Philippines Marine Update: November 2005
Added to website: 30 November 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.
Our surveys this month have focused on the reefs a little closer to our project base at Ampo. The reefs in sector 5 (on the West side of the Tangkaan peninsula) show good coral coverage and a rich marine life that thrives upon them.
Surveys conducted this month:
B0524
B0520
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
No Reef Checks were conducted this month.
Environmental Awareness
On the 27th of November, an open day was organised for the Youth Catholic Movement (YOCAM). About 35 children got to try on some SCUBA equipment, go for a snorkel with our volunteers and watch a video that underlines the problems facing the Philippine reefs. The highlight of the day was a mangrove replant in Buenavista. Around 1000 6-month old seedlings were planted in order to promote mangrove regrowth in the area. At one time, over 75% of the Philippine coasts were covered with mangrove forest. Unfortunately, much of this has been cleared for land reclamation, deforestation and turning the area into fishponds. Nowadays, we know that healthy mangrove forest can provide more protein than fish ponds and in addition to this have an important ecological function as a nursery ground for juvenile fish before they head of to the reefs when they are mature. We would like to thank the Youth Catholic Movement for helping us with the replant and cleaning up our beaches. The day could not have been complete without the ‘Adventures of Fred the Fish Puppet Show’!
Capacity Building/Training of Local Counterparts
We would like to congratulate all 14 of our local counterparts for successfully completing their 5-day ‘Marine Awareness Scholarship Programme for Sanctuary Wardens’. During the week, our participants were taught to recognise and identify benthic life forms and fish families. After this, basic survey methodology that can be used to assess the success of marine protected areas were discussed and practised in the water. For practical purposes, we used a snorkel method as opposed to SCUBA diving. Most of the participants will be ‘sanctuary wardens’ in their respective barangay’s, monitoring and guarding the marine protected areas and making sure the restrictions that apply to the area are upheld. We wish them all the best of luck in their future roles!
