Teaching the laws of nature

MANILA, Philippines – This gem of an island off the northwest coast of the main island of Cebu – home to some of the finest beaches in the country – has become a top tourism draw. But little is known of Bantayan Island’s past as a copious fishing ground – so much so that it was once tagged as the “Alaska of the Philippines.”

Recent studies reveal that the marine resources of Bantayan – girded on all sides by the Visayan Sea – have since been dramatically depleted. The municipality of Sta. Fe, where white-sand beaches are largely concentrated, is confronted with threats to its coastal resources, particularly unlawful fishing methods and other harmful human activities.

Bold steps to safeguard this beautiful yet fragile area’s marine resources and distinctive habitats are being spearheaded by the Law of Nature Foundation, through its School of the SEAs (SOS), in partnership with the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Silliman University-Angelo King Center for Research and Environment Management (SUAKCREM).

The collaboration resulted in 10 new Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) which were collectively launched recently during a gathering of the environmental movement Global Legal Action on Climate Change (GLACC). The new MPAs, which span various coastal barangays of the Bantayan Island group, are now off limits to fishing and other extra-active activities to create a sanctuary for fish, corals, and other marine life to survive and reproduce. 

Law of Nature Foundation founder and multi-awarded environmental lawyer Antonio Oposa, Jr. calls it a “wholesale activity,” which is intended not just to attract attention to the eco-tourism cachet of Bantayan, but also to galvanize increased civic action in the protection of the area’s rich but vulnerable biodiversity.

With an initial P2 million from the DOT, Oposa says that such MPAs take inspiration from the remarkable examples set by Apo Island, globally recognized as a community-managed reserve and a project of former DENR chief and prominent marine biologist Angel Alcala with SUAKCREM; and the Sagay Waters Marine Reserve, which Sagay City Mayor Fred Marañon fought for when he was still a congressman. Marañon sponsored RA 9106 – otherwise known as the Sagay Marine Reserve Law – in 2001 declaring 32,000 hectares of Sagay’s coastal waters as protected.

“If we can make a contribution to these efforts, it would be to take these examples together, and do something much, much bigger – build on what they have done, and replicate it as big as possible,” says Oposa.

“This is an initial action,” explains Alcala, whose team headed the mapping, reef surveys, and talks with LGUs to set up the 10 MPAs. “From 10, we hope to soon expand it to 20 MPAs.”

What is more crucial, however, is follow-up action, especially towards the non-functional MPAs, or areas whose reefs have been reduced to rubble and will take years to recover. “There are a few that are working, meaning they have good coral cover and there is a high-density bio mass and diversity of fish,” says Alcala, “But others are not. Corals have been destroyed, caused by blast-fishing and over-fishing. Processes of recovery are really slow – years, even decades.”

In Brgy. Langub, for example, the assessment study uncovered its promise as a dive site. In Brgy. Hagdan, there is a site previously identified by the community as a sanctuary, but no enforcement regime has taken shape. Consequently, threatened reefs, big and even mid-size fish were nowhere to be found, save for indicator species, or those that are not targeted by fisherman, such as wrasses, damsels, and butterfly fish.  

The assessment study further stated that in Brgy. Kinatarcan, the spur and grove formation in the reefs make ideal habitats for many target species, and that it is possible for fish to come back within a year or two given proper protection.

In Brgy. San Agustin in the town of Madridejos, the site showed the “highest live hard coral cover and reef rugosity,” with the research team happily noting the presence of several target fishes such as parrotfish, breams, groupers, goatfish, fusiliers, as well as the rare Mandarin fish.

According to the report, the area projects great potential for tourism, and would appeal to divers interested in rare fish and macro-photography. However, there were a lot of discarded fishing gear, bamboo poles and rubber tires in the area.

“It has got to be followed up with more community work. We need to empower the communities to help in the management and protection,” says Alcala, whose team will help set in motion more concrete community involvement in the next few months in cooperation with the local government units. He says in well-managed reserves, stocks of many exploited species can be expected to multiply by two to four times in five years; some will improve even more.

The MPAs have the positive support of the LGUs, but just like many MPAs around the world, poverty is a real pressing concern in these areas. Alcala suggests alternative livelihood in the first two critical years of the MPAs’ implementation. “They should engage in land-based livelihood like raising goats, chicken, or engage in the buy-and-sell of pelagic fish (or fish found in high seas) for a couple of years.”

Bonar Laureto, executive director of Law of Nature Foundation, says that the MPAs will also serve as the bigger playground of the students of its School of the SEAs (“Sea and Earth Advocates”), the foundation’s experiential training center on marine conservation located in Sta. Fe, Bantayan. Bounded by a coastal forest ecosystem and bird sanctuary, the School of the SEAs (SOS) already has two demonstration marine sanctuaries.

About 5,000 “students” have already graduated from the SOS, which was also re-launched along with the MPAs and is currently undergoing renovation after last year’s typhoon “Frank” left it in a sorry state. 

Apart from a dorm, and a roof deck that will grow an organic garden, the main SOS edifice will include a floor to accommodate a workplace for Alcala and SUAKCREM, a marine museum, and a room that will celebrate eco-artistry once finished. Oposa enthuses that artists are welcome here for free as long as their work will be everything and anything about Mother Nature. 

To help in the monitoring is the new and donated gunboat, which serves as the mother ship of the Visayan Sea Squadron, the seaborne operation arm of the Law of Nature Foundation, which is made up of volunteer divers, social organizers, educators and lawyers. But more than just helping in the enforcement, the boat is a vehicle for learning, carrying such educative materials as a full-length feature film for ready screening. The film is partly funded by DOT, features Bantayan locals in acting roles, and puts forward the value of MPAs with a central story hinged on true-to-life events about marine destruction and redemption that fisherfolk and, most especially, young people can very well relate to.

“We’re not here to capture offenders, we’re here to capture hearts,” says Oposa. “In the end, it is really about educating people about what they have, and making them appreciate it and take better care of it.”

This and more form part of what is yearned to be a catalytic effort towards a much grander scheme. The 10 MPAs, in particular, are simply pilot sites of what has been envisioned as a far-reaching network of marine reserves not just in Bantayan, but the whole of the Visayan sea.

“We will go from town to town, from barangay to barangay along the coast, and help them organize marine-protected areas,” says Oposa. 

Bantayan is, naturally, the choice “launch pad”; after all, this is where the seeds of Oposa’s environmental dreams were first sowed and nurtured. Though he has long been based in Manila with his family, Bantayan is the place that, to this day, he retreats to.

The happiest of his childhood memories were gleaned from his sojourns to Bantayan. A cousin remembers a young Oposa on a vacation break from law school at the University of the Philippines-Diliman reacting wildly to cyanide blasts he’d hear from a distance – shouting for them to end.

These days, it’s hard to ignore the calls that Oposa, described by colleagues as a charismatic speaker and ebullient fellow, makes. He has copped awards here and abroad for his landmark work (which is enjoying special mention in law schools around the world) – from filing a case on behalf of a future generation versus the government to halt illegal logging in the country’s remaining rainforests, to compelling different agencies to clean up Manila Bay. Last April, he received the latest among his many accolades, the very prestigious 2008 International Environmental Law Award from the Washington-based Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL). He is the first Asian to be given such honor.

He believes such awards have given them some level of credibility to “build 10 MPAs in one day” and, if we may add, the right to speak out against the country’s biggest environmental woes.

But right now, one utmost concern is for fellow Visayans to share their group’s cause and to believe in their work. “I was hoping that through the MPAs, Cebu can redeem itself. Kay kita may maestro sa kaingin, sa dynamite fishing, karon kita ang maestro sa love for nature (We have been teachers on kaingin and dynamite fishing, hopefully, we can be teachers on love for nature).”

His dreams are as deep and vast as the ocean, so to speak, as Law of Nature Foundation sees the declaration of the Visayan Sea as an International Marine Reserve as one of its ambitious end goals – including the building of about 100 sustainable communities that will take charge of 100 marine sanctuaries around the Visayan Sea within five years. “(The 10 MPAs) is just the first step. Our planning unit, just for the purpose of making it realistic, is the Visayan Sea, which is an area of about one million hectares.” 

Citing the findings of the UN-FAO study made by world-famous marine biologist Dr. Kent Carpenter that pronounced the Visayan Sea as the home to most marine species in the world, he concludes, “That’s my ultimate dream – to have the Visayan Sea proclaimed as ‘the center of the center of the marine biodiversity on earth.’ Because it is, in its truest sense, a crown jewel of the world’s natural treasures and a common heritage for us all.”