Southern Leyte Coral Reef Conservation Project : August 2006 update
Added to website: 08 September 2006
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.
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).
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself, Dr. Matt Doggett as the new Project Scientist for CCC in Southern Leyte. I have recently taken over the role from Olly Wood who was here for the past eight months. I shall be here for the next six months and look forward to meeting and working with many of CCC’s counterparts during that time.
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.The Habagat greatly affected our ability to do many baseline surveys in August. Only one transect was completed but some others were also started around Limasawa. However, with a large school group visiting from England we were able to train them in the MPA survey techniques.
Marine Protected Area (M.P.A) Assessments
Background: Over our last 18 months here we have help set up and protect 4 M.P.A.s or ‘Fish Sanctuaries’ around the municipality of Padre Burgos: Lungsoda’an, Sta. Sofia, Tangka’an, and Buenavista. These sanctuaries help protect fish until they are large enough to swim further in search of food. When they do, they will leave the sanctuary and be available to be fished. This means that the fish caught are larger but also more abundant because they have had the protection over the time needed to reach sexual maturity and reproduction. Our primary assessments occurred around a year ago and the monitoring will help us to assess the impact this protection has had on the reefs.This month we had a large number of students visiting us from the Perse School, Cambridge, U.K. The group was trained in the MPA survey techniques and concentrated their efforts on successfully completing all remaining surveys in the four MPAs. We are also conducting socio-economic surveys in each of the respective Barangays to gain an impression of the community opinions and understanding of the MPAs.
The initial results appear promising and a full analysis will take place in the near future in order that we can present our findings to you.
Education and Community Projects
Our education team under the leadership of Karen Holman has been working hard this month. The new Reef Rangers from St James College, Padre Burgos completed their first proper survey inside the Sta. Sofia MPA on 19th August. The event went extremely well with some superb maps of the reef created and many happy faces all round! A further meeting with the Rangers will see the creation of a full report that can be presented to their fellow students. Reef Rangers from San Roque NHS will soon be donning their masks and snorkels before taking the plunge to undertake their own MPA assessments.The following week on 27th August, a party of 40 school children from St. Joseph’s College, Maasin visited the CCC base at Ampo for an open day filled with fun and educational activities. A series of short lessons taught the children about threats to the reef, reef formation and diversity, dangerous (and beautiful) reef creatures and of course the most important fact, that coral is an animal! In addition, the kids played the CCC conservation board game, created a fantastic coral reef collage to take back to school and got more than just their feet wet when they went snorkelling next to the Sta. Sofia MPA. The day was rounded off with a show of Fred the Fish put on by the CCC staff and the Perse School group before adjourning to the volley ball court. A great day was had by all and a further two groups from St. Joseph’s are set to visit in the near future.
Fig 1: Reef Rangers from St. James College, Padre Burgos take notes during their first MPA survey in Sta. Sofia.
Fig 2: The school group from Maasin College at the end of their day with CCC learning about Southern Leyte’s wonderful reefs.
Just before the Perse School group left us, they visited Maasin College with CCC for an afternoon of presentations and lessons with the local school children. The Perse students were given a choice of lessons to sit in on before making a presentation to over 150 students about the importance and diversity of the local coral reefs. This included facts about the Filipino reefs, threats to the reef and a demonstration of SCUBA equipment and survey techniques. A question and answer session followed and proved so popular that questions were still being asked up to the moment CCC left the building!
Fig 3: A very full room at St. Joseph’s College Maasin where CCC staff and volunteers made a presentation to the local students.
CCC, in conjunction with members of the Perse School group, has begun painting a mural in the municipal building of Padre Burgos. The mural takes the shape of Burgos and Limasawa and includes some of the most eye-catching species that can be seen on the local reefs. Students from two local schools, St. James’ College, Padre Burgos and San Roque NHS also came to help by painting pictures of reef fish on the adjacent wall. It is hoped that those who see the mural will be reminded of the special environment that sits on their doorstep and that it is worth protecting for future generations. A photo will be provided in next month’s report following the mural’s completion.
Interesting/Unusual Sightings
CCC divers have reported some exciting sightings over the past few weeks. A juvenile whale shark, Rhincodon typus was sighted in Sta. Sofia MPA in the first half of the month and a narrow barred king mackerel, Scomberomorus commerson in the same MPA a few weeks later. The latter is an important food source and it is good news if they are been attracted to the local fishing grounds as a result of the recently established MPAs.Many species of butterfly fish have also been seen recently which is great as these species are indicators of good coral reef health – so more of them please! We have also seen a blue-spotted ray, Taeniura lymma a number of times. These are beautiful fish but care should be taken around them by both divers and people walking in the shallows as their tail can deliver a nasty sting.
Fig 4: A blue-spotted ray seen in Sta. Sofia MPA. (Photo by Polly Whyte)
Coral Cay Conservation provides resources to help sustain livelihoods and alleviate poverty through the protection, restoration and management of coral reefs and tropical forests.
