Case Studies of MPA Networks: Cebu Island, Philippines (Marine Protected Areas)

8/3/2019 Case Studies of MPA Networks: Cebu Island, Philippines (Marine Protected Areas)

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Case Study 3: Cebu Island, Philippines MPA Network10

LOCATION AND BACKGROUND

Cebu Island in the Philippines lies in the center o the Visayan Islands, known as an area

high in biodiversity and sheries resources. Historically the marine resources o these

islands have provided the primary source o ood and livelihood or human populations.

Coastal dwellers, until the present, comprise a traditional shing economy that depends

largely on rees and their associated sheries. Presently, in addition to sheries, the coral

rees provide increasing economic revenues to communities rom their tourism appeal.

Visitors snorkel, dive and pay ees to enter MPAs or recreation.

The coastal area under management in southeast Cebu Island covers approximately 118

km o shoreline with about 726 hectares o diverse coral rees and associated habitats.

The coast is bounded by the Cebu/Bohol Strait, 1 out o 7 key sheries ecosystems inthe Central Visayas. Its area o jurisdiction traverses 8 coastal municipalities covering

a total o 3,933 km2. O the total ecosystem area only 2.4% o the area is beyond local

government jurisdictionsoutside o the 15 km municipal water limits (Figure 15).

10 S eisma, Amolo, Whit (in rviw) for full vrsion of th cas study.

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Figure 15 Location of

Southern Cebu

Southrn Cbu, as part ofCbu Provinc and SiquijorIsland in central Philippinesshowing municipal-based

MPAs

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CONSERVATION BASIS

The southern Cebu marine and coastal areas support a rich and diverse shery that

depends partially on coral ree and mangrove habitats and partially on oshore habitats

or small and large pelagic species. The primary basis or conservation, driven by theneed to sustain sheries, is ocused on maintaining the diverse coral rees to support a

ull range o natural diversity in the area that ensures a relatively intact ood chain and

biomass o sh and invertebrates.

Th primary rsourc thrats of concrn ar dgradation of coral rfs, mangrovs,

stuaris and bachs; ovrshing; and dwindling sh stocks. This progrssion has

been aggravated by weak law enforcement mechanisms and through uncontrolled

coastal and shorlin dvlopmnt. Ths issus hav bn prioritizd by th

municipalities and primary resource users in a manner that has stimulated collective

action. Thus an opportunity was cratd for a multi-local govrnmnt unit (LGU)

collaboration system within the context of the Cebu Provincial Government to implementstringnt marin consrvation and managmnt masurs. Th ky stratgy that has

emerged from the coastal resource management system in each municipality is the

stablishmnt of MPAs and mor rcntly th formation of an ara-wid MPA ntwork.

NETWORK DESIGN AND APPROACH

The development o an MPA network in southern Cebu is predicated on the need or

coral ree habitat conservation that restores the shoreline ringing rees to a state that

maximizes the benets to local ree-associated sheries. The concept o a network

evolved ater the establishment o individual MPAs in each o the municipal jurisdictions.

The use o MPAs as a primary strategy refects their use in other parts o the Philippines

where they have been eective in protecting ree ecosystems to increase sh biomass

inside the MPAs and sh yields outside their boundaries (Russ et al. 2004). Such MPAs

are also credited with distribution o sh and invertebrate larvae into surrounding

waters and to adjacent and more distant rees. These benets are understood by the

stakeholders o the southern Cebu MPA network. This awareness has played a key role

in the network design and implementation.

The criteria that were dened and used to design the MPA network evolved over a

planning period rom the years 2000 to 2006. The principles applied considered the

biophysical characteristics o the Cebu coastal resources as well as the use patterns andsocioeconomics o the human communities dependent on these resources (Table 12)

(White et al. 2006).

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ESTABLISHING RESILIENT MARINE PROTECTED AREA NETWORKSMAKING IT HAPPEN


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Table 12 Application of design criteria, Cebu Island

Representation and replication criteria were accounted for by:

n Mapping surveying and qualiying all habitat areas or coral rees and mangroves by level

o diversity, general habitat condition, biomass o fsh and presence o key species oimportance or either conservation or fsheries.

n Including highest quality and representative ree and mangrove areas in MPAs wherefshing or any extraction is not allowed.

n Spreading out MPA designations along the coastline and including small islands.

n Including up to 15% o each ree habitat in no-fshing areas.

n Selecting sites in best condition that appeared to be resistant or resilient to warm waterbleaching based on the 1998 bleaching event.

Critical area criteria accounted for b:

n Key habitats included in the MPA network rom baseline inormation included:

l Areas that may be naturally more resistant or resilient to coral bleaching.

l Permanent residential sites or groupers, humphead wrasses and other keysheries species.

l Areas supporting high coral and sh diversity.

l Areas that are preerred habitats or vulnerable species such as sea turtles.

Connectivity criteria accounted for by:

n Sink and sources considered in locale o no-fshing MPAs.

n Entire ecological units (e.g. whole rees) included with small buers as possible givenlimitations in size permitted.

n Larger areas o coastal ringing ree included as acceptable to traditional use patterns.

n Collected extensive baseline line data on coastal ecosystems and traditional use patternsto determine best confguration, recognizing importance o connectivity and practicalsocioeconomic limitations.

Size and spacing criteria accounted for by:

n A minimum area o 10 ha was achieved or most o the 38 MPAs, and all are placed lessthan 10 km apart rom each other.

IMPLEMENTATION

In the Philippines, all important habitat areas are protected by national and local laws that

when enorced, prevent physical damage and minimize pollution impacts. Thus, to ensure

the use and enorcement o the basic laws, the implementation o MPAs is in the context

o Coastal Resource Management (CRM) programs in each o the local governments that

plan or multiple uses and sheries management within their jurisdictions. Participatory

planning was an important strategy to engage as many stakeholders as possible in

implementation.

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Regular assessment o changes in substrate and ree sh populations in MPAs has been

a top priority o management bodies. Biophysical ree monitoring o MPAs involves a

participatory method in estimating sh populations and substrate composition with

competent local community members. Surveys are conducted on the shallow (3 to 4

m depth) and deeper rees (7 to 9 m) both inside and outside o MPA boundaries tomake comparative studies to gauge protection. Local managers provide inputs about the

changes in the marine resources they are protecting and the details o their management

eorts. The results o the monitoring surveys have been useul or management decision-

making processes. Municipal MPA monitoring reports, documenting changes in the ree

areas, are produced and ed back to the management and the local community.

O the 38 MPAs being implemented in the area and assisted rom 2000 to 2007, there has

been an increase in the management eectiveness as quantied through rating levels

measured with the MPA rating system11. Most MPAs that had Level 1 or 2 at the onset o

the project have increased their management rating to Level 3 or 4 (Figure 16)

To enhance the economic benets derived rom tourism activities in coral ree areas,

environmental user ees or diving and boat mooring have been imposed through

municipal government legislation. Education campaigns promoting the municipal-wide

user ee system to dive resorts and tourists have also been conducted.

Foreshore management is another aspect o maintaining the integrity o the MPAs along

the Cebu coastline. Since much o the coast is plagued by illegal shoreline development,

dierent management steps have been implemented to protect the shoreline and set up

coastal setbacks to prevent urther illegal oreshore development in project areas.

The Philippine Fisheries Code requires municipal governments to register municipal

shers, shing gears and shing vessels o 3 gross tons and below. To address this,

training and workshops or boat measurement and registration were conducted. This

11 S Whit t al. 2006, or www.coast.ph for a description of the MPA database and rating system used to monitor

improvmnt in th managmnt of th MPAs and of th condition of th biophysical nvironmnt. Th MPA rating

systm is a guid for managrs to improv managmnt intrvntions for mor ffctiv MPAs. Ths ratings hav

providd important baslin information for planning th scaling up from singl MPAs to an MPA ntwork.

Figure 16 Cebu Island MPA

management rating

Ratings of 38 MPAs assisted by the

projct from 2005 to 2007.

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assisted the registration process through the ormulation and adoption o municipal

ordinances, and inormation dissemination at the village level which reinorced sheries

Critical or all implementation is having an eective coastal law enorcement system

unctioning at all levels in southern Cebu. In the process, municipalities were prompted toestablish coastal law enorcement groups that were trained to patrol municipal waters o

their respective towns. Capacitating and providing support to these groups was essential

to prevent poaching in the MPAs as well as enorcement o all sheries laws.

To deter the intrusion o commercial shing boats in municipal waters, joint seaborne

operations have been maintained in the municipal waters o Southern Cebu. To date,

numerous illegal shing activities have been identied, oenders apprehended and

cases led against oenders. Together with pro-active enorcement activities, preventive

measures were taken through inormation dissemination and increased dialogues with

the community.

Building the capacity o local governments and communities is a primary strategy or

improved management conservation in Southern Cebu. The various trainings conducted

since 2003 are shown in Table 13.

Table 13 Capacit building training, Cebu Island

TRAINING CATEGORIES PARTICIPANTS

yEAR 1 yEAR 2 yEAR 3

Legal and institutional development 439 765 105

Marine Protected Area management 471 1107 420Habitat management 91 500 50

Skill enhancement 85 134 260

Fisheries management 24 178 150

Coastal law enorcement 157 255 55

The ultimate success o MPAs in the Philippines is normally determined by how the

MPA contributes to reducing threats on coral rees and associated habitats. In over 3

years o monitoring, biophysical data suggests stability o the coral community in most

o the sites protected. Over the period, the percentage o live hard coral cover recorded

inside the protected areas shows an increasing trend rom 2005 to 2007 (Figure 17). This

implies the corresponding eectiveness o MPA management measures which include

regular monitoring, regular enorcement activities along boundaries, strict observance o

rules and regulations, and increased awareness o resource users and communities.


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Figure 17 Live hard

coral cover, Cebu

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Trends observed inside

MPA (eisma t al. in prp.)

Similar trends were also observed in ree sh abundance inside MPAs. Moreover,

sh abundance o commercial valuable ree shes has increased inside MPAs. These

positive results have encouraged not only managers but also marginal shers to support

establishment o MPAs because their actions are contingent upon enhancement o

depleted sh stocks in corresponding shing grounds. These results are also encouraging

and strengthening the social and governance network o MPA practitioners in southern

Cebu.

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Case Studies of MPA Networks: Cebu Island, Philippines (Marine Protected Areas)