Survey of Marine Protected Areas (Mindanao, Palawan and Masbate)

It is planned that the 2008 survey of the Visayas MPA’s be extended to the islands of Mindanao, Palawan and the Masbate Group of Islands. The data from this survey could be put together in a separate volume. The ultimate goal and direction is establishing a holistic and comprehensive survey of the marine environment in the entire archipelago with a component mechanism for monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS). This design scenario would not only be for governance purposes, but as preparatory undertaking to help identify and establish Marine Environment High Risk Areas (MEHRAs) patterned after those established in British ports, and ultimately to secure a designation of the entire archipelago as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) under the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in order to ensure better enforcement of domestic environmental rules and regulations as encouraged under UNCLOS Article 197. This nation-wide marine mapping is at any rate already happening on a cumulative basis, one MPA at a time as the Visayas survey has shown. This is the natural course because the entire archipelago is a tapestry of marine protected areas that needs to be given coherent and comprehensive governance. This thrust would also have implications in regard to the duty of the Philippines as an archipelagic State to allow the right of archipelagic sealanes transit passage to foreign vessels. The project is envisioned to proceed along the following additional guidelines:
  • Establishment of more Marine Protected Areas (MPA’s) - At present marine protected areas in the Philippines occupy about 4%  of the total coral reef  area, which is 25,000 square kilometers. This falls short of that which is required to ensure sustained production of biodiversity and fish needed by the increasing population of the Philippines. The ideal portion of no-take marine reserves required to ensure sustainability according to experts is 30% of total reef area, leaving the 70% for use as fishing area. However, both areas need to be managed well. In addition, other marine ecosystems such as mangroves and seagrass beds need to be conserved and protected as they function in synergy with coral reefs. Mangroves particularly help moderate storm surges and coastal erosion and should be replanted in coastal areas where they have been totally cut down. For the project to succeed, coastal communities and local government units need to be reminded of this need and assisted to team up together in their efforts.
  • Ensuring connectivity of Marine Protected Areas - One requirement for MPA systems is that individual MPA’s  should be placed close to each other to ensure that the larvae of marine organisms (including fish) coming from them are able to reach other marine protected areas or fished areas to ensure fish recruitment and ultimately, a sustained fishery. Networks of MPA’s, and not randomly placed MPA’s, are needed. On the average, this distance between individual MPA’s is about 10 kilometers. This is the distance required for ideal larval distribution and sustained fishery production, especially if the direction of ocean currents is favorable. This kind of information needs to be disseminated to coastal communities and local government units by community organizers as part of the community-based strategy of coastal resource management.
  •  Networking with other similar organizations -  An important project is the establishment of networking relationships with other organizations that have similar or related objectives. This allows for exchange of ideas and publications and for critical evaluation of projects.

MARINE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH EXPEDITIONS

Exercise Luzon Sea Phase II (Northern Palawan-Mindoro)
 
ELS II covers the Northern Palawan coastline and Mindoro Occidental.
The cruise track and some early preparations have already been done and needs only to be updated.
 
JOMSRE-SCS IV (a)
 
During JOMSRE IV, the participating scientists felt that the cruise track did not sufficiently cover, on account of time limitations, the ideal research spread in the Spratlys. The ideal cruise track would have included three additional islands/islets, namely, North Danger Reef, Jackson Atoll, and another atoll (ideally in the Kalayaan Group of Islands) comparable to the two mentioned reefs that were explored in 2005 and 2007. This way, there would have been three samples on which the biological, the geological and the oceanography aspects of the JOMSRE studies could be compared. The three sets of data would be the basis for major scientific conclusions. All three atolls are claimed and occupied by the Philippines. It was decided that for the desired complete science coverage, those islands would be revisited by the same team of scientists, as soon as possible without disrupting the overall JOMSRE Phase 1 program. The Philippines offered to host this part of the JOMSRE expeditions. This remains a gap that can be pursued as JOMSRE Phase II restart activity.
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North Danger Reef
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Jackson/Quirino Atoll
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Initiating the Establishment of a Transborder Marine Peace Park in the South China Sea
 
The present proposal is a take-off from a proposal from environmentalists for the first Asian cross-border park described as follows “… an archipelago of existing parks from the two countries (Russia and Japan), linking the Shiretoko National Park on Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island with a series of land and marine resources on four disputed southern islands in the Kuriles, occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945. (A cross-border park for Asia”, International Herald Tribune, 26 November 2003, at page 4). In the same news article, a peace park concept has also been proposed for Asia, specifically for the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas inasmuch as there is as yet no peace treaty between the two countries, nor even formal free-trade pacts. As the above situation and circumstances also pertains to the South China Sea, the twin concepts of a cross-border park and peace park are melded into an enlarged proposal; the essence of the concept and proposal of the participating scientists at the concluding Symposium held at Ha Long Bay on 28 March 2008 to mark the end of JOMSRE-SCS Phase 1.
 
The establishment of peace parks is not only considered invaluable for the conservation of biodiversity but also critical for the promotion of regional peace and stability and the continued growth in job creation opportunities through tourism.The establishment of a transfrontier  protected area, and with it the establishment of a cooperative resource management scheme, will have direct effect on regional peace and stability by helping to  internalize norms, establish regional identities and interests, operationalize routine international communication, and marginalize the acceptability of the use of force and thus build confidence among States that share common frontiers.
 
A regional peace park will also promote significant economic growth through tourism. It would be recalled that at the Eighth ASEAN Summit held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 4 November 2002, ASEAN leaders signed the ASEAN Tourism Agreement which recognized … “ the (in)valuable role of tourism in narrowing the development gap among ASEAN Member States as well as fostering mutual understanding and regional stability”, and resolved for … the development … of ASEAN as a single tourism destination.” The region can build on the commitments made in the ASEAN Tourism Agreement towards the establishment of a maritime Asian Regional Park.
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MONITORING, CONTROL AND SURVEILLANCE, an essential component in the balikBALANGAY ocean governance scheme with particular application for fisheries management, biodiversity conservation and the protection of the marine environment.
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