CEBU, Philippines - Expect Minantaw to be the trending topic in the next days.
Don't drop jaw like that - don't squint at me as if suggesting: "Minantaw wot?" - because here's the good news, dearie: The Minantaw Marine Park and Sanctuary is now operational, in the sense that it can already accommodate tourists even with its so-called spartan amenities. It is located about three kilometers northeast of Caubian Islands (Gamay and Daku), Lapu-Lapu City (an hour’s ride via pumpboat from Punta Engaño).
An estimated 256 hectares of the Minantaw reef, according to the Project Seahorse Foundation survey, is within the jurisdiction of the Lapu-Lapu City waters, being just three kilometers from Caubian Island. The facility is near the center of the mid-section of the Danajon Double Barrier Reef or Danajon Bank.
“Danajon is the only double barrier reef in the country," senior biologist Angelie Nellas of Project Seahorse pointed out in an orientation, "and it's here in the Visayas." It touches 17 towns, three provinces, and two administrative regions. Danajon is one of only six double barrier reefs in the world.
The Philippines is called the center of marine biodiversity in the world. Danajon Bank, with its rich waters, lies at the "center of this center."
Danajon attachment
Danajon is certainly a part of my youth. As a neophyte correspondent then for the Environment page of this paper in the late 90s, Danajon became a part of those memorable coverages. But the focus then was more on the seaweed farms off Jao Island of Talibon, Bohol.
Even then, the fact that Danajon could disintegrate further rather than being harnessed for further productivity was a blaring reality. Illegal fishing methods continue, reclamation of seashores is so much a part of urbanization, and the building of a bridge to connect Cebu and Bohol is a concept revived every so often. The aftermath would be increased decline in catch of marginal fishers and obstruction to a bird flyway which crosses the Olango areas and the Danajon Bank.
That's why when our lensman Aldo passed on the news of a trip last March 13, organized by the project's incumbent director Joselito "Boboi" Costas, it gave me that blessed chance to revisit that place I am most thankful of. Because it is a double barrier reef, it is the very reason we only have that wave surge after the recent tremor. A tsunami is least likely to develop as double barrier reefs are nature's gift of protection to us.
A barrier reef is one of three principal reef types. It is a reef separated from a mainland or island shore by a deep channel or lagoon. A bank reef is a variant of the reef types. It refers to the linear or semicircular shape outline of the reef.
Double barrier reefs protect shorelines by absorbing wave energy (and many small islands would not exist without their reef to protect them), aside from ecosystem services delivered to tourism and fisheries.
Along with veteran photojournalist Arlene Solis Chua, community organizer Rosemarie Apurado, award-winning docu-filmmaker Joanna Vasquez Arong, and University of San Carlos Department of Anthropology, Sociology, History undergraduate coordinator Delilah Labajo, we enjoyed fresh seafood lunch at Minantaw, survived three squalls, and jumped into the turquoise waters – even when the surf and tow were throwing fits – to get body pain after (hee hee). But it's all worth it, because we've seen how earlier conservation efforts are paying off. Although tons of work still has to be carried out as those parts blasted in the 70s are still to demonstrate recovery. So, imagine if there isn't a fish warden out there. Figure out what would happen to more parts of the reef if reclamation pursues, or that ambitious bridge project materializes.
"Danajon Bank is a reef complex, a product of 6,000 years of coral growth. It is the only one in the Philippines and one of six in the world. And it is right here in the Visayas, spanning across Cebu, Bohol and Leyte. For more info on how to help save Danajon Bank, please call 255-3599," Sir Boboi has this for a shoutout!
Project Seahorse
Project Seahorse Foundation, in partnership with Chevron Phils Inc., marketer of the Caltex brand, successfully created the Minantaw Marine Park and Sanctuary, a pioneering 214.6-hectare innovative multi-use marine zone. It's the first to integrate a regulated fish zone (62 hectares), an ecological seaweed farming zone (55 hectares), an ecologically sustainable use zone (37 hectares), and a 50-hectare strictly no-take or core zone (the sanctuary).
Project Seahorse is a Filipino non-governmental organization committed to conservation of marine ecosystems through equitable and sustainable use. Collaborating with stakeholders and partners in coastal communities, it undertakes research and management initiatives for marine resources within an ecosystem framework.
PSF focuses on Danajon Bank because this region encompasses critical marine conservation issues for the Philippines. It uses the seahorses in this region as a flagship species to inspire and engage people in finding solutions to marine conservation problems.
• Cutting-edge marine conservation. By working to protect seahorses, Project Seahorse supports marine conservation more broadly. It generates cutting-edge research and turn out findings into highly effective conservation interventions - usually in collaboration with other researchers, governments, and local communities.
• Secure our shallow areas. The first 10 meters of depth along the world's coastlines is where seahorses and a huge diversity of other marine species live, grow and breed. Coastal ecosystems are also where the greatest pressures are felt in terms of fishing, sea killing (land reclamation), aquaculture, real estate development, land-based run-off, pollution, and climate change. Many species and habitats are threatened as a result. Having conducted decades of research in the seahorses' mangrove, seagrass, coral, and estuarine habitats, Project Seahorse is determined to broaden support for these critical environments. Its innovative and interdisciplinary approach, which marries biology, ecology, social science, and advocacy, gives us unique insight into the problem and its possible solutions. Experts use this insight - and their considerable academic credibility - to place shallow seas high on the conservation agenda.
• Clean up fisheries. Nearly three billion people depend on the sea as a source of food and medicine and 90 percent of all economic activity in our oceans takes place in coastal areas. Overfishing and harmful fishing practices such as trawling and the use of illegal fishing gear put tremendous pressure on fish populations, making their recovery increasingly difficult. Thus, adopting sustainable fishing practices ensures food security for generations. Using biological and socio-economic knowledge and integrating research efforts with marine management, Project Seahorse promotes sustainable fishing practices that balance their impact on both ecosystems and human coastal communities. It develops management briefings to help governments use their marine resources effectively and sustainably, and it works with small-scale fishers to protect fish populations and ecosystems and improve food security.
• Make trade sustainable. Seahorses are valuable commodities that are traded around the world. The project's pioneering research has shown that seahorses are overfished for use in traditional medicines, aquarium display and as curiosities. More than 25 million of these animals - dead or alive - are traded globally each year. Project Seahorse was instrumental in generating a landmark global agreement (under the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species or CITES), in 2002, that forbids countries to export more seahorses than wild populations can bear. This, the first-ever global agreement on trade in marine fishes of commercial importance, created a new international tool for fisheries management. It also effectively acknowledged that marine fish are wildlife as well as economic commodities.
• Train conservationists. The world needs more conservationists. One of Project Seahorse's objectives, as a collaboration-minded organization, is to equip its already formidable team members with the skills and relationships they need to do great things in conservation. Its interdisciplinary approach to conservation brings together graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and professional scientists with backgrounds in marine biology, ecology, sociology, law and many other disciplines. Over the years, it has seen its team members build impressive, difference-making careers in conservation. In addition to their important work at Project Seahorse, they do great things as policymakers, activists, and scientists - in every region of the world.
Learn more, participate more. FB: Project Seahorse Foundation for Marine Conservation, Inc.