Metro Life: An Expedition In The Philippines
Added to website: 27 March 2006
I dropped in off the boat, routinely gave the OK and began to swim towards
my buddy. That was when I saw the whale shark. There was no mistaking it;
the three ridges running down its body and the beautiful whiteish dots - it
was a baby but at three metres long still impressive. They had been spotted
before in these warm waters of Sogod Bay, off Southern Leyte in The
Philippines, but not for months. But there were so many other daily marvels
on my month long expedition as a volunteer for Coral Cay Conservation. The
reefs we were scuba-diving to protect were spectacular; teaming with fish,
algae, invertebrates and hard and soft corals in a delicate interdependent
relationship of underwater life.
But why preserve the reefs at all? It seems self evident - coral reefs have
been around for about 50 million years and grow in a band 30 degrees north
and south of the Equator and are the rainforests of the sea. They account
for 25 percent of species of all marine life, that’s about a million; they
form natural buffers for the shorelines against waves and floods, help to
create sandy beaches, through aquarium trade, tourism, fishing sustain
livelihoods and feed enormous numbers of people, while providing medical
solutions to diseases - glucosamine, for example, used to treat
osteoarthritus, is a compound found in crab shells. ‘They are the creme de
la creme of the marine world in terms of complexity and sheer
biodiversity,’ says Peter Raines, founder and chairman of Coral Cay.
And yet we are left facing a huge paradox.Despite their huge ecological and
ecomonic importance coral reefs are the most endangered acquatic eco-sytem
on earth. Australian reef ecologist Clive Wilkinson has estimated that
more than 10 percent of the world’s reefs have been severly damaged, and we
are set to lose another 30 percent in the next twenty years. The problem is
that there has been no worldwide offical survey of the reefs and nor
scientists or ecologists can really be sure of the extent of the problem.
What is clear is that there is one. ‘I think you would be hard pushed to
find a reef in the world now that you could truly say was pristine, ’ says
Raines.’ Over ninety percent show some degree of trauma or stress from
man’s activities.’ Indeed, there are persistent threats on a local and
global level; pollution comes from ships illegally dumping chemical and
other waste into the ocean and raw sewage piped directly out from the
shore; deforestation of upland areas cause soil to be washed down stream
choking coral life; over 500 invertebrate species are being dredged for
ornament trade; coral is mined as a building material to construct towns
and tourist facilities; not to mention coral bleaching by global warming,
over-fishing, cyanide and dynamite fishing, careless anchoring and clumsy
divers.
Left to continue it’s a bleak prognosis but there is hope on the horizon.
Coral Cay Conservation is one of many organisations dedicated to protection
and preservation of these delicate eco-systems. With volunteer-led scuba
expeditions in The Philippines, Fiji and now Eygpt CCC work to create
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in which marine life can thrive and reproduce
undisturbed. They do this by surveying the health of the reef - divers take
transects noting species and how abundant they are - and with this
information construct habitat maps. This forms the basis of recommendations
to the relevant government of designated MPAs. ‘Research has shown,’ says
Raines, ‘that within 18 months to two years of establishing an MPA the fish
production outside its boundaries increase enormously, meaning that
fishermen and the reef both benefit.’
Of course CCC don’t aim to act as guardians of the reef forever, if at all
- the idea is that by teaching local children and adults, and raising the
awareness at a local government level, the local community will take over
the responsibility and the debate, policing and monitoring their marine
life with trained local wardens. With this aim there are community days for
teenagers of lectures and planting mangrove seedlings, and snorkelling.
‘Wow’, said one girl as we kicked about in the shallows looking at tiny
fish and some algae, ‘I didn’t know that was down there!’ Nor it seems do
fishermen used to casting their net over the side and seeing what comes
up.’It’s a case of getting them to understand how fragile the reef is and
that those coloured rocks are actually habitats vital to the wellbeing of
their fish and their future,’says Raines. ‘It’s actually an easy message to
get across, the community are in charge of their own destiny. There is
absolutely no point imposing government laws if the community don’t want
it.’
Should Nemo and friends be confident in their future? For Raines it’s an
emphatic yes. ‘There are a lot of pessimists out there that say “What’s the
point putting all this effort into say, Sogod Bay when global warming will
strip the corals away anyway?,” but global warming has happened before over
the millenia and coral reefs are stil here. It’s like building up a healthy
immune system - if the reefs are robust they will bounce back.’ There were
countless moments when I saw a stunning barrel sponge, a corkscrew piece of
black coral or the tinest nudibranch when it seemed that every selfless
moment put into this project by hard-working volunteers and staff was worth
it.
Lucie Wood
Deputy Editor- Metro Life
Metro
