Southern Leyte Coral Reef Conservation Project: February 2007 update
Added to website: 12 March 2007
Project Brief
Aim
The Southern Leyte Coral Reef Conservation Project (SLCRCP) is a six-year collaborative project (2002–2008), 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.
CCC 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
Background: Background: 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.This month we have concentrated our efforts around Tangka’an Barangay’s shoreline and worked very well covering over 400m of seabed and counting a minimum of 2,500 fish! The training of new volunteers was very successful and therefore we were able to carry out a tireless surveying program. We are very happy about having finished 4 transects, and started several others.
| Transect | Barangay | Site | Start Depth | Finish Depth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B0526 | Tangka’an | Nr. MPA | 23.8 | 3.5 |
| B0529 | Tangka’an | Nr. MPA | 27.2 | 2.4 |
| B0531 | Tangka’an | Nr. MPA | 23.8 | 2.1 |
| B0539 | Tangka’an | Nr. MPA | 24.0 | 1.8 |
ReefCheck
Background: 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. CCC is proud to be a major contributing member of ReefCheck. Check out their site at www.ReefCheck.orgThis month we have completed a record 17 Reef Check surveys on the reefs of Tangka’an and Santa Sofia, amounting to a total of 1.7km of coast line! Both sites have shown some excellent coral and fish diversity. Some Reef Checks in front of the house reef displaying over 80% live hard coral cover! The Reef Check organisation have expressed their thanks for our contribution to their ongoing global reef monitoring program. Coral Cay will continue to serve as one of the main contributors to Reef Checks ongoing efforts to assess the world’s coral reefs.
Education and Community Projects
On Friday 9th Feb, the Coral Cay Science Team gave a presentation at Macrohon about the MPA survey conducted last year. The scientists met with fishermen and municipal officials and discussed the findings of the survey along with the management strategies used by the municipality. The 10 year old MPA which includes a sea grass bed and mangrove trees was found to be in very good health, to contain a vast number of fish and to be very well managed by the local community who respect its boundaries.
On Sunday 11th Feb, all CCC staff members and volunteers took action of a beach clean up at Sta. Sofia. The massive amount litter collected from the shoreline and shallow waters has been removed for proper disposal. We were very pleased about the participation of several kids and adults from the local community who joined the action following our invitation.
The ‘Dangerous Marine Animals’ signs have been thankfully accepted by the Barangay Captains. It is hoped that these signs will help prevent the local children from handling potentially fatal animals whilst also educating people about the need for Fish Sanctuaries. At the same time, the new buoys, designed for marking the MPA boundaries, were also delivered to the Barangay Captains. Buenavista has installed them already and Coral Cay will be happy to assist the other Barangays with the installation of the buoys.
The following Sunday, the 18th Feb, we welcomed 46 Kids in age between 9 and 12 years for an Open Day. The pupils of the Tangka’an Elementary School enjoyed our activities very much, learning basics about coral reefs before giving them hands on experience, hearing about the importance of coral reefs and how should we protect them, and finally laughing even more watching the “Fred the Fish” Puppet show.
Interesting/Unusual Sightings
The increased turtle sightings reported last month were confirmed this month on our Home Reef at Ampo as well. We hope this is not just a seasonal event but a trend that will continue in the future. We are also pleased to report several sightings of the very rare but stunning Barramandi Cod (known locally as Lapu-Lapu) and a Great Barracuda (Torsylio), both high value commercial species suffering declining populations. We hope the 4 Marine Protected Areas in Padre Burgos will provide them with some form of safety so these ‘kings of the reef’ have a chance to reproduce and continue to provide the community with a sustainable source of food.
This month, a group of CCC staff and volunteers returned to Sonok Point once again to survey the whale sharks in the region: in two days of survey, six individuals were sighted during the morning including adults and one “baby”. The photographs taken have been sent to the Shark Trust for photographic identification.
Coral Cay Conservation provides resources to help sustain livelihoods and alleviate poverty through the protection, restoration and management of coral reefs and tropical forests.
