At the rate marine protected areas (MPAs) are being established and managed in the country, it would take at least 100 years for the Philippines to be able to effectively protect even a tenth of its 27,000 km 2 of coral reefs. But coral reef protection could be accelerated if more and larger MPAs would be established, organized into networks and provided with necessary support systems.

Improving MPA management through networking and ecosystem-based approaches was the main focus of a four-day workshop organized recently by the Philippine Environmental Governance (EcoGov) Project in Cebu City. About 40 representatives from the academe, national government agencies, local governments and non-government organizations from various parts of the country, attended the workshop.

“There is a growing recognition that an integrated approach to managing MPAs is needed,” said Dr. Perry Alino of the University of the Philippines’ Marine Science Institute, one of the workshop organizers. He explained that MPA networks provide the greatest potential to achieve the goal of the Philippine Marine Sanctuary Strategy – which is to put under full protection 10 percent of the country’s coral reefs by Year 2020.

Coral reefs are an important coastal ecosystem. They provide food, habitat and protection to many species of fish, which in turn, provide sustenance to majority of Filipinos. Only 5 percent of Philippine coral reefs are in excellent condition today; over 75 percent are overfished. If there are more effectively managed reefs in a greater area of MPA networks, the number of healthy reefs would increase and more fish could be expected.

Alino said there are over 500 MPAs all over the country established through local community initiatives, but most are 10 hectares or less and not well-managed. Experience shows that at least 20 hectares would be needed for an MPA to have considerable impact on the coral reef ecosystem and adjacent areas.

Workshop participants agreed that in addition to creating more and larger MPAs, encouraging formation of networks have to be created, and forming of MPA networks encouraged allowing them to pool their resources together and make cooperative arrangements. They also agreed on the monitoring and evaluation approaches of MPAs, discussed decision support tools and incentives that foster proposed coordinating mechanisms and support systems that enable synergy of MPA networks at the local, provincial and national levels.

“With MPA networks and local government support, such as favorable ordinances and budget plus providing decision support tools, management and sustainability of MPAs would improve,” Alino said.

PAs are areas within municipal waters, which the local community and the local government opt to fully protect. Generally a no-take area, harmful extractive activities is not allowed (except friendly activities like eco-tourism) to allow the enhancement of marine life and its ecosystems, such as coral reefs. Inside an MPA, marine organisms are able to grow in size and number, providing a “spillover” effect and replenishing the adjacent municipal waters where local communities can fish.

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