Apo Island Marine Reserve
Philippines
he Coral Triangle includes land and ocean areas located in six countries in the
Eastern Pacific. Collectively known as the CT6, they are Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste. According to the Asian Development Bank in 2014, The Coral Triangle has exceptionally high marine biodiversity, harboring 76% of the 798 known coral species and 37% of the 6,000 worldwide coral reef fish species. In addition, while the Coral Triangle occupies only about 1.6% of the world’s oceans, it covers the largest single coral reef extent of nearly 73,000 square kilometers or 29% of the global coral reef area. Apo Island, located off the main coast of the Philippines, is nestled within the Coral Triangle. Located on the coast of the island of Negros, it is 74 hectares in area with a population of only 745 residents. The main economic activity on the island is fishing; fishing grounds span out to around 500 meters from the shoreline, and this area consists of extensive coral reefs and reaches a depth of up to 60 meters. The entire island’s coral reef was declared a marine reserve, and a small portion a fish sanctuary, in 1986. It is managed by the community through the Marine Management Committee (MMC, later known as PAMB) that collects donations and fees from visitors.
Why do you consider LT&C an important initiative and why are you interested in membership?
LT&C is an important initiative to locations such as Apo Island and its marine sanctuaries. Having Apo as an LT&C example will enable other potential sanctuaries to replicate its practices and management processes; it’s a global network where practitioners support each other and where sounds solutions are built. As a development management graduate student, being an LT&C Rockhopper is definitely an important element for the micro-ethnography that I will be conducting in Apo Island. This membership enables me to widen my scope of knowledge with regards to tourism and conservation. In addition, the existing LT&C examples are areas I can learn from and use as guidelines or background knowledge when studying Apo Island.
Why is your case a good example of linking tourism and conservation?
Apo Island is one of the success stories that demonstrate a positive environmental tipping point, according to www.ecotippingpoints.org. Apo islanders’ past fishing activities initiated the momentum towards negative tipping through unsustainable fishing practices. Such practices are dynamite fishing, Muro-Ami Japanese fishing methods, the use of cyanide, and small-mesh nets. These are often more effective than traditional fishing methods used in the past, but it was to the detriment of the island’s marine health and the sustainability of the fishery. Overtime, coral reefs died while the fish population declined severely, impacting the number of fish caught by locals. After the implementation of the marine reserve, marine life in Apo has revived, making it a top spot for underwater diving tourism in the Philippines.
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January 2017 - Sustainable Tourism
56 - SEVENSEAS
By Iris Carla de Jesus