Publication Name

Visayan Daily Star

Angel Alcala, director of the Silliman University Angelo King Center for Research and Environmental Management, has written an editorial in The Visayan Daily Star. “In the preceding two columns, I mentioned that many successful conservation projects on marine biodiversity have been undertaken by local governments and local communities,” he writes. “Today, I would like to mention specific ones that have been judged successful, based primarily on the criteria of governance and improved biodiversity resources. One notable example is the St. Paul Underground River in Puerto Princesa on Palawan. As a result of good management, it is likely to be included in the “Seven New Wonders of Nature Foundation” list of natural areas with unique features.

Another notable example is the 16-year old Giant Clam Reserve at Cantaan, in Guinsiliban municipality on the island of Camiguin, off northern Mindanao. Again, here is a conservation project that is successful because of the initiative of an NGO, with the assistance of a private foundation, an academic institution and a foreign donor. The third example is a no-take marine reserve on the island of Mantigue, a small island off the town of Mahinog on the island of Camiguin. As evidence of the good protection, the fish biomass in the reserve became high, more than 100 tons/km2 in 2010. There is no doubt that the reserve exports adult fish and fish larvae to areas outside the reserve, thus helping to sustain small scale fisheries around the island.”  The reserve was established with as part of Alcala’s 1999 Pew Fellowship research and work.

To read more, go to the Visayan Daily Star website.