Southern Leyte Coral Reef Conservation Project: January 2007 update
Added to website: 15 February 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).
Sadly my time here in Southern Leyte has come to an end after six wonderful months living and working in the Philippines. I would like to extend my thanks to all those I have worked with during this time and wish you all the best for the future.
Marine Science Programme
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 continued with many surveys around the shores of Southern Leyte and worked particularly hard covering over 450m of seabed and counting a minimum of 2,500 fish! After the New Year we were able to continue our surveying throughout the time usually allocated for training new volunteers at our expedition base. Despite the distance covered, only two transects were brought to completion.
| Transect | Barangay | Site | Start Depth | Finish Depth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B0528 | Buenavista | Nr. MPA | 23.8 | 2.4 |
| B0731 | Lungsoda’an | Nr. MPA | 26.2 | 3.2 |
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.orgAs usual we have completed 12 Reef Check surveys this month on the reef at Ampo; a total of 1.2km of coast line. The Reef Check organisation have expressed their thanks for our contribution to their ongoing global reef monitoring program.p>
Education and Community Projects
The Dangerous Animals signs are finally complete and shall soon be delivered to the local Barangay Captains. Our thanks goes to all the CCC volunteers who assisted with their construction and design, especially Jules for the original artwork and Polly for her tireless efforts to complete the painting! It is hoped that these signs will prevent the local children from handling potentially fatal animals whilst also educating people about the need for Fish Sanctuaries.
This month we have constructed several new sets of MPA marker buoys (above) for the local barangays with marine sanctuaries. These buoys should provide a cheap and effective way of marking the MPAs and reduce the management costs incurred by the barangays. These will be delivered with the Dangerous Animal signs as soon as possible.
On Sunday 28th January CCC held an Open Day for pupils from Tangka’an Elementary School. The pupils, aged 7-9 years enjoyed taking part in the conservation game, a conservation quiz, snorkelling, SCUBA dunk tank, art and craft, watching a video of their local reefs and were treated to a superb performance of our puppet show, Fred the Fish.
CCC has also produced a set of posters explaining to SCUBA divers the importance of not touching corals and viewing whale sharks responsibly. These have been given to the local dive centres as well as those further away in the Philippines such as Apo Island and centres in Bohol. It is hoped that these will help work toward encouraging responsible tourism as this industry increases in the region.
Interesting/Unusual Sightings
We have had the pleasure of increased turtle sightings this past month on our Home Reef at Ampo. Some of our new volunteers were lucky enough to see these on just their second open water dive. Also locally common are the banded sea snakes (tigwow, in Visayan). These beautiful snakes are extremely venomous but relatively unbothered by SCUBA divers allowing us to swim very close without danger.
Dives in the marine sanctuaries of Sta. Sofia and Tangka’an have allowed us to see that these protected areas are thriving and allowing fish to increase in number for the benefit of local fishermen. Some spectacular schools of fusiliers (solid, in Visayan) have been seen rushing past the divers up and down the reef as well as some of the slower but very ornate fish like lionfish (bantol) and scorpionfish (lawong).
At the start of the month a group of CCC staff and volunteers returned to Sonuk Point to survey the whale sharks in the region. Six individuals were sighted during the morning including one that remained at the surface with the snorkellers for around 15-minutes before swimming away. The photographs taken have be added to the CCC collection and sent to the Shark Trust (www.sharktrust.org).
As this is my last monthly project update here with Coral Cay I shall leave you with a selection of my favourite and the most colourful reef inhabitants. Many of these are also some of the smallest animals on the reef and will only be seen if you look very closely. Each plays its role. No matter how small or insignificant an animal might appear, it somehow fits into the complex web of relationships that make the reefs of the Philippines, and Southern Leyte in particular, some of the finest reefs on the whole planet and worthy of our protection.
Coral Cay Conservation provides resources to help sustain livelihoods and alleviate poverty through the protection, restoration and management of coral reefs and tropical forests.
Dr. Matt Doggett
Project Scientist
