Southern Leyte Coral Reef Conservation Project: August 2007 Update
Added to website: 04 September 2007
Project Update – Claudio de Sassi, Project Scientist
August 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).
Introduction
After seven fantastic months in Southern Leyte, my time as Project Scientist is coming to an end. It’s been an honour and a real pleasure to be part of this project and working with our partners. The people I have met here are what have really made this experience something unforgettable. I’m very sad to leave this region after being welcomed so warmly and made to feel at home since the first moment. For all this I’d like to thank everybody I had the chance to work with.
From September, Harriet Morrell will take over from me, bringing new ideas and fresh energies into the project! I’m sure that she will feel at home, as I did, and therefore be able to give her best to help S. Leyte, protecting and managing it’s unique marine resources.
1.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.
As in July, this month was focussed on the MPA monitoring survey, and therefore the progress on the baseline front was limited. However, in only a few days at the beginning of the month, we were able to complete three transects on West Limasawa and Sta Sofia, covering 510m of terrain!
| Transect | Barangay | Site Impression | Start Depth | Finish Depth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B0209 | W. Limasawa | Poor | 24.0 | 2.5 |
| B0210 | W. Limasawa | Average | 27.2 | 1.8 |
| B0633 | Sta Sofia | Good | 24.0 | 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.org
After taking a back seat for the last few months, the time to carry out Reef Check on our “standard” sites at Ampo and Sta Sofia has come again. In July, we completed eight full surveys at Ampo and a few others were started.
3. MPA Surveys
Background: Since 2005,when we moved in our actual expedition site in Tangka’an, we have help set up and protect 4 M.P.A.s (Marine Protected Areas) 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 in the same period of time when the sanctuaries have been established. Since then, CCC committed itself to undertake regular monitoring efforts. The four MPA’s have been surveyed last time in August 2006. Especially during the first few crucial years after the establishment, a regular monitoring schedule is very important to evidence any trend and therefore provide a feedback on the effectiveness of the management.
The MPA surveys are ongoing, the 12m depth belt has been completed for Sta Sofia and Tangkaan, with a solid number of surveys inside and outside the sanctuary to allow comparison. Several dives have been carried out on the 6m depth belt, which will soon be finished. The same will be carried out also for Lungsodaan and Buenavista in September.
4. Education and Community Projects
August, as everybody knows, is time of Habagat; when the wind changes into the south west monsoon. As a result, a lot of garbage in the sea gets washed up on the coastline from Tangkaan to Maasin. On the second Sunday of the month we took the chance to do a clean up on the beach just in front our site. In a couple of hours in the afternoon, we collected an incredible amount of rubbish, filling 10 big dustbins. This result highlighted how waste management and disposal is definitely a hot topic in terms of environment protection.
Waste management was one of the themes of discussion when, during the following week, I had the chance to have a formal meeting with the new Mayor of Padre Burgos, the Hon. Ricardo Borces. Besides renewing his support to our work with the Padre Burgos MPA’s, Hon. Borces also stated that he is concerned about the actual waste management. We look forward to being on the side of the municipality and help as far as we can with this important matter.
At the beginning of this month the Municipality of Malitbog requested our assistance in assessing the dive site known as ‘Jun’s wreck’, as well as monitoring the two MPA’s on its waters. Therefore, on Tuesday 14th we cruised toward Malitbog. Unfortunately, the current on the dive site was so strong that it was impossible to carry out the assessment properly, but we are committed to follow up at the first available occasion. Anyway, the transfer was still well worth it as we had the pleasure of performing ‘Fred the Fish’ once again, this time in front of a crowd of pupils of the Central School who kindly welcomed us on its courtyard. As usual the puppet show went down very well, also thanks to Lloyd ‘Wang Yu’ Abiera who loves to take care of the Visayan translation!
‘Fred the Fish’ loves being on tour and demanded one more appearance, which we were able to make the following Saturday in Ichon. It was very nice to perform the simple but effective educational show in front a crowd of over 200 kids assembled in the convent as part of a recreational afternoon that four Italian missionary volunteers organized for the local kids during their town fiesta.
The day after, Sunday 19th, we welcomed the Reef Rangers to our site for a quick refresher before heading off to Sta Sofia to carry out an inside-outside MPA survey. We were very pleased to see the two groups of Reef Rangers, one freshly trained last month and the other trained up last year, working together gathering basic survey data that they will soon be able to present to their schoolmates and possibly to the community.
The following week the MPA Oversight Committee met at our expedition site, together with myself, the MAO of Padre Burgos - Mme Inday Crisostomo, and her colleague Espher, acting as external advisors. The main discussion was on how to employ the money released from the MoA signed last month in the most effective way possible. It was decided that, besides the purchase of the new patrol boat which will be ready very soon, part of the money will serve to reinstall the marker buoys for all MPA’s. A list of materials needed was drafted and we should be able to make an order within days. Also, some of the input gathered in March during the visit to Mactan Island, Cebu, was re-discussed and a new agreement on a ticketing system was found. With this, the collection of diving fees should be more custom-oriented and more effective.
The same week Barangay Napantao requested us to carry out an assessment on Napantao MPA, for a National MPA competition. The weather did not allow us to carry out surveys beforehand with such short notice, but we were able to provide some photographic material and a brief outline of the MPA. We were also able to follow up a request from PENRO, who is gathering data on coral bleaching. Fortunately we could state that no major bleaching event was reported in our survey areas lately. However, coral bleaching (caused by increasing sea water temperatures) is nowadays one of the major threats to coral reefs, responsible for the loss of up to 80% of the reefs in the Caribbean. Therefore, a comprehensive monitoring effort is very much needed.
{Fig 1-4: TOP LEFT: Actors presentation at the end of Fred the Fish Show at Malitbog Central School. TOP RIGHT: Reef Ranger of San Roque NHS working on their poster presentation of the survey’s results. BOTTOM LEFT: a male Bumphead Parrotfish, easily distinguishable by the big and fair bump on his forehead. BOTTOM RIGHT: a couple of Ornate Butterfly fish swim happily along the reef. These fish form permanent couples that live together for all their life!}
5. Interesting/Unusual Sightings
You can never get bored of the waters of Padre Burgos! Throughout the seven months of my time here I’ve seen plenty of exciting fish and animals, and heard of even more sighted by the volunteers or other staff members. It’s no wonder why the dive operators in the area are all planning to increase their capacity. This alone speaks for how valuable the diving is in the area!
In August we had two Bumphead Parrotfish visiting us for two weeks time, where they curiously watched us carrying out the science training on our Ampo Reef. A Napoleon Wrasse was also sighted last week. These large fish are impressive reef inhabitants and have suffered from over-fishing in the past. They can grow up to 230cm long and, if allowed to do so, one full size adult will produce many more offspring than several smaller individuals. One more rare sighting was a Mushroom Coral Pipefish, a very shy and pretty fish that use to live in Heliofungia, commonly called Mushroom Coral as they present structures similar to mushrooms’ costae. We will try to spot it again, this time carrying a camera with us!
Coral Cay Conservation provides resources to help sustain livelihoods and alleviate poverty through the protection, restoration and management of coral reefs and tropical forests.
