and the Coast Guard, to prevent the entry of foreign fishermen in the country’s territorial waters.
He said, likewise, marine protected areas should be protected from local intruders, who defy laws that prohibit fishing in those areas.
Tanchuling cited the case of the Tubbataha Reef, an important breeding ground of fish and other marine life, on the waters off Palawan.
While the Tubbataha Reef is supposed to be off-limits to fishing activities, the reefs’ tranquility is rampantly being disturbed by local and foreign fishing boats, that catch fish or worse, harvest corals and other marine life, such as the endangered sea turtles.
If we are going to declare protected areas and national parks, it should be based on the capacity to protect them, he said.
On April 8 the FV Min Long Yu, a Chinese fishing boat ran aground the north atoll of the Tubbataha Reef. The incident happened barely a week after the wreckage of the USS Guardian, a US Navy minesweeper was pulled out of the area.
The Tubbataha Management Office has yet to assess the damage wrought by the Chinese fishing boat. The damage wrought by the USS Guardian at the Tubbataha Reef was set at 2,345.67 square meters, and for which the US Navy is being slapped with a fine of P58 million or equivalent to $1.4 million.
2013 BusinessMirror