Philippines Marine Update: August 2005
Added to website: 31 August 2005
Project Brief
Aim
The Southern Leyte Coral Reef Conservation Project (SLCRCP) is a three-year collaborative project (2002–2005), to survey the coral reefs of Sogod Bay. The programme provides training and conservation education opportunities for local Filipinos, as part of an integrated programme to develop local capacity and ensure the long-term protection and sustainable use of marine resources throughout the region.
Location
Sogod Bay, Southern Leyte, South-Eastern Philippines.
Project Partners
CCC is working at the invitation of and in partnership with the Provincial Government of Southern Leyte and the Philippine Reef & Rainforest Conservation Foundation Inc (PRRCFI).
Marine Science Programme
1. Baseline Surveys
Our baseline surveying programme is designed to gather data about the biological and morphological standing of Sogod Bay. These data are combined with information on human and natural impacts on the reefs, along with oceanographic data, to ultimately produce a Geographical Information System ‘map’ of the various habitats of the bay. It is like a ‘stock-take’ of the current marine resources, which is being produced to provide policymakers and concerned institutions with information necessary to effectively manage those resources. To date, the northern end of Sogod Bay has been surveyed, and the remainder of the project will concentrate on the south and Limasawa Island. If you would like more information on our surveying rationale or methodology, please don’t hesitate to contact our Project Scientist.
Transects surveyed this month:
Transects B0625A, B0626A
Our surveys have been limited due to the Habagat, the south-west monsoon. The surveys conducted were therefor focused in the relatively sheltered eastern side of the Tangkaan peninsula, within the Tangkaan Fish Sanctuary. There is a beautifull wall here with a rich variety of butterfly and angelfish, including the Blue-girdled angelfish (Pomacanthus navarchus). This species is very uncommon in most places in the Philippines and are good indicator species of high coral cover.
2. ReefCheck
Based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), ReefCheck is the name of both the world’s largest coral reef monitoring network and of the common methodology used, allowing the comparison of results from various locations worldwide. Although less detailed than CCC’s baseline surveys, the ReefCheck method is effective for monitoring changes in reef health over time. In order to do this, we mark the survey ‘transect’ with metal stakes, to ensure that repeat surveys are in the same place each time. These stakes are sited in rock, dead coral or sand for minimal disruption of the fragile reef system. CCC is proud to be a major contributing member of ReefCheck. Check out their site at www.ReefCheck.org
Reef checks continue to be done in addition to sanctuary monitoring surveys. We have also conducted some of these surveys on the pacific side of Sogod Bay. The community of Molopolo wants to install a 15 ha marine protected area. Although many of the reefs there have been destroyed by destructive fishing practices, there is high potential for recovery of these once pristine reefs. This is evident from the high number of young corals in the area.
Environmental Awareness
The Habagat that is currently affecting the Visayas has washed up a lot of trash on the beaches. To increase community awareness about the effects of using the ocean as a waste disposal site, SLCRP regularly organises beach cleanups. We hold these every Sunday on our own beach but also try and get the community involved from time to time. Representatives from the Tangkaan Barangay helped us do a thorough cleanup at our beach. We managed to collect almost a truck full of plastic, Styrofoam and other non-biodegradable items. Often mistaking them for food, turtles may die when eating plastic bags. They also smother the corals, preventing them from receiving the light needed for the primary production of sugars.
The ‘Adventures of Fred the Fish’ show took a trip to Limasawa Island this month. The Project Scientist gave a lecture on CCC and the beauty of the reefs around the island. Coral Cay volunteers showed the elementary school children how to use SCUBA equipment, and the afternoon was finished off with the already quite famous puppet show. More shows will follow.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the British Ambassador to the Philippines, Peter Beckingham and his wife for spending some time at our project site. The interest they showed in our work and especially the Marine Protected Area’s were a great inspiration to everyone to continue the work we have been doing here. We would also like to thank the municipality of Padre Burgos for all their efforts to keep supporting the Fish Sanctuaries and making sure the regulations and restrictions are upheld. It was great to be able to meet the founder and head of our project partners, Gerry Ledesma, from the Philippine Reef & Rainforest Conservation Foundation Inc (PRRCFI) without whom none of this would have been possible.
Finally, the Provincial Government did a fantastic job in organising the banquet and entertaining everyone with some traditional dancing and singing from the provincial choir. We hope the British Embassy will continue to support our efforts to help sustain livelihoods and alleviate poverty through the protection, restoration and management of coral reefs here in Southern Leyte.
Interesting/Unusual Sightings
A 10m whale was observed surfacing in front of our home reef while the survey teams were getting ready to go diving. ‘If only we had gone down 5 minutes earlier’ was the thought on everyone’s mind! A positive identification could not be made as the whale quickly dove back down, not to be seen again.A reef blacktip shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) was spotted within the Tangkaan Fish Sanctuary. Severely overfished in most of the Philippine waters, sharks were once a common sighting here. There are still frequent reports of sightings of tiger sharks and hammerheads around Limasawa Isl. We’ll keep our eyes open for them when we start surveying there over the next few months!
